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In the 1940s, America was making ready for, fighting in or helping the world heal from the ravages of World War II. Film entertainment was an elixir for the country’s heartaches and the eight major Hollywood studios cranked out over 550 musicals during the decade, films bursting with sumptuous production numbers, naïve plots and phenomenal [...]

The golden age of the Hollywood musical reached its zenith in the 1950s, a time when a new younger market, post-war affluence, middle-class values, the Korean War and rock and roll music changed the focus of the film industry. The major studios were blessed by an improved Technicolor process, a widescreen format and production designs [...]

Steinway Artist Robert Wyatt has performed throughout the United States and internationally, gathering critical acclaim for sensitive and colorful solo, orchestral and chamber music recitals. Featured on NPR and PBS broadcasts, Mr. Wyatt has also performed at the Kennedy Center, The Phillips Collection, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the [...]

Enjoy your fantasies and remembrances as Robert Wyatt takes you through Judy Garland’s extraordinary life. Film clips will be abundant, starting with The Broadway Melody of 1938 and moving through 1944 blockbuster Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Cole Porter’s gem-ridden The Pirate of 1948 and the sizzling A Star is Born, the [...]

Steinway Artist Robert Wyatt has performed throughout the United States and internationally, gathering critical acclaim for sensitive and colorful solo, orchestral and chamber music recitals. Featured on NPR and PBS broadcasts, Mr. Wyatt has also performed at the Kennedy Center, The Phillips Collection, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

Films created during the 1960s belong to the most creative era in cinema history, a time of tremendous social change, the Vietnam War, fashion, fads, rock ‘n’ roll and the acceleration of technological ingenuity. However, movie audiences were rapidly diminishing due to the dominance of the television industry and only 145 musicals were produced in [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theatre. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. The New York production of The Phantom of the Opera, which opened [...]

Enjoy your remembrances of Judy Garland as American music specialist Robert Wyatt takes you through her extraordinary life. Film clips will be abundant, starting with The Broadway Melody of 1938 and moving through 1944 blockbuster Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Cole Porter’s gem-ridden The Pirate of 1948 and the sizzling A Star [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

South Pacific, the 4th musical play of Rodgers and Hammerstein, was premiered in 1949 on Broadway and was an immediate hit, running for 1,925 performances. The plot is based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific, combines elements of several of those stories. Rodgers and Hammerstein believed they could write a [...]

Please note: This event has been postponed, and will be rescheduled. Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this exploration of George Gershwin’s piano repertoire. The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations [...]

Join pianist and Gershwin authority Robert Wyatt, co-editor of Oxford University Press’ The George Gershwin Reader, in this lively program exploring George Gershwin’s life and legacy.  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.  Rare film footage obtained from [...]

The King and I is the fifth musical of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel, Anna and the King of Siam, derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical premiered on March 29, [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theater. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals appear simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. Mr. Webber has collected a variety of honors including knighthood, seven [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a global empire unrivaled in the history of musical theater. In 1983, he was the first composer to have three musicals appear simultaneously on Broadway and in London’s West End, a feat he duplicated five years later. Mr. Webber has collected a variety of honors including knighthood, seven [...]

The original Broadway production of The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened in 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. The first London production opened at the Palace Theatre in 1961. The show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It was adapted as [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

After being sold to a mortician, young orphan Oliver Twist runs away and meets a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor.The story of the Charles Dickens character leaps onto the cinematic stage with suspense, gaiety and wonderful songs by Lionel Bart and John Green.

Please come to Isley Library to attend the Diamond Jubilee of The Sound of Music! The original Broadway production, starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, out of nine nominations. In 1965, it was adapted as a film musical [...]

Enjoy your fantasies and remembrances as Robert Wyatt takes you through Judy Garland’s extraordinary life. Film clips will be abundant, starting with The Broadway Melody of 1938 and moving through 1944 blockbuster Meet Me in St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Cole Porter’s gem-ridden The Pirate of 1948 and the sizzling A Star is Born, the [...]

In temperament, personality and background, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were perhaps the most dissimilar of all of the great songwriting teams. Yet together they penned some of the most original and successful musicals written during the Golden Age of Broadway, hits beginning with Brigadoon in 1947 and ending with Gigi in 1973. Between [...]

Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice. Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. [...]

Although ragtime music was first heard at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, it took another seven years for the syncopated music to become the rage of the new century. Scott Joplin wrote the bulk of the most-remembered classical piano rags, but dozens of other composers vied for his recognition. From Kansas City came James [...]

Beginning with The Jazz Singer in 1927, music has been an integral part of the motion picture films. While stimulating emotion, broadening the plot, creating drama and intrigue, the correct song at an opportune moment projects incredible power. Musical films have bequeathed us many of the finest songs of all time. Enjoy them with memorable [...]

The Cotton Club, favored by the city’s elite, was dubbed “the Aristocrat of Harlem.” Its patrons included British royalty and celebrities like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Paul Whiteman and Marlene Dietrich. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway conducted their innovative jazz bands and great black entertainers like Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne and Josephine [...]