ANDREA MARCOVICCI the celebrated singer and actress lauded as the greatest cabaret star of her generation by The International Herald Tribune and the epitome of elegance and showbiz savvy by Variety will celebrate the 2009 Johnny Mercer Centennial with the New York premiere of her new show Skylark: Marcovicci Sings Mercer at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel (59 West 44th Street) from November 17 to December 26. Please call (212) 467-7444 for reservations.
The only Mercer show to be commissioned for the Savannah Music Festival in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, Andreas personal homage celebrates the four-time Oscar winner through rarely-heard anecdotes and Andreas trademark interpretations of Mercers pensive, often impish, lyrics. Skylark includes familiar hits like Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, That Old Black Magic, One for My Baby, Goody, Goody and Moon River. Mercer, whose actual centennial is November 18, shares a birthday with Andrea.
Johnny Mercer considered a renaissance man of the music world collaborated with an astonishing array of composers to create some of the most distinguished works of the American Popular Songbook. Along with composers such as Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Harry Warren, he created memorable hits for Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, among many others. Mercer was also a best-selling recording artist, a chart-topping radio star and the co-founder of Capitol Records, a label indispensable to pop and jazz in the 1940s and 50s. Marcoviccis research into the Georgia State University Special Collections Mercer archives has uncovered several gems from his vast repertoire, such as Out Of Breath And Scared To Death Of You, his very first published song, from The Garrick Gaieties of 1930 and Getting A Man from the stage musical Saratoga to represent Mercers Broadway career. She even sings My Sugar Is So Refined, a charming radio hit for Mercer that he didnt write.
According to Marcovicci, Johnny Mercers optimism is his unique contribution to the popular songbook. He captures the unique American naturalness in several ways: sometimes cheeky, other times torchy, some songs have that heartbreaking cry-in-your-beer quality. The great songwriter and author Alec Wilder called Mercer an outdoor writer, not like a sophisticated indoor writer like Larry Hart or Cole Porter. Indeed, his songs speak of bucolic things like trains and whistles and birds. He was capable of the intricate rhyme schemes of Porter, but also the simple truth of Sammy Cahn. Over months of personal research, Andrea spoke to Mercers family members and intimate friends including Alan Bergman, the Oscar winning lyricist and Mercer protg; Ginny Mancini, the widow of Mercers Moon River collaborator Henry Mancini; and Gene Lees, one of Mercers major biographers. These unique perspectives along with Andreas travels through Savannah to find the real Moon River as well as his childhood and summer homes help her paint the most intimate portrait yet of this trailblazer of popular music.
Her latest CD As Time Goes By: The Best of Andrea Marcovicci features two newly recorded tracks and out of print favorites, including Mercers own You Were Never Lovelier. Several other Mercer tracks are available on the Marcovicci recordings Andrea Sings Astaire and Ill Be Seeing You: Love Songs of Word War II. She also serves as Executive Producer for seems like old times, the touching new CD by her mother, Helen Marcovicci. The recording, which features standards by Cole Porter, Dorothy Fields and Irving Berlin, commemorates Helens 90th Birthday. Andrea is currently appearing in the Henry Jaglom film Irene in Time, also featuring Victoria Tennant. In addition, her new perfume, AndreaSONG designed specifically for Andrea is available for the holiday season.
The Algonquin Hotel will present Andrea Marcovicci in Skylark: Marcovicci Sings Mercer from November 17 to December 26. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:30 PM with additional late shows at 11:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. A $60 cover and $30 minimum is in place from Tuesday through Thursday and for the 11:00 PM weekend shows. The 8:30 PM shows on Friday and Saturday have a $65 cover and a required $60 prix-fixe dinner. Please call (212) 467-7444 for reservations.
The only Mercer show to be commissioned for the Savannah Music Festival in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, Andreas personal homage celebrates the four-time Oscar winner through rarely-heard anecdotes and Andreas trademark interpretations of Mercers pensive, often impish, lyrics. Skylark includes familiar hits like Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, That Old Black Magic, One for My Baby, Goody, Goody and Moon River. Mercer, whose actual centennial is November 18, shares a birthday with Andrea.
Johnny Mercer considered a renaissance man of the music world collaborated with an astonishing array of composers to create some of the most distinguished works of the American Popular Songbook. Along with composers such as Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Harry Warren, he created memorable hits for Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, among many others. Mercer was also a best-selling recording artist, a chart-topping radio star and the co-founder of Capitol Records, a label indispensable to pop and jazz in the 1940s and 50s. Marcoviccis research into the Georgia State University Special Collections Mercer archives has uncovered several gems from his vast repertoire, such as Out Of Breath And Scared To Death Of You, his very first published song, from The Garrick Gaieties of 1930 and Getting A Man from the stage musical Saratoga to represent Mercers Broadway career. She even sings My Sugar Is So Refined, a charming radio hit for Mercer that he didnt write.
According to Marcovicci, Johnny Mercers optimism is his unique contribution to the popular songbook. He captures the unique American naturalness in several ways: sometimes cheeky, other times torchy, some songs have that heartbreaking cry-in-your-beer quality. The great songwriter and author Alec Wilder called Mercer an outdoor writer, not like a sophisticated indoor writer like Larry Hart or Cole Porter. Indeed, his songs speak of bucolic things like trains and whistles and birds. He was capable of the intricate rhyme schemes of Porter, but also the simple truth of Sammy Cahn. Over months of personal research, Andrea spoke to Mercers family members and intimate friends including Alan Bergman, the Oscar winning lyricist and Mercer protg; Ginny Mancini, the widow of Mercers Moon River collaborator Henry Mancini; and Gene Lees, one of Mercers major biographers. These unique perspectives along with Andreas travels through Savannah to find the real Moon River as well as his childhood and summer homes help her paint the most intimate portrait yet of this trailblazer of popular music.
Her latest CD As Time Goes By: The Best of Andrea Marcovicci features two newly recorded tracks and out of print favorites, including Mercers own You Were Never Lovelier. Several other Mercer tracks are available on the Marcovicci recordings Andrea Sings Astaire and Ill Be Seeing You: Love Songs of Word War II. She also serves as Executive Producer for seems like old times, the touching new CD by her mother, Helen Marcovicci. The recording, which features standards by Cole Porter, Dorothy Fields and Irving Berlin, commemorates Helens 90th Birthday. Andrea is currently appearing in the Henry Jaglom film Irene in Time, also featuring Victoria Tennant. In addition, her new perfume, AndreaSONG designed specifically for Andrea is available for the holiday season.
The Algonquin Hotel will present Andrea Marcovicci in Skylark: Marcovicci Sings Mercer from November 17 to December 26. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8:30 PM with additional late shows at 11:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. A $60 cover and $30 minimum is in place from Tuesday through Thursday and for the 11:00 PM weekend shows. The 8:30 PM shows on Friday and Saturday have a $65 cover and a required $60 prix-fixe dinner. Please call (212) 467-7444 for reservations.
For more information contact Miller Wright & Associates.
