Bob Hope named him Tony
Bennett. Frank Sinatra called him
the best singer in the business.
Judy Garland proclaimed the world needs him. Because of his charity work, he’s been renamed “Tony Benefit.”
Born in Astoria, Queens, New York, the son of a grocer and a seamstress, he is
almost as well known as a painter, using his birth name Benedetto, as he is a
famous crooner of tunes.
Music Theatre of Connecticut
in Westport is paying splendid tribute
to Tony Bennett, the man and the music, weekends until Sunday, May 6 with the
David Grapes and Todd Olson show “I Left My Heart….”
A trio of dapper and debonair
gentlemen – Christopher De Rosa, Johnny Orenberg and Jordan Wolfe – will
serenade you with all his greatest hits and a few lesser known numbers as well
as share stories of the man in anecdotes and personal tales.
A three piece jazz combo will guarantee there is smooth
sailing as the men of the moment, clad in tailored tuxedo perfection, go “Steppin’
Out With My Baby,” encourage you to “Come Fly With Me,” croon you a “Lullaby of
Broadway,” fiddle with
That Old Black Magic,” try to “Make Someone Happy” and promise to be there “As Time Goes By.”
That Old Black Magic,” try to “Make Someone Happy” and promise to be there “As Time Goes By.”
With polish and pizzazz, they
hopscotch across the six decades of Bennett’s career and touch on more than
three dozen hits from his one hundred albums to share the best of this American
icon’s songbook. From “Boulevard
of Broken Dreams” to “Because of You,” “Stranger in Paradise” to “Crazy
Rhythm,” these classy gents help us remember why Tony Bennett has endured and
is clearly “a classic.”
In honor of his 85th
birthday, in September 2011, he released “Duets II,” debuting at number one on
the Billboard 200, making Bennett the oldest living artist to reach that top
spot. New generations are
continually discovering him and the music of Cole Porter, Gershwin and Johnny
Mercer that he made memorable.
Kevin Connors directs this
wonderful musical salute that ends with Bennett’s signature song, “I Left My Heart
in San Francisco.” He first sang it at the Fairmount Hotel in 1961 in that city
by the bay and it has been his song ever since. Bennett claimed “That song helped make me a world citizen. It allowed me to live, work and sing in
any city on the globe. It changed
my whole life.”
For tickets ($30-45), call
MTC, 246 Post Road East, lower level, Westport at Colonial Green at
203-454-3883 or online at www.musictheatreofct.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m.,
Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Jump aboard that little cable
car and “Make Someone Happy” by climbing halfway to the stars…when the golden
sun will shine for you.
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