Stand-out Poem in Your Pocket Day participants —<3
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James Salter speaks to high school students at 92Y on Mon, in the Poetry Center’s Schools Project. The purple socks are Richard Ford’s. Photograph by Nancy Crampton.
Read about their readings at 92Y later on in the evening, on Slate and ArtsBeat.
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![Jerome Kern, “The Dean” of the modern musical
A new Lyrics & Lyricists show opens tomorrow at 92Y: “The Song is You: Jerome Kern, Coast to Coast.” So a new cast is ready to take on our L&L Q&A series: jazz recording star Karrin Allyson, L&L favorite song and dance man Jeffrey Denman, Broadway’s longest-running “Phantom” Howard McGillin and bi-coastal cabaret celebrity Paula West.
What’s your favorite song from the American Songbook?Karrin Allyson: Today it might be “What a Wonderful World,” but who knows what it might be tomorrow? Jeffry Denman: “The Nearness of You”—music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Ned Washington Howard McGillin: “All The Things You Are”—it’s just about the most perfect song ever written. I don’t get to sing it in these concerts, but it’s in Debby Boone’s very capable hands. “The Way You Look Tonight,” also by Jerome Kern, is also one of my all-time faves. Paula West: “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, as sung by Mahalia Jackson.
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What other artists would you like to perform with whom you haven’t yet? Karrin: Bonnie Raitt! Jeffry: Chita Rivera and Sutton Foster Howard: I did a concert of Ragtime recently, and although I worked with Terrence McNally on Kiss Of The Spider Woman on Broadway, wouldn’t it be great if he and Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty teamed up again? Now that would be worth getting excited about! Paula: It would be a dream to perform with Bob Dylan or Cécile McLorin Salvant.
What is your favorite “guilty pleasure” song beyond the American Songbook—rock, country, hiphop, etc? Karrin: “Jolene” by Dolly Parton Jeffry: ‘70s progressive rock: early Genesis (not the Phil Collins Genesis of the ‘80s), Yes, etc Howard: Anything James Taylor. I’m a huge fan. Paula: I never feel guilty about what I listen to. In fact, I listen to “old school” R&B, funk, rock and country more than the Songbook. I love Marvin Gaye, Al Green, James Brown and Fringe.
What was your first professional gig? Karrin: At a restaurant called M’s Pub in Omaha Jeffry: I played Theo in Pippin at Reuben’s Backstage Dinner Theatre in Buffalo. I was 13 years old and making $27 a week—A FORTUNE!Howard: Sunday Mass at the Old Mission Santa Barbara. There was a folk mass every Sunday, and we were a tight little quartet of guitar, organ and two singers. We packed them in, and we had the wedding market in Santa Barbara sewn up for years! Paula: Singing in a Mexican restaurant in the Castro in San Francisco.
If you weren’t a performer, what would you do? Karrin: Some kind of environmental work, or possibly dealing with other languages somehow Jeffry: Either an architect or a comic book artist Howard: I’d teach. I also love carpentry; I love working with my hands and have done quite a bit of it. There’s something so satisfying about that kind of work. Paula: Something to do with the caring and rescuing of dogs.
What’s your favorite restaurant? Karrin: Any place that’s delicious and quiet. Jeffry: Thái Son Vietnamese Restaurant (89 Baxter St) in ChinatownHoward: Gabriel’s Bar & Restaurant (11 W 60th St.)—great food, location, ambience, and excellent service. Paula: Depends on the city: In New York: Bathazar (80 Spring St.), Cave Boulud (20 E 76th St.) and Shake Shack In San Francisco: Slanted Door (1 Ferry Bldg #3), Big 4 (Huntington Hotel) and Dottie’s True Blue Café (28 6th St.)
Who’s your favorite Beatle, and why? Karrin: I don’t think I have just one! Jeffry: Who: John Lennon; Why: “Nowhere Man,” “Because,” “If I Fall”Howard: When I was a kid, it was Paul all the way. Now I see them as a great, once-in-a-lifetime group of musicians who came together at the perfect time to create some of our most iconic musical standards. Paula: John Lennon. He seemed to be the most artistic and political, although George Harrison would be a close second.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/902dc1072488c3ce06dafbf92cf3349c/tumblr_mm8jsy03qp1qzsl3do1_500.jpg "Jerome Kern, “The Dean” of the modern musical
A new Lyrics & Lyricists show opens tomorrow at 92Y: “The Song is You: Jerome Kern, Coast to Coast.” So a new cast is ready to take on our L&L Q&A series: jazz recording star Karrin Allyson, L&L favorite song and dance man Jeffrey Denman, Broadway’s longest-running “Phantom” Howard McGillin and bi-coastal cabaret celebrity Paula West.
What’s your favorite song from the American Songbook?Karrin Allyson: Today it might be “What a Wonderful World,” but who knows what it might be tomorrow? Jeffry Denman: “The Nearness of You”—music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Ned Washington Howard McGillin: “All The Things You Are”—it’s just about the most perfect song ever written. I don’t get to sing it in these concerts, but it’s in Debby Boone’s very capable hands. “The Way You Look Tonight,” also by Jerome Kern, is also one of my all-time faves. Paula West: “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, as sung by Mahalia Jackson.
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What other artists would you like to perform with whom you haven’t yet? Karrin: Bonnie Raitt! Jeffry: Chita Rivera and Sutton Foster Howard: I did a concert of Ragtime recently, and although I worked with Terrence McNally on Kiss Of The Spider Woman on Broadway, wouldn’t it be great if he and Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty teamed up again? Now that would be worth getting excited about! Paula: It would be a dream to perform with Bob Dylan or Cécile McLorin Salvant.
What is your favorite “guilty pleasure” song beyond the American Songbook—rock, country, hiphop, etc? Karrin: “Jolene” by Dolly Parton Jeffry: ‘70s progressive rock: early Genesis (not the Phil Collins Genesis of the ‘80s), Yes, etc Howard: Anything James Taylor. I’m a huge fan. Paula: I never feel guilty about what I listen to. In fact, I listen to “old school” R&B, funk, rock and country more than the Songbook. I love Marvin Gaye, Al Green, James Brown and Fringe.
What was your first professional gig? Karrin: At a restaurant called M’s Pub in Omaha Jeffry: I played Theo in Pippin at Reuben’s Backstage Dinner Theatre in Buffalo. I was 13 years old and making $27 a week—A FORTUNE!Howard: Sunday Mass at the Old Mission Santa Barbara. There was a folk mass every Sunday, and we were a tight little quartet of guitar, organ and two singers. We packed them in, and we had the wedding market in Santa Barbara sewn up for years! Paula: Singing in a Mexican restaurant in the Castro in San Francisco.
If you weren’t a performer, what would you do? Karrin: Some kind of environmental work, or possibly dealing with other languages somehow Jeffry: Either an architect or a comic book artist Howard: I’d teach. I also love carpentry; I love working with my hands and have done quite a bit of it. There’s something so satisfying about that kind of work. Paula: Something to do with the caring and rescuing of dogs.
What’s your favorite restaurant? Karrin: Any place that’s delicious and quiet. Jeffry: Thái Son Vietnamese Restaurant (89 Baxter St) in ChinatownHoward: Gabriel’s Bar & Restaurant (11 W 60th St.)—great food, location, ambience, and excellent service. Paula: Depends on the city: In New York: Bathazar (80 Spring St.), Cave Boulud (20 E 76th St.) and Shake Shack In San Francisco: Slanted Door (1 Ferry Bldg #3), Big 4 (Huntington Hotel) and Dottie’s True Blue Café (28 6th St.)
Who’s your favorite Beatle, and why? Karrin: I don’t think I have just one! Jeffry: Who: John Lennon; Why: “Nowhere Man,” “Because,” “If I Fall”Howard: When I was a kid, it was Paul all the way. Now I see them as a great, once-in-a-lifetime group of musicians who came together at the perfect time to create some of our most iconic musical standards. Paula: John Lennon. He seemed to be the most artistic and political, although George Harrison would be a close second.")
Jerome Kern, “The Dean” of the modern musical
A new Lyrics & Lyricists show opens tomorrow at 92Y: “The Song is You: Jerome Kern, Coast to Coast.” So a new cast is ready to take on our L&L Q&A series: jazz recording star Karrin Allyson, L&L favorite song and dance man Jeffrey Denman, Broadway’s longest-running “Phantom” Howard McGillin and bi-coastal cabaret celebrity Paula West.
What’s your favorite song from the American Songbook?
Karrin Allyson: Today it might be “What a Wonderful World,” but who knows what it might be tomorrow?
Jeffry Denman: “The Nearness of You”—music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Ned Washington
Howard McGillin: “All The Things You Are”—it’s just about the most perfect song ever written. I don’t get to sing it in these concerts, but it’s in Debby Boone’s very capable hands. “The Way You Look Tonight,” also by Jerome Kern, is also one of my all-time faves.
Paula West: “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, as sung by Mahalia Jackson. -
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Jennifer Hudson is performing at 92Y’s Spring Gala on May 20 and we want you to come. See her perform, meet her, and have dinner & drinks on us. Enter now for your chance to win.
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Richard Engel On His Kidnapping: “I Was Annoyed That These People Were Going To End My Life”
Watch the video from his talk at 92Y on April 25.
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Jennifer Hudson is performing at 92Y’s Spring Gala on May 20 and we want you to come. Enter the sweepstakes for your chance at the Grand Prize, including a meet & greet with Jennifer Hudson, tickets to see her perform, and seats at the Gala for dinner and drinks! Enter now.
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Tune in for The Borowitz Report tonight, live from 92Y tonight at 8 pm. Andy Borowitz will be joined by Lizz Winstead, Hendrick Hertzberg and Jeffrey Toobin. Watch here.
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I live on the Upper East Side and get very little public attention when making Vines up here, which is great. No one batted an eye when I taped a Kurt Cobain poster to a Citibank or sent a saxophone on wheels down a sidewalk. An old woman stopped to talk to me about the fish that I spray painted ‘JESUS’ onto, but she was really sweet. I hear a lot of people mutter ‘only in New York’ when they walk by.
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A Chat with Keelay, Maker of Good Vines by Todd Van Luling (via joshfjelstad)
As a cultural and community center on the Upper East Side, we have some very exciting Vines planned!
(“We do?” “We do now.”)
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Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner, January Jones and Jessica Paré were here on April 24 to talk Mad Men and Don Draper’s wives. Watch full video of the event.
