New York's 92nd Street Y has unveiled plans for the 47th season of its venerable Lyrics & Lyricists series of tribute revues. The 2017 series will salute the work of Dorothy Fields, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, the team of Lerner & Loewe, plus a special concert showcasing the work of lesser-known wordsmiths, which will be co-hosted by Sheldon Harnick.
Subscriptions to the five-concert series, running from January to June, are on sale now, starting at $275 at 92Y.org/Lyrics. Individual tickets start at $58 and will go on sale July 18. For more information, call (212) 415-5500.
Series artistic director Deborah Grace Winer takes the helm for a show paying tribute to the great women of the American Songbook from Dorothy Fields and Carolyn Leigh to Mary Rodgers. Robert Kimball, Vince Giordano and Klea Blackhurst will team up to launch the season with Harold Arlen’s early years, featuring The Nighthawks swinging songs from “Get Happy” to “Over the Rainbow.” David Loud, who most recently led L&L’s celebration of the Sondheim-Prince collaboration, returns to celebrate Cole Porter. Rob Fisher explores famous songs by “unsung” lyricists with Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and the season closes with Rob Berman on the legendary Lerner and Loewe.
Here is the season at a glance:
January 21, 22, 23
Get Happy: Harold Arlen’s Early Years
Robert Kimball, Vince Giordano, Klea Blackhurst: Co-Artistic Directors
Featuring The Nighthawks
Harold Arlen achieved immortality with “Over the Rainbow.” But long before that, he was composing classics like “Stormy Weather” and “I’ve Got the World on a String” for Broadway, Hollywood and the big-bands. L&L kicks off the season with Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks playing vintage arrangements of many of Arlen’s greatest songs.
February 11, 12, 13
Let’s Misbehave: The Sensational Songs Of Cole Porter
David Loud, Artistic Director
Cole Porter’s famous wit and sophistication are evident in songs like “Night and Day” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Music director David Loud goes on a tour of Porter’s creations, from hit shows like Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate.
March 18, 19, 20
Baby, Dream Your Dream: Dorothy Fields And The Women Of The American Songbook
Deborah Grace Winer, Artistic Director
Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood may have been boys’ clubs — but that didn’t stop some bold, brilliant women from breaking through. Led by Dorothy Fields, lyricists and composers like Betty Comden, Carolyn Leigh and Mary Rodgers crafted astonishing songs and shows, including “The Way You Look Tonight,” On the Town, “Witchcraft,” Once Upon a Mattress and more. Fields biographer Deborah Grace Winer salutes this sisterhood.
May 6, 7, 8
Songbook Classics By Unsung Lyricists
Rob Fisher, Artistic Director
Sheldon Harnick, Host
They’re standards we all know and love: “As Time Goes By,” “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” “The Nearness of You.” But the writers of those famous words — Herman Hupfeld, Leo Robin, Ned Washington — who? Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick salutes the unsung wordsmiths behind some of the world’s greatest songs.
June 3, 4, 5
From Camelot To California : The Worlds Of Lerner And Loewe
Rob Berman, Artistic Director
Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe evoked entire worlds in their groundbreaking musicals: from Brigadoon (Scotland) to Paint Your Wagon (California), to Gigi (Paris) – not to mention Camelot and My Fair Lady. They were all conjured by the Old World Austrian Loewe and the Harvard-educated American Lerner. Rob Berman (Bright Star, New York City Center Encores! Do I Hear a Waltz?) explores the pair’s most romantic songs, from “Almost Like Being in Love” to “I Could Have Danced All Night.”