Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
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Panel:
Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. His columns appear at Encore Magazine, Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select and many other places.
James Marino | [email protected] | Twitter | Facebook
BroadwayStars
Michael Portantiere | [email protected] | Facebook
MICHAEL PORTANTIERE is a theater reviewer and essayist. He is the founder and editor of CastAlbumReviews.com. He is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in The New York Times and other major publications. You can see his photography work at FollowSpotPhoto.com.
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Guests: Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Ahrens & Flaherty: Website | Facebook
Lynn Ahrens: IBDB | IMDB | BroadwayWorld | Wikipedia
Stephen Flaherty: IBDB | IMDB | BroadwayWorld | Wikipedia
BROADWAY RECORDS ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF LEGACY, TWO PREVIOUSLY UNHEARD SONG CYCLES BY LYNN AHRENS AND STEPHEN FLAHERTY, ON DECEMBER 11TH
https://www.broadwayrecords.com/concept-albums/legacy-two-song-cycles
Broadway Records announced today the release of LEGACY, a collection of two previously unheard song cycles by the award-winning composing duo Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, featuring stunning performances by Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, Sarah Uriarte Berry and Steven Pasquale. These demos, recorded 16 years ago, have been enhanced and remastered. The album will be available on CD from BroadwayRecords.com and digitally from all major digital retailers on December 11th, with Amazon.com and other major physical retailers to follow on December 18th. To pre-order the CD of LEGACY, visit BroadwayRecords.com.
As the pandemic hit, Ahrens and Flaherty were working on a new show in Florida and preparing for another to arrive on Broadway. Covid brought this work to an abrupt halt. But with time to pause and reflect on what they’ve experienced and produced together over the course of their mutual career, it seemed the right moment to put Legacy into the world.
The first song cycle, 1859: A FARMER’S DIARY, is based on excerpts from the diary of a farmer in upstate New York which he wrote over the course of one year, revealing the joys and sorrows of an unpredictable life. It was first recorded in April of 2004 with Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley on vocals, and Stephen Flaherty at the piano.
The next song cycle, A BOY WITH A CAMERA, was inspired by photographs taken in the 40’s and 50’s by Ahrens’s father, and is a celebration of New York City itself. This piece (including the song “Legacy”) was recorded in November 2004 with Sarah Uriarte Berry and Steven Pasquale, with Steve Marzullo at the piano.
The final track of this song cycle, “Something Beautiful,” sung by Marin Mazzie, was recorded live at 54 Below with Stephen Flaherty (piano) and Antoine Silverman (violin) on September 28, 2013.
“As we find ourselves navigating these unpredictable times, in a city that deserves to be celebrated, these pieces suddenly feel very resonant to us,” said Ahrens.
LEGACY is produced by Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Michael J Moritz Jr.
In gratitude to the theater community, the author’s proceeds will be donated equally to The Actor’s Fund Outreach to the BIPOC Community, the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows Program, and the Marineau-Mazzie Music Theatre Performance Scholarship at Western Michigan University.
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are considered the foremost theatrical writing team of their generation. They won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Broadway hit Ragtime and were nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film Anastasia. They also adapted Anastasia for the Broadway stage. Their musical Once On This Island won London’s Olivier Award and Broadway’s 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Other theatre credits include Seussical (one of the most produced shows in America); Rocky; My Favorite Year; Chita Rivera–The Dancer’s Life; Lincoln Center Theatre premieres of Dessa Rose, A Man of No Importance and The Glorious Ones; Playwrights Horizon’s Lucky Stiff; and two upcoming shows, Knoxville and Marie. They serve on Council for the Dramatists Guild of America and co-founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers. They are four-time Grammy nominees and recipients of the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015 Ahrens and Flaherty were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. To learn more about Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, visit AhrensAndFlaherty.com or follow @ahrensandflaherty on Facebook.
Broadway Records (Van Dean, President) is the Grammy® winning record label dedicated to preserving musical theatre and theatre vocalists. Recent releases include the Grammy® and Tony Award-winning The Color Purple (2015 revival), the Tony Award® winning and Grammy® nominated revival of Once On This Island, the Grammy® nominated Matilda The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival) and My Fair Lady (2018 revival), Anastasia, Bandstand, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief and NBC’s television events, “The Wiz Live!” and “Peter Pan Live!”. The label’s critically-acclaimed “Live at Feinstein’s/54 Below” series features top Broadway stars including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp, Micky Dolenz and many others. Broadway Records launched the Broadway for Orlando initiative (in partnership with creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley) culminating in the all-star benefit single, “What the World Needs Now is Love,” which leaped to #1 on iTunes with no radio airplay. Broadway Records philanthropic endeavors also include the From Broadway With Love benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award for Sound) and Parkland. To learn more, visit BroadwayRecords.com.
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Streaming 92Y Lyrics and Lyricists, beginning December 18 only at https://www.stageaccess.com/
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Music:
Columbus Circle from LEGACY
January (I Am Not Admonished) from LEGACY
Something Beautiful from LEGACY
Other Music: Energy from www.bensound.com
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