Featured Events

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  The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations and other Gershwin hits.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 The evening includes live performances of the solo version of Rhapsody in Blue, early and unpublished music, the piano improvisations [...]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 [...]

On Sept. 9, 1956, more than 60 million people witnessed a young entertainer with gyrating hips and a honey-coated baritone voice croon his way into national consciousness on The Ed Sullivan Show. His rubbery legs spread wide apart, head thrown carelessly back and mouth twitching, it was apparent that this man was different. With an [...]

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. [...]

Jazz has been, from its very beginnings at the turn of the 20th century, a constantly evolving, expanding, changing music, passing through several distinctive phases of development. Spend a Saturday morning with George Scharr and Robert Wyatt exploring its history and sampling its history. Life music will flavor the story.

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 [...]

Jazz has been, from its very beginnings at the turn of the 20th century, a constantly evolving, expanding, changing music, passing through several distinctive phases of development. Spend a Saturday morning with George Scharr and Robert Wyatt exploring its history and sampling its history. Life music will flavor the story.

In temperament and background, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were wildly dissimilar, but the two accommodated their often tempestuous relationship to generate brilliantly crafted musicals such as Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Gigi, and Camelot. Learn the origins of enduring songs like Almost Like Being in Love, The Night They Invented Champagne, [...]

August 17 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence was one of Great Britain’s brightest theatrical stars during the first half of the 20th century. A lifelong friend and colleague of Noel Coward, Lawrence ‘s forte was sophisticated musical comedy, where she exuded a lively, charismatic stage presence that easily overcame her [...]

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence was one of Great Britain's brightest theatrical stars during the first half of the 20th century. A lifelong friend and colleague of Noel Coward, Lawrence 's forte was sophisticated musical comedy, where she exuded a lively, charismatic stage presence that easily overcame her shortcomings as a singer. She was sometimes criticized [...]