The Dress Circle this week (4/14 7:00 p.m.) will be heading off to Carnegie Hall for some concert performances, and there won’t be a single note of classical music. In 1938, Benny Goodman took a chance and presented the first jazz concert at the hall, and it was successful. The hall was filled, people danced and enjoyed the concert, and they didn’t tear the seats apart as was feared. Since that time, there have been a variety of concerts, and we’ll be looking at a few of them.
We’ll be including selections by Goodman and his orchestra, Jussi Bjorling, Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett from their television special in 1962, Peter Allen’s visit in 1984, and a gala honoring the work of Stephen Sondheim from 1992 entitled “Sondheim – A Celebration at Carnegie Hall.” We’ve also planned selections from two semi-staged concert versions of musicals, Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle” with a cast that includes Bernadette Peters, Scott Bakula, and Madeline Kahn and Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” with Reba McIntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Imagine, you’ll get to Carnegie Hall, and you won’t have to practice one iota!
