Musical Theatre Geniuses :: Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer

Author Herbert Keyser will kick off a monthly performance/lecture series at the Josephine Theatre on the fascinating, eccentric, and often troubled artists who wrote the enduring songs which have earned the right to be called American standards. The series complements the October publication of GENIUSES OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE: THE COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS (Hal Leonard 2009), a volume collecting-for the first time in a single anthology biographies of the great songwriters and lyricists of Broadway musicals. Beginning at 7:30 pm, each series segment will feature the life stories and struggles of two selected artists, along with performances by award-winning jazz songwriter Bett Butler of some of their greatest songs. October 5 will turn the spotlight on Irving Berlin and George Gershwin; November 2, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, and Rodgers & Hammerstein; December 7, Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer; March 1, Stephen Sondheim and Frank Loesser; and April 6, Harold Arlen and Andrew Lloyd Webber. An outgrowth of Dr. Keysers wildly popular talks on the cruise ship lecture circuit, Geniuses of the American Musical Theatre has already generated excitement among major booksellers and is being marketed by the publisher with a national radio interview tour (including NPR), a promotional campaign with the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and reviews in Downbeat, JazzIs, Library Journal, and other periodicals.