The first show at Ovations for fall 2010 went wonderfully well, thanks to the great work of vocalists Betty Brown, Melody Duarte, Michael Johnston, Elizabeth Karkowsky, Oliver Pennington and Kay Wheeler.  The program consisted of the following songs:

First Segment involved introducing each performer:  September in the Rain/September Morn (Glennie); As If We Never Said Goodby from Sunset Boulevard by Lloyd-Webber (Kay); Something’s Coming from West Side Story (Michael); Adelaide’s Lament from Guys and Dolls (Betty); Don’t Cry Out Loud (Elizabeth); Other Pleasures from Aspects of Love (Oliver); I’d Give My Life for You from Miss Saigon (Melody);

Second Segment was based on Roy G Biv, and included:  The Colors of My Life from Barnum (Michael & Glennie); Orange Colored Sky (Elizabeth).   Then a  group sing along of Red Sails in the  Sunset; Yellow Rose of Texas; Green, Green; Blue Skies; Mood Indigo; and Sweet Violets;  this was followed by Michael’s rendition of Over the Rainbow.

The third segment consisted of Melody performing Being Alive from Company, Elizabeth singing Crazy, and Betty racing through Twisted.  The first set ended with the five women singing Defying Gravity from Wicked, which earned a standing ovation from the audience.

Set II began with Seems Like Old Times interwoven with Somewhere in Time (Glennie), followed by In the Mood (Elizabeth), Stuff Like That There (Betty), Moonlight Becomes You (Michael) which is the gorgeous arrangement done by Rebecca Oswald over remnants of the Moonlight Sonata; that segued into Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon sung by Melody.  (For me, that may have been the most luscious moment of the night – beautiful emotional work by both singers).

The next segment included two songs from the movie A Star is Born in the 1970′s with Streisand and Kristofferson – I Believe in Love (Glennie) and Queen Bee (Kay), followed by If I Ruled the World (Oliver) – a fitting song for one of Houston’s newest City Councilmen.  We then did a short sing along of What a Wonderful World and I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.

The third segment of the second set was our slightly naughty group – it included Michael’s singing T’aint Nobody’s Business, Glennie doing If I Can’t Sell It I’m Gonna Sit Down On It, and the trio of Betty, Kay and Glennie singing Hard Candy Christmas from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Melody segued us into the last segment with the Kander & Ebb song Sing Happy, followed by Oliver singing Without a Song and Kay singing How Can I Keep from Singing mixed with His Eye Is On the Sparrow.  The show ended with Glennie singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and the performers and the audience joining in.

After giving the performers a moment to take their bows, we broke into Swing Low, Sweet Chariot leading directly into This Little Light of Mine, with the singers going into the audience.   Everyone  seemed to have a great time, especially the entertainers themselves.

May is a busy month for me, but I must confess it’s going to be more about going to see and hear other people than performing myself.
But, I will be at Cavatore on Ella Blvd. in May as follows:
Tuesday, May 11 – 6-9
Sunday, May 16 – 5:30-8:30
Sunday, May 23 – 5:30-8:30

What else is on my monthly calendar?

I played a pre-Mother’s Day luncheon at the Hampton in Tanglewood on May 2nd and then attended the Houston Pops Symphony concert with the group Pink Martini that evening – (check them out – fabulous!)

I’ve met with people at the Houston Aphasia Recovery Center to try to find a way to do some volunteer work with that organization.

I hope to go to Ovations on the 8th to hear Tom Michaels’ cabaret show – Tom (now in Chicago), along with Floyd Nash (now in Florida), were the first two people I did a show with at Ovations oh-so-many years ago.

I’ll be going to Austin for a visit with parts of my family for Mother’s Day.

I’m planning to attend Bayou City Musical Concert series on Monday the 10th at the Ensemble Theater. They’ll be performing the music of Vincent Youmans.

On May 14th I’m headed to Galveston to see the one-woman show about Ann Richards at the 1894 Opera House there.

Hopefully I’ll be able to fit in “Reefer Madness” at TheaterLab one weekend.

My monthly performance at the Treemont Retirement home will be on the 28th.

And on the 30th I’ll be going to see “Young Frankenstein.”

All in all a busy month with lots of events to rev up my energy. I hope the same for you.

It has become my tradition to do a solo show in April made up entirely of requests from the people who buy tickets for the evening. Of course, some people make no requests, while others suggest several song so that I can make a selection. This year proved very special. I began with a list of about 60 songs, but needless to say I cannot sing/play 60 songs in less than 2 hours, so I made some choices.
The set list became the following
SET I
On the Sunny Side of the Street
These Foolish Things
With a Song in My Heart/Unexpected Song
Green Eyes
Hernando’s Hideaway
Fascination
Pieces of Dreams
Don’t Fence me In
Have I Told You Lately/Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
Twisted (I didn’t have time to learn the melody, so I “rapped” it)
Midnight Sun/A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
I Remember Sky
I’ve Got the World on a String
Bacharach Medley – Do You Know the Way to San Jose/I Say a Little
Prayer, Raindrops keep Fallin’ on My Head, What the World Needs Now
Yellow Bird
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

SET II
Accentuate the Positive
New York, New York
Send in the Clowns
Ev’rything’s Up to Date in Kansas City
The Sound of Music
Music of the Night
Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Dieter’s Prayer
The Rose
What I Did for Love
The Song Is Ended/It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing
You Raise Me Up
Let There Be Peace on Earth

The audience was wonderful – they sang when appropriate, laughed at most of my stories, and hopefully they had a great time. I know that they drank most of the champagne and ate all of the food at the after party!

It was great way to end the season.

Sunday, March 14, I had the pleasure of playing and singing with Barbara Johnson, Steve Riley and Craig Ryan. I researched the lyrics of Johnny Mercer and we put together the first set of the program as follows:

1. On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe
2. The Summer Wind
3. Skylark (written with Hoagy Carmichael)
4. That Old Black Magic
5. I’m an Old Cowhand
6. I’m Old Fashioned
7. Dearly Beloved (the above and this were written with Jerome Kern)
8. Glowworm and Goody Goody (the audience did a great job of singing
along)
9. I Wanna Be Around
10. Once Upon a Summer Time (written with Michel Legrand – English
lyrics especially written for Blossom Dearie)
11. Autumn Leaves – another translation from the French
12. When the World Was Young – and the same as above
13. Pardon My Southern Accent
14. If I Had My Druthers
15. A Woman’s Perogative (written with Harold Arlen for St. Louis Woman)
16. You’re Just Too Marvelous, Jeepers Creepers & You Must Have Been
a Beautiful Baby – audience sing along

The second set was made up of some of our favorite lyrics, including the following:
1. I Remember You/ Where or When
2. Show Me (from My Fair Lady)
3. I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight (from Camelot)
4. Strong Woman Number (from I’m Getting My Act Together and …)
5. Impossible Dream (from Man of La Mancha)
6. Sweet Dreams (yes, Barbara sang the Patsy Cline standard)
7. The Rose (Steve and I reprised our recorded version)
8. Annie’s Song (John Denver lives on in Craig and his guitar)
9. Being Alive (from Company)
10. Summer Me, Winter Me (one of Alan & Marilyn Bergman’s most sensual
lyrics!)
11. If I Had a Hammer/What a Wonderful World – with the audience

12. The White Cliffs of Dover
13. Day Is Done
14. Danny Boy (in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the following Wednesday)
15. Some Day
16. If We Only Have Love (Jacques Brel)
17. Do You Hear the People Sing? (from Les Miz)

As an encore, we returned to Johnny Mercer and the group sang my arrangement of “Dream.”

It was a lovely audience, and a good time was had by all????

What fun we had at Ovations! The audience was just wonderful, and it was a joy to work with Kathleen, Jerry and Aike. Being able to present the music of Henry Mancini is a great way to spend Valentine’s Evening.
The program consisted of:
1) Theme from Peter Gunn – piano
2) Charade – Aike & Kathleen
3) It’s Easy to Say (I Love You) – from “10″ – Aike
4) The Days of Wine & Roses – Jerry
5) The Sweetheart Tree – from “The Great Race” – Kathleen
6) In the Arms of Love – from “What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?” – Glennie
7) Mr. Lucky – Aike & Jerry
8) Anyhere the Heart Goes – from “The Thornbirds” – Glennie & Kathleen
9) Baby Elephant Walk – from “Hatari” – piano
10) Slow Hot Wind – Glennie
11) Le Jazz Hot – from “Victor, Victoria” – Aike & Glennie
12) Whistling Away the Dark – from “Darling Lili” – Kathleen
13) Two for the Road – Glennie & Jerry
14) Moon River – from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” – Quartet

After a brief intermission we returned to sing songs suitable for Valentine’s Day including:
1) “Nearer” by Rodgers & Hart – Quartet
2) A Cole Porter Medley including “Begin the Beguine,” “I Love You,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “In the Still of the Night” and “Night and Day”
3) Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” – Kathleen
4) “Time after Time” – Jerry
5) A quick compilation of audience requests for favorite love songs – 20 + song references in less than 3 mins. – Glennie
6) “Anything Goes” – sung with the audience
7) Rodgers & Hart’s “My Heart Stood Still” – Jerry & Kathleen
8) Gershwin’s “Our Love Is Here to Stay” – Aike
9) “Somewhere in Time” & Rachmaninoff’s 18th Variation on a Theme by Paganini (it was played by the music box in the movie) – Glennie
10) Irving Berlin’s “You’re Just in Love” from Call Me Madam – Jerry & Glennie
11) Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s in Love with You/The Look of Love” – Jerry
12) Four verses of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It” – with the audience
13) Michel LeGrand’s “How Do You Keep the Music Playing – Aike & Glennie
14) “The Promise” – Kathleen
15) Gershwin’s “Embraceable You” – Aike & Kathleen
16) The quintessential Valentine song, Rodgers & Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” – arranged for the quartet (since we all wanted to sing it, what else could I do?)
For our encore we returned to the music of Henry Mancini for “Dear Heart”

On January 24, Cavatore presented “La Musica Italiana” for 92 fun-filled fans who ate Caesar Salad, a pasta entree, and enjoyed their choice of Tiramisu or Profiteroles for dessert with coffee.

In between courses, the lovely pianist/singer Leah Stonum, the always beautiful soprano Barbara Johnson, the ever-so-charming and funny(!) Bob Luna and I made music. All the songs we did were either traditional Italian (O Sole Mio; Funiculi, Funicula; Eh, Cumpari!, Al di La), about things Italian (Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Three Coins in the Fountain, Mambo Italiano), operatic or semi-operatic (O Mio Babbino Caro, The Italian Street Song, Quando Men Vo), or a part of our tribute to the great Italian-American singers (Sinatra, Como, etc.)

We had such a good time both in rehearsals and also performing. The audience sang along lustily on tunes such as Volare and That’s Amore; great fun!

My known dates for performance remaining in November are:

Cavatore Italian Restaurant on Ella Blvd. -
Tuesday the 10th, and Thursday the 19th from 6-9 p.m.

Red Onion Seafood y Mas on 290 -
Saturday the 21st from 7-9 p.m.

I would love for you to come by to hear/see me and enjoy some music while having a nice dinner.

Now – to the story at hand. 
   If you missed “Puttin’ on the Glitz” at Ovations last night, all I can say is you missed a great fun, funny, evening in which the multi-talented Australian/Houstonian pianist Theresa Behenna joined with me in making some music and telling some stories about our lives as performers during the past number of years.
   Using both the piano and my trusty Privia digital piano (complete with strings, organ, electric piano sounds), we did solo and duo musical stints, having the fun of jamming on some blues and jiving on that great swing tune In the Mood. 
   Since Theresa is also a professional public speaker and I’ve enjoyed membership in Toastmasters International for more than ten years and we’re both as verbal as we are musical, we enjoyed having the audience laugh as we told stories about:
Playing for strippers
Playing first gig only knowing Beatles songs
Playing for Andrew Lloyd-Webber
Flirtations with a French-Canadian actor
The man at the end of the bar
Leading sing alongs
Having an entire restaurant/club march out the door

   After giving a brief demonstration of how one tune, such as “Satin Doll” can sound very different when played by two pianists, we went on to talk about some of our differences.   We talked about accents and words, (who knew that although Aussies say “to-mah-to” they also say “po-tay-to”), foods (I’m sorry but we all know that peanut butter and jelly is much better than vege-mite!), and music (granted, even “play my dirigeridoo” is better than “grandma got run over by a reindeer).
   Theresa gave a rendition of “Waltzing Mathilda” a la Strauss, Floyd Cramer and Jerry Lee Lewis, and I gave renditions of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” a la Beethoven, Gershwin, 70′s rock and a bit of rap.
   During much of this we were adding pieces of glitzy jewelry after almost every song, ending up with bracelets, watches, rings, earrings, necklaces – and by the end of the show Liberace style jackets and one Liberace cape … and tiaras!

The entire program consisted of:
Puttin’ on the Ritz (Glitz)
Beatles Medley
My Fair Lady Medley w/ audience sing along
Pizza Parlor Sing Along
Andrew Lloyd Webber Medley
The Snake
A Trivia Contest (so do you know what year Ghost Riders the Sky
    came out?)
In the Mood
Piano Man
Satin Doll
Papa’s Blues (complete with harmonica, also known as a mouth organ)
Come in from the Rain
Theresa – The Apartment, more singing along and Malaguena
Glennie - Showstopper, Dieter’s Prayer, Nearness of You, 
              I Love Men
And All That Jazz (you’d have had to be there to see this)
Those Were (These Are) the Days

     It is a true joy for me to get to work with the various people I have join me for my Ovations shows – and this event was certainly one of the most joyous for me and for the audience!
                                                                             

Wow!  Did I ever get behind!  So 2009 has been a whirlwind, beginning with a much-anticipated trip to Australia and New Zealand, leaving on January 1 of 2009.  February’s show at Ovations featured the lovely Kathleen Knight, the ever-so-smooth Jerry Roberts, and the always debonair Aike Jamal – we performed the gorgeous music and lyrics of Michel LeGrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, plus other appropriate love songs for Valentine’s month.  March’s Ovations show featured the gorgeous performances of Barbara Johnson, Steve Riley and Craig Ryan.  I had a great time doing my once-a-year solo birthday show in April consisting entirely of requests made by ticket buyers – always an interesting insight for me as to what people really want to hear me do.  Mother’s Day gave me a chance to create an appropriate show with Holly Vee and Faith Ayers, honoring all mothers as well as anyone who ever had a mother.
Between shows I seem to be kept busy with my students, my family, my friends, my house, my health and a few special events that I take the opportunity to either attend or perform, as well as planning future shows or trips.
In June my dear friend and great travel companion Kay and I took off on a 24-day road trip, driving from Houston through Memphis, St. Louis, the Amish country of southern Ohio, western New York (spending 4th of July in Niagara Falls), to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and across on a ferry to Nova Scotia for three nights, then back to Maine (and a revisit to Ogunquit – one of my favorite places on earth, with a great piano bar), over to Stowe Vt then down through New York to Lancaster County, PA, west through Kentucky to Nashville and back home to Houston.  Truly a great trip – and the experience of a lifetime.
Hit the next day running with a full schedule of teaching and planning my September show featuring Judy England and Elizabeth Karkowsky and the music of Harold Arlen, which was wonderfully received and which we re-worked and presented in October at Cavatore where I’ve been playing a couple of times a month all year.
We entitled the October Ovations show “Is That Classical or Pop?” and featured music of a classical background which has been popularized during the 20th century – “Till the End of Time,” “Could It Be Magic,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and “All By Myself” are some examples.  It was a glorious evening with Barbara Johnson, Steve Riley & Craig Ryan and a full house.  We started with Mozart (did you know he composed the music for “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” aka “The ABC Song”?) and ended with Borodin’s music featured in “Kismet.”

    My special thanks to all who shared the April 13th date with me, as I completed this season’s saga of shows.   FYI:  I plan to return to Ovations to do three shows in the fall – September 14, October 12, and November 9.  I hope you will plan to share some special evenings of music with me.    

     For those of you who wanted to know what songs/pieces I played on my solo show, here is the list, chosen from more that 75 suggestions, to the best of my memory and notes.

SET I.

1. Moondance
2. Summer of ’42 (Michel LeGrand)
3. Music Box Dancer/At the Ballet (from Chorus Line)
4. South Pacific Sing Along – There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame, Honey Bun, Dites-Moi, Some Enchanted Evening (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
5. Slaughter on 10th Avenue (Richard Rodgers)
6. Blues in the Night (Harold Arlen)
7. In the Still of the Night (Cole Porter)
8. Reynosa (Amanda McBroom)
9. Put Your Head on My Shoulder/Blueberry Hill
10. September Song/Mamselle/The Very Thought of You/ It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
11. Harlem Nocturne
12. Cuando Caliente El Sol/Granada
13. A Nightingale Sang in Berk’ley Square
14. Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina

SET II

1. In My Life (Beatles)
2. Mozart’s Turkish March/Tico-Tico
3. Gershwin Prelude #2/Summertime
4. Body and Soul
5. Four Nights Drunk
6. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington)
7. Phantom of the Opera Medley – Think of Me, All I Ask of You, Music of the Night
8. Oklahoma Sing Along – Oh, What a Beautiful Morning; Surrey with the Fringe on Top; People Will Say We’re in Love; Oklahoma
9. Send in the Clowns (Sondheim)
10. Oh, Boy!  Can That Boy Foxtrot! (Sondheim)
11. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life (LeGrand)
12. Old Friend (from I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road)
13. You’ll Never Walk Alone (from Carousel)
14. Noel Coward’s I’ll See You Again/See You in September

     As you can see, it was a celebration of electicism – I have often said I have eclectic tastes in music, and apparently so do my friends (who are a rather eclectic group themselves, thank goodness).  I’m looking forward to a little R&R, and then re-grouping to create three very special events for the fall.   Be well, be safe, be happy.

     What can I say?  Well, once again the laryngitis gremlins stole my voice, and this time I was well rescued by my wonderful co-singers, Kathleen, Jerry, and Aike, as well as a terrific crowd attending the event.   Only one song had to actually be dropped.  Otherwise the program went on – well, not as planned – but in the order as planned.
     For the more familiar songs that I had planned to sing, I simply created a last minute song sheet for the audience and asked them to sing the songs, which they did exceedingly well.  It certainly doesn’t hurt to pad the audience with my friends and students who sing, and members of the Jr. League Sustainers Music Therapy group, and members of the choirs at both the churches where Kathleen sings and where Jerry is now a minister.  That ensemble made the rafters shake!   A big thank you to all.
     Truth be told, it’s difficult to have a bad program if you include the great lyrics and melodies of the Gershwin brothers, Rodgers & Hart, and Cole Porter.  
      I have been laughing about the lyrics of the song that did not get sung, called “It’s Got to Be Love,” which begin with the line: “It’s got to be love; it couldn’t be tonsillitis (I substituted the word “laryngitis” on a regular basis when practicing); it feels like neuritis, but nevertheless it’s love.  Don’t tell me the pickles and pie a la mode they served me unnerved me and made my heart feel like a broken-down pump.  (etc.)”    …. and then I got laryngitis the afternoon before the program!    C’est la vie, c’est la guerre, c’est l’amour!
     There was a terrific “buzz” in the room before we began the program, and much to my delight there was even more of one when we ended – that’s always a good sign, that indeed “a good time was had by all.”   That is always my intent – that the audience hears some truly great compositions, performed with intent and integrity, and a few people learn something, and everyone leaves feeling joyful.
     Do I have a great job, or what!