Keeping The Great American Songbook Alive

Last night we enjoyed a splendid concert at the Mann Music Center, outdoors in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.Michael Feinstein entertained us accompanied by the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra in an evening of music from the Great American Songbook -- show tunes and pop classics that have defined popular music and superb singers for nearly a century.
Michael was joined by his guests Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole.
The ever-charming and hugely talented Feinstein has just grown better and better over the years. And though he's now almost 57 years old, his voice is stronger (and shows greater range) than ever and his piano-playing and showmanship skills are at their peak. In fact, he sang a good deal of Sinatra last night and showed remarkable maturity and dexterity. His love of the music is obvious, his knowledge of the music is vast and his rapport with the audience exemplary.
The evening began with the orchestra presenting a rousing overture from Gypsy. Remember when Broadway musicals led off with rich, fully-orchestrated music? Remember overtures? Remember when people actually looked forward to (and had the patience to sit through) an overture? By comparison, so much Broadway music sounds cheap and tinny today.
Then Michael led off with a high-flying Strike Up The Band. And, leafing through the songbook of the Gershwins, Porter, Berlin, Kern, Loesser and Rodgers and Hammerstein he sang songs such as Luck Be A Lady, For Once In My Life, So In Love, They Can't Take That Away From Me and The Folks Who Live On The Hill. His instrumentals also included a peppy Latin number heard all too rarely these days -- Brazil.
With Betty Buckley, Michael sang You Made Me Love You and then Buckley brought the house down with the song from Cats that she originated, Midnight.
In the second half of the program the orchestra took the lead again with the overture from Funny Girl. Ebersole then briefly sang with Michael followed by her own are-charging version of On The Atchison, Topeka And The Sante Fe, complete with bells and whistles.
As an encore, Feinstein, Ebersole and Buckley gave us That's Entertainment.
It was a glorious evening.
If you like the Great American Songbook as much as we do, try this: Click here to tune into The Penthouse. We guarantee you'll hear some of the finest music ever written sung by the greatest singers (including many newcomers) anywhere.
Help us keep this wonderful music alive!