Tin Pan Alley To Broadway
Top L-R: Cole Porter, Irving Berlin; Bottom: George Gershwin
“Blue Skies,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” and other gems of the Tin Pan Alley era are all popular songs to this day. They are the predecessors to the uniquely American musical theatre art form that remains vibrant today. From the early 1900s to modern day, these songs are influenced by European musical traditions, born out of the American experience and musical tastes, and exported to the rest of the world in musicals, movies, jazz recordings and pop albums.
WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, 1260 18th St., Santa Monica, CA
WHEN: September 12, 4 p.m.
COST: Free ($10 suggested donation at the door)
SPECIAL GUEST ARTIST:
Jeff Griggs is an accomplished actor and singer who has conquered both theatre and television. He is probably best known as the villainous Jude St. Clair on NBC’s Days of Our Lives. In theatre, he has been hailed by Backstage as possessing a “glorious” baritone voice and creating “exceptional” characterizations of some of musical theatre’s most beloved roles. >>MORE
THE ARTISTS:
At home in both opera and musical theatre, Katharine Terray has been praised by conductors and critics alike for her “voice and musical sensitivity of stellar quality.” As a concert soloist, Ms. Terray has appeared in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Concerts, among other venues. And she also has a great love for singing Irish and American folk songs.
The theatre trade publication Backstage hailed Nova Safo’s 2009 musical theatre debut as Nicely-Nicely in Guys And Dolls as “a delight.” He was Count Almaviva in Los Angeles Opera’s 2009 outreach tour of Figaro’s American Adventure, and an apprentice artist with Opera Santa Barbara and St. Petersburg Opera in Florida.
BACKGROUND:
Tin Pan Alley is a four-block stretch of New York city’s 28th Street where many music publishers were located, and from where hard-working composers defined American music from the late 1800s all the way through the early 1900s. Some even define the Tin Pan Alley era through to the 1950s.
THE MUSIC:
Examples of what you’ll hear on the program:
Cole Porter: “Night And Day”
Cole Porter: “So in love”
Loesser: “I’ll know” from Guys & Dolls
Willson: “Till there was you” from Music Man
