When George Gershwin died just a few weeks short of his 39th birthday, his brother and writing partner, Ira, was devastated and withdrew from public life and writing. It took Kurt Weill, Moss Hart, and a musical about psychoanalysis to get Ira writing again, and on this week’s Dress Circle (9/28 7:00 p.m.), we’ll be looking at some of the works that Ira penned after George.
Those works include stage musicals like “The Firebrand of Florence” and “Lady in the Dark” which he wrote with Weill and “The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936” which he wrote with Vernon Duke.
The film scores we’ll be sampling include “Cover Girl” which he wrote with Jerome Kern, “The Barkley’s of Broadway“ with Harry Warren, and “Give a Girl a Break” which paired him with Harold Arlen among others.
Our performers include Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Fred Astaire, Bob Fosse, Judy Garland, Ruthie Henshall, Christine Ebersole, Rise Stevens, Dany Kay, Elizabeth Futral, Thomas Hampson, Judy Andrews, and more.
Join us for an hour of wonderful lyrics by Ira Gershwin set to music by some of the best composers from Broadway and Hollywood. Oh, and the performers aren’t bad either.
