Sat 1/27 @ 8PM
Sun 1/28 @ 3PM
George and Ira Gershwin penned some of the best popular songs of the 20th century and many film hits including the Academy Award winning, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and the classic, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” Their Hollywood scores included the songs and underscoring for Shall We Dance, A Damsel in Distress, The Goldwyn Follies and The Shocking Miss Pilgrim.
Unfortunately, George Gershwin died of a brain tumor at age 38, leaving us to wonder what he might have composed.
The Musical Theater Project’s lecture-concert, “The Gershwins in Hollywood,” tells the story of George’s last years. The program features TMTP founder Bill Rudman and Paul Ferguson, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Joe Hunter Trio, Vince Mastro and Treva Offutt.
Paul Ferguson, who is artistic director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, is a graduate of the University of Akron and Eastman School of Music. He is a well-known trombonist who toured with Glenn Miller’s and Tommy Dorsey’s orchestras, playing classic swing arrangements from the 1930s and 40s.
Presently, Ferguson is the director of Jazz Studies at Case Western Reserve University, a position he has held since 1988. He is an active composer and often plays in the pit when Broadway musicals come to Cleveland. He has collaborated with the Musical Theater Project for the past four years, including last year’s Cy Coleman tribute.
He looks forward to doing the Gershwin program as he thinks that George, though not a jazz composer, “had jazz sensibilities.”
The concert will also feature Vince Mastro, referred to as the “Dean of Cleveland vocalists” and singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, teacher, musical theater director and visual artist Treva Offutt.
Saturday’s performance is at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre; Sunday’s is at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood. Tickets range from $35-$55
[Written by Roy Berko, Member, American Theatre Critics Association & Cleveland Critics Circle]
Cleveland, OH 44115