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Chuck Redd and company offer up a mashup of 2 of his favorite lyricists, giants of the latter half of the 20th century: Frank Loesser (1910-69) and Sammy Cahn (1913-93). Both born in New York City to Jewish immigrants (Cahn's family was from Galicia in Austria-Hungary; Loesser's from Germany) at the beginning of what might be reasonably called the third generation of Classic Songbook songwriting, the two followed different career paths that began in the hotbed of Tin Pan Alley eventually leading to successful careers in Los Angeles and Hollywood.Sammy Cahn's career centered there: purely a lyricist, he was especially noted for his long association with composer Jimmy Van Heusen, with whom he wrote a series of gems for Frank Sinatra, but also with composers Jule Styne and Nicholas Brodsky. Twenty-seven of his songs were nominated for the Academy Award; 4 won, including "Three Coins In The Fountain" and "High Hopes". Others were simply killer songs which have never faded: "Time After Time", "Come Fly With Me", "I'll Never Stop Loving You", and, well, so many more.
After a slow start in New York, which he referred to as his "rendezvous with failure", Frank Loesser gained traction when he moved to Hollywood in the mid-'30s and, most importantly, signed as a staff writer with Paramount Pictures where, with the likes of composers Hoagy Carmichael, Burton Lane, Arthur Schwartz and Jule Styne he delivered such classics as "Two Sleepy People", Heart And Soul", "I Hear Music" and "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" among many more. But it was as a composer-lyricist, which he'd always dabbled at but embraced magnificently after the war that Loesser left his most indelible mark. His party song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" made its way into the forgettable Neptune's Daughter in 1949 and won an Academy Award. And then a string of unforgettable Broadway hits: Where's Charlie?, Guys And Dolls, Hans Christian Andersen, The Most Happy Fella, and How To Succeed In Business…, which won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Chuck and company pay tribute with a choice selection.
A Heart And Soul is one of 7 OFAM 2024 Summer concerts presented twice:
Matinee: Thu, Aug 1, 1:30 pm
Evening: Wed, Aug 7, 7:30 pm
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, 868 High St,Eugene,OR,United States
Tickets
