JANE OLIVOR, KAREN AKERS, MARC KUDISCH, LIZ CALLAWAY, LARI WHITE, JIM CARUSO, CASS MORGAN, SCOTT COULTER, JASON GRAAE, LISA HOWARD, STEVEN LUTVAK, JILL ABRAMOWITZ, CHRIS DICRISTO, JULIE GARNYE, and CAROLE SCHWARTZ
KICKOFF THIRD ANNUAL BROADWAY CABARET FESTIVAL
AT THE TOWN HALL WITH
A TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN SCHWARTZ
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19 AT 8PM -
CREATED WRITTEN & HOSTED BY SCOTT SIEGEL FOR THE TOWN HALL
(NEW YORK, NY) Jane Olivor, Karen Akers, Marc Kudisch, Liz Callaway, Lari White, Scott Coulter, Jason Graae, Lisa Howard, Steven Lutvak, Chris DiCristo, Julie Garnye, and Carole Schwartz are among today’s most talented stars from the Broadway and cabaret scene to honor famed composer Stephen Schwartz in A TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN SCHWARTZ on Friday, October 19 at 8pm at The Town Hall as part of the Third Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival October 19-21, 2007. The evening is directed by Scott Coulter with musical direction by Alex Rybeck.
The acclaimed Town Hall festival will host the first-ever major New York gala honoring Schwartz. He will be in attendance to witness the performances of his greatest songs from a career of extraordinary achievements.
“I’ve been planning this tribute to Stephen Schwartz for over a year,” said Scott Siegel. “Stephen graciously changed his plans in order to be at Town Hall on the night of the event and has agreed to perform in the concert, as well. This show will not only feature Stephen’s greatest work, it will also feature entertainers known for performing the best versions of those songs: Karen Akers singing “Chanson,” Liz Callaway singing “Meadowlark,” Marc Kudisch singing “Proud Lady,” and so on. It will be, in short, an unforgettable, emotional, evening full of great music and superb talent.”
Stephen Schwartz has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Personals, Rags, Children Of Eden and the current Broadway hit, Wicked. Most recently, he has contributed songs to Mit Eventyr, a musical about Hans Christian Andersen currently playing in Denmark. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein's MASS and wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies Are Free. For children, he has written a one-act musical, Captain Louie. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince Of Egypt. He provided music and lyrics for the original television musical, Geppetto, and has released two CDs of new songs entitled Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory. Under the auspices of the ASCAP Foundation, he runs musical theatre workshops in New York and Los Angeles, and is also a member of the Council of the Dramatists' Guild. Mr. Schwartz is the recipient of three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. http://www.stephenschwartz.com
The Broadway Cabaret Festival at The Town Hall continues on Saturday, October 20 with an AN EVENING WITH BETTY BUCKLEY and culminates on Sunday, October 21 at 3 PM with BROADWAY ORIGINALS starring such famous Broadway names as Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd), Anita Gillette (Mr. President), Alan Campbell (Sunset Blvd.), Martin Vidnovic (Brigadoon), Brad Oscar (The Producers), George S. Irving (Irene), and a total of about twenty great stars recreating the songs they performed in their original cast productions.
Built in 1921 by a group of suffragettes, The Town Hall began as a lecture hall and public forum for debates. Over the decades, the stage has been graced by Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, Billie Holiday, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan and Miles Davis. Today the hall flourishes as a popular, affordable venue, boasting the hottest acts in rock, pop, folk, cabaret, world music, comedy and dance, including Billy Joel, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Liza Minnelli, Cyndi Lauper, Norah Jones, Andre Watts, Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Pink Martini, Regina Spector, Brian Adams, Aimee Mann and Dawn Upshaw. For over a decade, The Town Hall has hosted live broadcasts of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion. Over the past two-and-a-half decades, The Town Hall has produced a number of new and critically acclaimed musical series, which include The Century of Change, Not Just Jazz, Broadway By The Year and The Broadway Cabaret Festival.
In The Town Hall tradition as The People’s Concert Hall, tickets are available at $50 for this all-star weekend through TicketMaster, 212-307-4100, or www.ticketmaster.com, or by visiting the Town Hall Box Office between noon and 6 PM (except Sundays) at 123 West 43rd Street, 212-840-2824 or visit www.the-townhall-nyc.org.
