The Girl from Brooklyn Gets Back to Long Island
There are a few times that I’ve had difficulty being a reviewer of a performance, putting aside my fan-gushiness, and this night was one of them. Reviewing Barbra at the new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday was a dream come true after decades admiring her talent, her honesty in interviews, and her example for […]
Songs and Stories with Harvey Granat: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman were both born out of the same Brooklyn hospital into Eastern European families. Despite neighborhood proximity, they didn’t meet until respectively landing in Los Angeles the 1950s. One might call this particular collaboration Kismet. The married couple has been nominated for 16 Academy Awards garnering three. Their extensive oeuvre also […]
Songs & Stories With Harvey Granat: On Jule Styne
Jule Styne (Julius Kerwin Stein 1905-1994) was a British American songwriter who contributed to over 1500 published songs (“All of which we’re going to do for you today,” Harvey Granat quips) and 25 Broadway shows. He earned 10 Academy Award nominations, winning one. Styne was a 10 year-old prodigy, a favorite pianist at Chicago mob […]
Barbara Fasano: “You’re Never Just Singing Songs…”
Twenty years as a cabaret/concert artist has not dimmed the rigorous attention to high standards, curiosity, passion, personal and professional evolution of performer Barbara Fasano. Connection Barbara Fasano doesn’t remember a time there wasn’t music in her life. “My father was a terrific singer … Armstrong, Crosby, Ella. He had a fantastic record collection. Mom […]