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| 92nd Street Y Gala Honors Cy Coleman |
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| Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500 |
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| Media Contact: Jennifer Dorr, 212.415.5455, email |
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| IT STARTED WITH A DREAM |
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| A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE & MUSIC OF |
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| CY COLEMAN |
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A Gala Benefit Supporting the 92nd Street Y's Programs
Performances and Reminiscences by Friends and Colleagues Including:
LUCIE ARNAZ, STEPHEN BOGARDUS, MIKE BURSTYN, ROBERT GOULET, RANDY GRAFF, SHELDON HARNICK, DEE HOTY, CADY HUFFMAN, JUDY KAYE, MICHELE LEE, JAMES NAUGHTON, BILLY PORTER, CHITA RIVERA, ELAINE STRITCH, WENDY WASSERSTEIN, LILLIAS WHITE, TOM WOPAT, DAVID ZIPPEL & OTHERS
Executive Producer: Helaine Geismar Katz
Producers/Directors: Jeffrey Martin and John Kroner
Monday, May 23, at 8:00 PM, Followed by Dessert Reception
Limited seating available for journalists on assignment / Press reservations at 212-415-5455
For tickets at $500, call 212-415-5488 |
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| New York, NY, April, 20, 2005—On Monday, May 23, the 92nd Street Y presents IT STARTED WITH A DREAM: A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CY COLEMAN, a gala benefit supporting the 92nd Street Y — the city's "cultural, spiritual and physical haven for all New Yorkers" (The New York Times). This event looks back at the remarkable career of Grammy and Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Cy Coleman (1929-2004), who composed the ebullient musical scores of such Broadway shows as Sweet Charity, The Will Rogers Follies and City of Angels, as well as such pop standards as "Witchcraft," "Big Spender" and "The Best is Yet to Come." Tonight, Lucie Arnaz, Stephen Bogardus, Mike Burstyn, Robert Goulet, Randy Graff, Sheldon Harnick, Gary Haase, Dee Hoty, Cady Huffman, Judy Kaye, Michele Lee, James Naughton, Chita Rivera, Elaine Stritch, Wendy Wasserstein, Lillias White, Buddy Williams, Tom Wopat, and David Zippel — all friends and colleagues of Cy Coleman — perform his songs and share their personal memories. This show was not originally intended as a posthumous tribute; Mr. Coleman was involved in preliminary planning for the benefit before his death on November 18, 2004. |
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Cy Coleman's involvement with the 92nd Street Y spanned decades. According to his widow, Shelby Coleman, "Cy attended many musical performances at the Y when he was a kid." His knowledge of the 92nd Street Y — and its quirks — is evident in his musical Sweet Charity (1966), in which he and co-writers Dorothy Fields (lyrics) and Neil Simon (book) set a scene in a stalled 92nd Street Y elevator. Coleman appeared on the 92nd Street Y stage both as a performer and a commentator on the American music. An accomplished pianist, Coleman first performed on the 92nd Street Y stage in a 1972 celebration of the lyrics of Dorothy Fields. He later participated in musical tributes to Carolyn Leigh (1980), Sheldon Harnick (1992), and Maurice Levine (1998), who produced the Y's long-running American Songbook series Lyrics & Lyricists. In 1993, Coleman performed a program called "The Swinging Songs of Cy Coleman" with The Cy Coleman Trio as part of the Y's summer jazz festival, Jazz in July, and in 1987, he spoke about the art of composing with students in a Y class on musical theater. |
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Coleman was also a 92nd Street Y parent, with a daughter enrolled in a variety of 92nd Street Y programs for children. Last fall, he and his wife, Shelby Coleman, met with Helaine Geismar Katz, Associate Executive Director of the 92nd Street Y and producers Jeffrey Martin and John Kroner, to begin shaping this gala. Says Geismar Katz , "Cy was so warm, so very talented. His music reflects his verve, intensity, and generosity of spirit, and we hope this show does too." She adds, "We want to express our gratitude to Shelby for her help and support in planning this event." Ms. Coleman and other family members attend the tribute on May 23. Shelby Coleman comments, "Cy loved the Y and our family used it. We took classes, belonged to the gym and more. He always said that the 92nd Street Y was one of the greatest institutions in the city." |
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This show takes its name from Coleman's song "It Started With a Dream," the anthem of his last musical, Pamela's First Musical (based on a children's book by Wendy Wasserstein). The cast is composed of Coleman's friends and collaborators, as well as Broadway stars and cabaret legends known for their renditions of Coleman's songs. The evening's highlights include: |
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Lilias White, who won a Tony for her performance in The Life, sings songs from two Coleman musicals never staged in New York: "Those Hands" from In the Pocket, and a duet called "It Started With A Dream" from Pamela's First Musical (with Tom Wopat). |
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Elaine Stritch sings the standard "It Amazes Me." |
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Robert Goulet sings the standard "Witchcraft." |
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Lucie Arnaz, who starred in the national tour of Coleman's Seesaw and first met the composer when, as a child, performs the standard "The Best Is Yet to Come." |
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Dee Hoty, who performed on Broadway in Will Rogers Follies (Tony nomination) and City of Angels (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), and on national tour in Barnum, singing "No Man Left For Me" (from Will Rogers Follies). |
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Tom Wopat, who made his Broadway debut in Coleman's I Love My Wife and starred in Coleman's City of Angels, sings "Never Met a Man I Did Not Like"( Will Rogers Follies) and "It Started With a Dream"(Pamela's First Musical). |
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Michele Lee, who starred in the Broadway production of Seesaw (Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award, Tony nomination), sings "I'm Way Ahead" from Seesaw. |
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James Naughton who won a Tony for his role in City of Angels, sings "Everybody Today Is Turning On"( I Love My Wife) and "You're Nothing Without Me (from City of Angels; with Stephen Bogardus). |
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Reminiscences from lyricist Sheldon Harnick (who partnered with Coleman on songs for film and TV ); playwright Wendy Wasserstein (who worked with Coleman on Pamela's First Musical); and David Zippel (who collaborated with Coleman on both City of Angels and Pamela's First Musical). |
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| A complete song list will be available at the event. Cast biographies are available upon request. |
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Helaine Geismar Katz is the executive producer of IT STARTED WITH A DREAM. The show is produced and directed by Jeffrey Martin and John Kroner and written by Russell Reich (the same creative team that put together the 92nd Street Y's 2004 gala show, 130 Years at the 92nd Street Y). Larry Blank is the music director and John Miller is music contractor. Tom Schwinn is set designer; Herrick Goldman is lighting designer; Daryl Bornstein is sound designer and the projections are by Aleks Rosenberg. Christopher Bynum and Catherine Cochran, of the 92nd Street Y, are, respectively, production coordinator and artistic administrator. |
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| Proceeds from this benefit go toward the 92nd Street Y's cultural, educational and community programs. The funds also support the Y's $1-million-a-year Scholarship Fund, which enables everyone to participate in Y programs regardless of economic circumstance, and the Y's Arts Outreach Program, which serves 6,000 public elementary school students annually. |
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| BENEFIT DETAILS |
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Time: 6:00 cocktails/dinner; 8:00 p.m. show, 9:30 p.m. dessert reception
Location: 92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
Attire: Festive
Tickets: Tickets at $500 level include show and dessert reception. Tickets starting at $1000 include cocktails, dinner, show, dessert; call 212.415.5488
Press Reservations/Interviews: Jennifer Dorr, 212.415.5455 | EMAIL |
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| ABOUT THE 92nd STREET Y |
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| Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the 92nd Street Y has grown into a wide-ranging cultural and community center serving people of all races, faiths and backgrounds. The 92nd Street Y's mission is to enrich the lives of the over 300,000 people who visit each year — both in person and through Live from NY's 92nd Street Y!, the Y's satellite broadcast program. The organization's East Side headquarters and West Side outpost, Makor, offer comprehensive performing arts, film and spoken word events; courses in the humanities, arts and Jewish education; activities and workshops for children, teenagers and parents; and health and fitness programs for people of every age. Committed to making its programs available to everyone, the 92nd Street Y awards over $1 million in scholarships annually and reaches out to 6,000 public school children each year through subsidized arts education programs. For more information, visit
www.92Y.org/PRESS. |
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| ABOUT CY COLEMAN |
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| Cy Coleman was a composer, pianist, orchestrator, arranger, and producer known for versatility and pure love of music. Born Seymour Kaufman in 1929, in the Bronx, to Russian immigrants, May and Ida, Cy Coleman taught himself to play, at aged four, on a piano left by a family who skipped out on the rent. As a young child, Cy played that piano constantly, and his father, a carpenter, felt compelled to nail its lid shut. That four year old, Shelby Coleman has said, found his father's hammer and pulled every nail out. He continued to practice, and by age seven, played recitals at Carnegie Hall and the Steinway. |
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| Coleman went on to start and lead a jazz trio while still in school at the New York College of Music, to become a darling of the night club circuit, and to start a long recording career as a jazz pianist (which eventually included over a dozen recordings with labels that included Columbia, Capitol and MGM). But Coleman was never one to rest on his laurels — he loved variety and sought constant challenge and change. Despite his early success in jazz, in 1952, he began a career in composing popular and Broadway music collaborating with lyricist Joseph Allan McCarthy on songs that included the hit "Tin Pan Alley," and went on to become "a permanent gem in Broadway's musical crown," in the words of Clive Barnes (The New York Post). |
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| Coleman's attainments in the Broadway music field were numerous. In 1966 Coleman joined veteran film and Broadway lyricist Dorothy Fields for Sweet Charity, adapted by Simon from Fellini's film about a prostitute, Nights of Cabiria. The show was a critical and popular success and three years later became the only film version of a Coleman musical to date. Cy Coleman was represented on Broadway as producer as well as a composer; he co-produced the triple Tony Award winning musical, Barnum, starring Jim Dale. In addition, he composed the scores of the Broadway shows On The Twentieth Century, I Love My Wife, Seesaw, Sweet Charity, Little Me, Wildcat and Welcome To The Club, City of Angels, and The Will Rodgers Follies. Many of the songs from these shows, such as "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "Big Spender," "Hey, Look Me Over," "Real Live Girl," "I've Got Your Number," It's Not Where You Start," "Nobody Does It Like Me," and many others, have become familiar standards. Mr. Coleman's hit musical, City of Angels, garnered 6 Tony's including Best Musical and Best Score, 1989/90. His show The Will Rogers Follies won 6 Tony's including Best Musical and Best Score, 1990/91. He also received 2 Grammy Awards for the Best Musical Show Album for The Will Rogers Follies as Record Producer and Composer. |
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| Cy Coleman's contributions to the musical world continued into the popular field of music with such favorites as "Witchcraft." "The Best Is Yet To Come," "Firefly," "Hey There, Good Times," "The Rhythm Of Life," "I'm A Brass Band," "Where Am I Going," "I Live My Love," "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This," "Then Was Then And Now Is Now," "Sweet Pussycat," "When In Rome," "I Walk A Little Faster," "Why Try To Change Me Now," "It Amazes Me," "The Playboy's Theme," "I'm Gonna Laugh You Out of My Life," "The Rules Of The Road," "On The Other Side Of The Tracks" and "Ya Turn Me On Baby" which were recorded by such illustrious artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Judy Garland. The versatile range of his musical contributions also included the world of cabaret where such artists as Mabel Mercer, Bobby Short, Blossom Dearie, Barbara Cook and many others have made such songs as "Pink Taffeta-Sample Size Ten," "Isn't He Adorable," "Mama's Little Girl," "Little What If," "The Riviera," "Early Mornin' Blues," "September's Coming," "On Second Thought," "Sometime When You're Lonely" and "Don't Ask A Lady" cabaret standards. |
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| Including the aforementioned, Coleman received three Tony Awards, twelve Tony nominations, five Drama Desk Awards, 3 Grammy Awards, fifteen Grammy nominations, three Emmy Awards, six Emmy nominations and an Academy Award nomination. |
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| Several Cy Coleman projects that he worked on during the years preceding his death are still in development and have not yet come to the New York stage. They include Pamela's First Musical with collaborators Wendy Wasserstein and David Zippel; In the Pocket with a book by Larry Gelbart and lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman; and Elaine's Domain with book by A.E. Hotchner. |
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© 2010 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved. |
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