On Sunday, July 16, at 3:00 p.m., Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts at Emanuel will present a virtual program, The Genius of George Gershwin, featuring Harvey Granat.
In addition to performing some of the great Gershwin standards, you will see some very special videos of Sinatra, Ella, Mel Torme and a rare video performance of Gershwin.
As a special treat, Harvey converses with the legendary Michael Feinstein, perhaps the country’s leading Gershwin performer and authority.
George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn, on Sept. 26, 1898, was the second son of Russian immigrants. As a boy, George was anything but studious, and it came as a wonderful surprise to his family that he had secretly been learning to play the piano.
In 1914, Gershwin left high school to work as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger and within three years, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em; When You Have ‘Em, You Don’t Want ‘Em,” was published.
Though this initial effort created little interest, “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar) — turned into a smash hit by Al Jolson in 1919 — brought Gershwin his first real fame.
In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, “the Gershwins” became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating infectious rhythm numbers and poignant ballads, fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a “glove-like” fidelity.
This extraordinary combination created a succession of musical comedies, including “Lady, Be Good!” (1924), “Oh, Kay!” (1926), “Funny Face” (1927), “Strike up the Band”(1927 and 1930), “Girl Crazy” (1930), and “OF Thee I Sing” (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Over the years, Gershwin songs have also been used in numerous films, including “Shall We Dance” (1937), “A Damsel in Distress” (1937), and “An American In Paris” (1951). Later years produced the award-winning “new” stage musicals “My One and Only” (1983) and “Crazy for You”(1992), which ran for four years on Broadway.
Harvey Granat is an entertainer and historian of the American songbook. He regularly appears at a variety of venues in New York, Florida and the Berkshires, including his popular series at the 92nd St Y, Canyon Ranch where he has done more than 300 shows, and a recent, sold-out series at Delray Beach Playhouse.
He has also appeared at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach, The McCallum Theater in Palm Springs, and a host of other theaters and clubs.
Harvey has collected important letters and manuscripts of the greats of the American Songbook and is proud to have established “The Harvey Granat George and Ira Gershwin Collection” at the Library of Congress.
Registration for this virtual event is $15.
This program is funded by Lillian & Morton Alpert.
For further information, to register and purchase a ticket online, go to:
https://www.scwculturalarts.org/sunday-series
After July 16 at 2:00 PM, call 516.482.5701 to purchase a ticket. Video is available for viewing thru July 30, 2023.
Call 516.482.5701 if you have any questions.
