Merkin Concert Hall
at Kaufman Center
Presents
Broadway Close Up
An Inside Look at
The World of Musical
Theater
Sheldon Harnick:
To Life!
At The TimesCenter,
Monday, November 5,
2007 at 8pm
Kaufman Center’s
critically-acclaimed
series
Broadway Close Up
presents
SHELDON HARNICK:
To Life!
Monday, November 5,
at 8 PM
at the TimesCenter.
Sheldon Harnick’s
lyrics are like
little short
stories: full of
character, wisdom
and humanity. With
Jerry Bock, he
formed one of the
most enduring
songwriting teams of
the century, writing
such classics as
The Apple Tree,
She Loves Me,
Fiorello!
and everyone’s
favorite,
Fiddler on the Roof.
The distinguished
roster joining host
Sean Hartley
includes four
Tony-nominated
actresses:Rebecca
Luker
(Mary
Poppins),
,
Megan Lawrence
(Pajama
Game, Urinetown)
and
Jan Maxwell
(Coram
Boy, Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang).
Other performers
include TV sitcom
starRichard
Kind
(Mad
About You, Spin City),
2007 Richard Seff
Award winner for
All That I Will Ever
Be
and
The Accomplices,
David Margulies,
Christine Pedi
(Forbidden
Broadway),
Nancy Anderson
(Wonderful
Town),
Ben Schrader
(Big
River),
Erica Schroeder
(Jane
Eyre, Shout!),Todd
Thurston
(Ragtime)
and
Sy Adamowsky
(Caroline
or Change).
In addition, the
cast will be joined
by three young
students of Kaufman
Center’s
Lucy Moses
and
Special Music
Schools:Luke
Rosen, Jesse Murray
and
Oliver Betz.
Musical Direction by
Richard Danley;
Stage Direction by
John Znidarsic.
*While
Merkin Concert Hall
is undergoing
renovation this
fall, Broadway Close
Up concerts will be
held ‘on Broadway’
at the new
TimesCenter
in the New York
Times Building at
242 West 41st Street
between Seventh and
Eighth Avenues.
About Sheldon
Harnick
Born and raised in
Chicago, Sheldon
Harnick began
studying the violin
while in grammar
school. He earned a
Bachelor of Music
degree from
Northwestern
University School of
Music in 1949.
Though his focus had
been the violin, he
eventually decided
to try his luck in
New York City as a
theatrical lyricist.
His first song in a
Broadway show, "The
Boston Beguine" for
New Faces Of 1952,
introduced
theatergoers to the
wry, subtle humor
and deft wordplay
indicative of a
Harnick lyric. Over
the next several
years he contributed
lyrics or whole
songs to such
vintage revues as
John Murray
Anderson's Almanac,
The Shoestring Revue
and
The Littlest Revue.
In 1956, Harnick
joined up with
fellow BMI composer
Jerry Bock and the
pair began writing
their own musicals,
resulting in such
award winning works
as
The Body Beautiful
(1958),
Fiorello!
(1959),
She Loves Me
(1963), and the 1964
musical masterpiece,
Fiddler on the Roof.
Other collaborations
over the years
include
A Christmas Carol
(1981),
Free to Be...You and
Me
(1974),Rex
(1976),
Sutter’s Gold
(1980) and
Dragons
(1984). He has
provided
English-language
librettos for
classical operas and
oratorios like
Lehar's The Merry
Widow (1977) and
Georges Bizet's
Carmen (1981), and
provided
translations for
such musicals as
La Tragedie De
Carmen
(1984),
Ghetto (1986)
and
Cyrano
(1993). His original
opera librettos
include
Captain Jinks of the
Horse Marines
(1975),Love
in Two Countries
(1991), and
The Phantom
Tollbooth
(1995).
About Sean Hartley
Sean Hartley is the
Director of Kaufman
Center’s Theater
Wing and Artistic
Director of Broadway
Close Up, Broadway
Playhouse and The
Poppy Seed Players.
He was nominated for
a Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding
Lyrics for the
Off-Broadway musical
Cupid and Psyche,
written with
composer Jihwan Kim,
and won a Spirit
Award for Best Book
of a Musical for
Little Women,
written with Kim
Oler and Alison
Hubbard. His new
musical
Snow
was recently
selected for the
ASCAP workshop. His
television credits
include songs for
The Book of Pooh
and
Bear in the Big Blue
House.
About Broadway Close
Up
An annual series
exploring the work
of major figures in
the world of musical
theater through an
interview and
concert format,
audiences get to
know the writers in
a uniquely intimate
and informal
atmosphere. Past
concerts have
explored the work of
Stephen Schwartz,
Lynn Ahrens &
Stephen Flaherty,
William Finn, Comden
& Green and Alan
Menken, as well as
such beloved
theatrical
institutions as the
BMI Musical Theater
Writers Workshop and
the Richard Rodgers
Development Awards.
The next show in the
series will feature
Bound for Broadway
VIII
host
Liz Callawaypresenting
a handful of
exciting new works
destined for the
Broadway stage, on
Monday, December 3rd.
About Merkin Concert
Hall
Renowned for its
acoustics,
accessibility and
innovative
programming, Merkin
Concert Hall is the
recipient of
multiple awards for
Adventurous
Programming, most
recently from
ASCAP/Chamber Music
America in 2002–03.
The Hall is a
division of the
Kaufman Center,
which also includes
the Lucy Moses
School (a community
arts school) and the
Special Music
School(a New York
City public school
for musically gifted
children). A
not-for-profit
organization founded
in 1952, the
KaufmanCenter
occupies its own
facility, the
award-winning
Goodman House,
located in
Manhattan’s Lincoln
Square arts
district. The Center
is an unsurpassed
cultural resource
where people of all
ages can experience
the joy of artistic
creation, expression
and appreciation.
Broadway Close Up is
made possible in
part by the BMI
Foundation and
Rodgers &
Hammerstein
Foundation, with
additional support
from Amphion
Foundation, Edward
T. Cone Foundation,
Aaron Copland Fund
for Music, Barbara
Bell Cumming
Foundation, The
Gladys Krieble
Delmas Foundation,
Fink Foundation, Ann
and Gordon Getty
Foundation, Herman
Goldman Foundation,
The Horace W.
Goldsmith
Foundation, the New
York City Department
of Cultural Affairs,
The Fan Fox and
Leslie R. Samuels
Foundation, Inc.,
Adolph and Ruth
Schnurmacher
Foundation and
Phyllis Fox and
George Sternlieb
Foundation.
Listings
Information:
Kaufman Center
presents Broadway
Close Up at the
TimesCenter
Sheldon Harnick:
To Life!
Monday, November 5,
2007 at 8pm
242 West 41st Street
(between 7th & 8th
avenues)
3-concert
subscription to the
Broadway Close Up
series is $85;
advance $35 / day of
$40
Tickets: Call the
Box Office at 212
501 3330 or visit
the Ticket Center
EDITORS: Please
refer to the series
by its name,
Broadway Close Up
and its location,
Merkin Concert Hall
at The TimesCenter
Hi-res photos for
download here
<http://www.kaufman-center.org/press/photos.htm>