Jubilant end to Tanglewood’s 75th season

The 75th season came to a close last weekend with another large crowd at Tanglewood.

LENOX – Michael Feinstein’s “Great American Songbook” brought his two favorite women, Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole, along with guest conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Thomas Wilkins, onstage for the triumphant ending of Tanglewood’s 75th season.

The star-studded concert took place in Koussevitzky Shed on Sunday afternoon. It was a picture-perfect summer New England afternoon for those on the great lawn at Tanglewood.
Today was Michael Feinstein’s day.

This is a significant year in Michael’s life. His elegant Supper Club, Feinstein’s, in New York, is closing due to the remodeling of the Lowe’s Hotel, where it is located. Fortunately, he will reopen in a new unannounced location in New York early next year.

Feinstein’s new book, The Gershwins and Me, combined with a CD, will be released on Oct. 16 and later this year, Michael will have the opportunity – his first – to conduct an orchestra.

Feinstein said that he will be thinking of his friend and mentor, Marvin Hamlisch, while on stage with the baton.

He is multi-talented. His off-the-wall humor, dynamic voice and piano-playing skills are second to none in his genre. Add two songstresses, Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole, to the playing field, and all the home team can do is win.

The “Great American Songbook” played selections from Gershwin, Lerner-Lowe, Berlin,
Mercer, Hammerstein, Bernstein and a select handful of others. The tribute was to the old standards, as well as a few classics.

After intermission, Feinstein told a story that he had a friend tag along with him for the day. She was a singer and he wanted to introduce her to the audience.

Lo and behold, to everyone’s surprise, barefoot Liza Minnelli approached the stage with a huge smile on her face. The audience stood up and applauded as if this special present was theirs alone.

And what did Liza sing? She sang many of the Tanglewood audience’s favorite two words, “New York, New York,” thus ending the 75th anniversary of Tanglewood on a high note.

Posted by Phillip Kampe on September 6, 2012. Filed under Arts and Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry