The 1959 Broadway Songbook

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK
Director: SARA LOUISE LAZARUS

THE 1959 BROADWAY SONGBOOK is a musical collage of the 21 musicals that were playing in New York in 1959. “Gypsy,” “The Sound of Music,” “Fiorello,” “West Side Story,” “My Fair Lady,” “The Music Man,” “Flower Drum Song,” “Bells are Ringing,” & “Once Upon a Mattress” are among the shows is this tribute to an era some have called the twilight of The Golden Age of Broadway. Songwriters represented include Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harold Arlen & Yip Harburgh, Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green and Lerner & Loewe. Over 40 songs are woven together including “Tonight,” “On The Street Where You Live,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Til There Was You,” “The Party’s Over,” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” in a show that also pays homage to the very structure of a Broadway Musical, including an “Overture,” “Entr’Acte” and an “Intermission,” the latter featuring a humorous nod to pop and Hollywood music and current events of 1959.

JEFF HARNAR first performed “The 1959 Broadway Songbook” as a one-man show for his 1991 debut at The Algonquin Hotel’s fabled Oak Room. The show was recorded live (Original Cast Records) and televised (PBS) and has toured nationally, including major engagements in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palm Beach and twice in London.

“Superb” – NEW YORK TIMES

“Extraordinary” – NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“A Hit!” – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Harnar’s ‘Broadway Songbook’ something to sing about.” – DALLAS MORNING NEWS

“Top Five” Critic’s Choice” – THE TIMES, LONDON

“…a most delightful time machine… at the center of it is a performer who possesses charm, grace, sophistication and a charismatic connection to the audience. Harnar is polished to perfection and most of all, he is full of joy… a certified winner.” – THEATER PIZZAZZ

“…a jewel of a show…a sparkling treasure of musical gems presented by Harnar, a warm baritone with the gift of musicality, tenderness and wit… It sparkles, it glitters, it touches the heart and, even more, The 1959 Broadway Songbook celebrates the gift of songs America has given the world.” – CABARET SCENES

“Jeff Harnar’s voice and witty delivery enhance his choice of music to perfection.” – ELAINE PAGE

“Dear Jeff, Thank you so much for the 1959 Broadway Songbook – it’s wonderful! I’d love to see 1960, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66… coming out of your talented mouth.” – JOAN RIVERS

IT’S DE-LOVELY: JEFF HARNAR Sings COLE PORTER

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK

The show is a celebration of the words and music of the beloved composer that includes standards such as “Night and Day,” “Under My Skin,” “Begin the Beguine,” “Let’s Do It,” “At Long Last Love,” and surprises originally introduced by Danny Kaye and Jimmy Durante.

The critically-acclaimed show made its Manhattan debut at The Russian Tea Room, followed by a major engagements at The Algonquin Hotel’s historic Oak Room and London’s Jermyn Street Theater. Harnar was a featured entertainer at the Cole Porter Centennial Gala at Carnegie Hall.

“HARNAR and PORTER are A PERFECT FIT” – NEW YORK TIMES

“JEFF HARNAR is nothing less than THE SINGER COLE PORTER DESERVES” – SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

“THE SMOOTHEST OF SMOOTH COLE PORTER EVERGREENS” – THE TIMES, LONDON (Critic’s Top Five Pick)

“THE AUDIENCE LOVED BOTH HARNAR ANS PORTER. THEY STOOD UP AND CHEERED.” – THEATER PIZZAZZ

 JEFF HARNAR sings SAMMY CAHN ALL THE WAY

Sinatra, Hollywood, and World War II

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK
Director: BARRY KLEINBORT

JEFF HARNAR presents his critically acclaimed show SAMMY CAHN ALL THE WAY. The show shines a special spotlight Cahn’s lyrics for Sinatra, Hollywood and World War II. Featured songs include: All The Way, Teach Me Tonight, Call Me Irresponsible, My Kind of Town (Chicago Is), I Fall in Love Too Easily, Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) and Time After Time.

SAMMY CAHN was a lyricists with more Academy Award nominations than any other songwriter: 26!  He won 4 Oscars, an Emmy, wrote a string of hits for Frank Sinatra, Doris Day and Dean Martin, wrote “High Button Shoes” and “Walking Happy” for Broadway, and during World War II wrote a catalog of songs that captured the emotional climate of the nation.

The show debuted at The Firebird Cafe in New York City, was recorded by Jerome Records and has enjoyed major engagements in St. Louis (The Grandel Theater), Palm Beach (The Colony Hotel), Delray Beach (The Delray Beach Playhouse) and Boca Raton (The Mizner Park Cultural Center).  Mr. Harnar was honored to be the artist selected to perform a special tribute to Sammy Cahn for The Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

Reviews of Jeff Harnar sings Sammy Cahn All The Way”:

“Highly Recommended. Smart, entertaining…Mr. Harnar’s singing is as creamy as ever. But this crooner has developed enough of a swagger to give the Sinatra swingers the punch they need.” – NEW YORK TIMES 

“Harnar’s polished performance recalls a music era dominated by romanticism. The songs are timely again today… lilting lyric grace and finger-snappin’ bounce.” – VARIETY 

“I wish Sammy could’ve seen this show.  He would’ve loved it.  I certainly did.” – LIZA MINNELLI 

“I discover something new in a lyric every time I hear Jeff Harnar sing.” – MICHAEL FEINSTEIN

BECAUSE OF YOU: Fifties Gold

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK
Director: SARA LOUISE LAZARUS

Jeff Harnar’s BECAUSE OF YOU: Fifties Gold taps into his parents’ record collection, highlighting songs from the Tony Bennet, Johnny Mathis, Nat “King” Cole, Doris Day and Johnnie Ray songbooks, among many others. Along with the title song, included are “Hold Me! Thrill Me! Kiss Me,” “Smile,” “It’s Not For Me to Say,” a special nod to the Novelty Songs of his childhood, a Doo-wop Medley and “Memories Are Made of This.”  “Because of You: Fifties Gold” played major New York engagements at Eighty Eights and The Firebird Cafe, the Hollywood Roosevelt’s Cinegrill and The Royal Room at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach.  It has also been the featured Headliner entertainment on numerous cruise lines including Oceania, Cunard, Crystal, Holland America and Celebrity. (Varese Sarabande)

“A sly musical scrapbook. A pop baritone of impeccable polish.” – STEPHEN HOLDEN, NEW YORK TIMES

“A Sh-boom to Remember” – REX REED, NEW YORK OBSERVER

“Gold from a 40-carat voice” – NEW YORK POST

“Tops in Town” – NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 

Buy the CD on Amazon

Does This Song Make Me Look Fat?

Music Director ALEX RYBECK 

The show is an eclectic set of standards and surprises through which Jeff sets out to do his version of musical stand-up comedy, yet still deliver a satisfactory musical soul to the program.  Tapping into the with of Noel Coward, Cole Porter, Comden & Green, Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman yet sprinkled with the heart of Sammy Cahn, Leonard Bernstein, Kander & Ebb, Cy Coleman and Billy Joel.

Along with standards such as “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” “That’s Life,” “And The World Goes Round,” Jeff includes novelty songs from his parents’ record collection (“Tele-vee-shun,” “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”) and newer comedy treasures from Larry Kerschner and Rick Crom’s parody “Sondheim’s Oklahoma.”

The show made its debut as a sold-out concert at Birdland and subsequently had a run at The Laurie Beechman Theater.

“Looking relaxed and sounding sensational, Harnar couldn’t take a wrong step in a wonderful set of songs. ★★★★★” – NEXT MAGAZINE

“A consummate cabaret artist holding the audience in the palm of his hands.” – TIMES SQUARE CHRONICLE 

“Harnar turns his charms to making us laugh. He succeeds.” – CABARET SCENES

JEFF HARNAR Sings GERSHWIN’S HOLLYWOOD

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK
Director: SARA LOUISE LAZARUS

GERSHWINS HOLLYWOOD celebrates a remarkable creative outpouring of music from two of America’s most beloved songwriters. In the 1930’s George and Ira Gershwin wrote five Hollywood film scores that gave the world a treasure trove of American standards including “Aren’t You Kind of Glad We Did” “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off,” “A Foggy Day in London Town” “Love Walked In” and “(Our) Love is Here to Stay.” Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers immortalized many of these songs, as did Janet Gaynor, Kenny Baker, Dick Haymes and Betty Grable, in film classisms such as “The Goldwyn Follies,” “Damsel in Distress,” and “The Shocking Miss Pilgrim.” One of the shows features is a Readers Digest version of the film “Shall We Dance,” and its absurdly delightful plot of mixed identities aboard a trans Atlantic crossing, a film that introduced no less than five standards, including the Academy Award nominated “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

“Listening to Harnar sing gives you the warm therapeutic feeling of being in a movie palace … Who could ask for anything more?” – NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“My favorite in this vast array of favorites was A Foggy Day which filled the room with Harnar’s rich baritone… Harnar combines musical knowledge with great wit and charm.” – STAGES

A COLLECTIVE CY: A Cy Coleman Songbook

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK
Director: SARA LOUISE LAZARUS

BISTRO AWARD WINNER
OUTSTANDING SHOW

PHOTO CREDIT–Richard Termine for The New York Times

CY COLEMAN was one of the most beloved theater composers of the last century and also one of the great songwriters of the hit parade, jazz world and composer of film scores. He was the winner of five Tonys, two Grammys and three Emmys. “A Collective Cy” shines its spotlight on songs from Coleman’s Broadway shows “Sweet Charity,” “Barnum,” “Little Me,” “Seesaw,” “City of Angels,” and “I Love My Wife,” and his standards such as “Witchcraft,” “You Fascinate Me So,” “When in Rome” and “The Best is Yet to Come.” Included are hidden gems such as “So Little Time,” cut from “Barnum,” a rare find with both music and lyrics by Coleman, “Somebody,” and special lyrics written just for Harnar by Coleman’s “City of Angel’s” collaborator David Zippel. Other lyricists included in the set are Carolyn Leigh, Dorothy Fields, Comden and Green and Michael Stewart.

“Jeff Harnar’s singing and Cy Coleman’s music make a perfect duet.” – TOMMY TUNE

”This is a major event … a sparkling show … A Collective Cy deserves a special Cy-tation.” – EDGENEWYORK

“Tapping the tender pulse behind Coleman’s burlesque brassiness… His slow, pensive version of ‘Witchcraft’ in particular is an X-ray version that’s examines the calluses of this brazen tease.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

“A Collective Cy is a total delight!” – DAVID ZIPPEL

”Blessed with a voice that out-Sinatras Sinatra, Harnar can croon ballads or patter through uptempo numbers with ease… Harnar’s sweet voice, and Coleman’s rich music may just make this concert one of the more romantic events in the city. Make a date now.” – BROADWAY WORLD

Here’s a two minute taste from the Award-winning 2007 New York engagement:

DANCING IN THE DARK: VINCENT MINNELLI’S HOLLYWOOD

Music Director ALEX RYBECK
Director SARA LOUISE LAZARUS 

DANCING IN THE DARK: Vincente Minnelli’s Hollywood is a tribute to the music from the films of one of MGM’s most prolific and inspired directors, Vicente Minnelli. Tapping into the songbooks of such films as “Gigi,” “Meet Me In St. Louis,” “Cabin in The Sky,” “An American in Paris,” “The Pirate,” “On a Clear Day,” “Brigadoon,” “Kismet,” “Bells are Ringing,” results in a musical program containing songwriters such as Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Dietz & Schwartz, Vernon Duke, Martin & Blaine, Lerner & Lane, and Kander & Ebb and more.

The songlist contains standards such as Dancing in The Dark, Taking a Chance on Love, Stranger in Paradise, On Clear Day, Stairway to Paradise, By Myself, I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan and some surprises such as “Boys and Girls Like You and Me” cut from “Meet Me in St. Louis” and “You Can Don No Wrong” from “The Pirate.” Conjuring celluloid memories of Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Lous Jordan, Dean Martin, Ethel Waters, Kirk Douglas, Yves Montand and many more, this show is indeed “A feel-good night out.” – NEW YORK POST

“A show that is a model of its type. . . eubullient . . . In Mr. Harnar’s hands songs like ‘Be a Clown’ and ‘That’s Entertainment’ become serene expressions of enjoyment” – NEW YORK TIMES

“A feel-good night out.” – NEW YORK POST

“Frothy fun… always surprising.” – WASHINGTON BLADE

“My father would have loved Jeff Harnar’s show – I certainly did. His attention to detail, the stories, the songs are all impeccably researched and performed with a joy that can only be called true style. Thanks, Jeff!” – LIZA MINNELLI

CARRIED AWAY: JEFF HARNAR Sings COMDEN & GREEN

Music Director ALEX RYBECK
Director SARA LOUISE LAZARUS 

The Bistro Award-winning show is a celebration of the lyrics of BETTY COMDEN & ADOLPH GREEN whose Broadway musicals include “On The Town,” “Wonderful Town,” “Bells Are Ringing,” “Peter Pan,” “On The Twentieth Century,” “Will Rogers Follies” and Hollywood screenplays including “Singing in the Rain” and “The Band Wagon.”

The show includes melodies by Comden & Green’s significant collaborators, including JULE SYNE, LEONARD BERNSTEIN and CY COLEMAN featuring standards and surprises including, “Just in Time,” “Make Someone Happy,” “Never Land,” “New York, New York,” “Lonely Town” and “Just in Time.”

In 1989 Comden & Green gave Harnar special permission to use their lyrics for what would become his first major New York engagement.  The show opened at Eighty Eights for 10 consecutive Friday nights and then moved to The Ballroom for 30 performances over s five weeks, prompting Comden and Green to write to Mr. Harnar, “Thank you for being the first to do an evening of US, and to do it so brilliantly.”  Harnar then was invited to sing a tribute to the the team at their induction into The Songwriters Hall of Fame.  Most recently the show had a special 30th Anniversary Encore at Birdland Theater.

With Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Of its original 1989 engagement:

“Breathlessly paced…the singer’s enthusiasm fuses with the lyrics to create a character – a sassy sophisticate with a loud mouth and a way with words – that might indeed be called New York.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES Critic’s Pick

“The best cabaret act in town.”  – REX REED

“Make no mistake about it the cabaret show to see this year.”  – THE NEW YORK POST

Of its 2019 30th Anniversary Encore:

“Harnar & Rybeck & Comden & Green are a great foursome designed for maximum musical entertainment and absolute theatrical satisfaction.” – BROADWAYWORLD 

BISTRO AWARD – OUTSTANDING SHOW

The Warner Brother’s Songbook

Music Director ALEX RYBECK
Directed by SARA LOUISE LAZARUS

“THE WARNER BROTHERS SONGBOOK” celebrates the vast catalogue of songs from studio that launched the talkies with “The Jazz Singer.”  Spanning over eight decades of music and film history, the songwriters represented include Richard Whiting, Max Steiner, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Sammy Cahn to Marilyn and Alan Bergman and John Williams.” Featured is a salute to the ”Golddiggers” musicals of Busby Berkeley and a suite of songs from Judy Garland’s “A Star is Born.”  Silver screen musical gems include “As Time Goes By,” “How Little We Know,” “How Do You Keep The Music Playing,” “You Ought to Be in Pictures” and the unofficial National Anthem of the film industry, “Hooray For Hollywood,” are sprinkled with movie lore about Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Ruby Keeler, Doris Day and one the stars of the Looney Tunes, Porky Pig.

“A delightful nostalgic romp.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES 

“What a treat … To quote one of Mr. Harnar’s best songs, the whole event is ‘Too Marvelous For Words.’” – REX REED, THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

“Hooray for Harnar’s Hollywood.” – THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“Joyous” – THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 

“Th-th-that’s showbiz!” – THE NEW YORK POST 

JEFF HARNAR on the EAST SIDE OF HEAVEN

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK 

“The East Side of Heaven” is a set of songs about, by and for New Yorkers … and anyone who is in hate-love with New York. Included in the urban mix are Cy Coleman, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Bernstein, Sondheim, Rybeck and the wit of Portia Nelson, Larry Kerchner and Rick Crom.

The set list includes Manhattan-centric songs such as “I Happen to Like New York,” “Lonely Town” and “New York New York,” songs sung from the point of view of a New Yorker, “How Little We Know,” “Falling I’m Love With Love,”

“Blame it on my Youth,”as well as novelty specialties including “Confessions of a New Yorker.” and a parody of “Oklahoma,” as if written by Stephen Sondheim titled “Sunday in the Meadow With Curley.”

“Oh, that voice can soar! Jeff Harnar’s talent and flair coupled with Alex Rybeck’s abundant, symbiotic skill leaves us reeling” – WOMAN AROUND TOWN

“The evening was packed with classic songs celebrating the city, its charms, its quirks, and its songwriters —that was greeted by the audience’s standing ovation.” – CABARET SCENES 

#SondheimMontage: SULLIVAN and HARNAR Sing SONDHEIM

Musical Director: JON WEBER
Director: SONDRA LEE

“A THRILLING NEW REVUE” – NEW YORK TIMES

Sondheim as you’ve never heard it before!

WATCH THE FULL PBS VIDEO HERE

Multi-Award-winning New York vocalists KT SULLIVAN and JEFF HARNAR weave the music and lyrics of STEPHEN SONDHEIM into a tapestry that explores contemporary attitudes on love, loss and laughter with a gender-bending twist that The New York Times called “SEX ROLE REVERSALS IN SONDHEIM.” Comprised of songs from Sondheim’s hit Broadway shows, including “Company,” “A Little Night Music,” “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Follies,”and Hollywood scores (“Dick Tracy”) audiences can expect standards (“Broadway Baby,” “Not a Day Goes By,” “Not While I’m Around,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,””Side by Side by Side”) and surprises, such as Sondheim’s first published song (“How Do I Know?”) written when he was 15. The show has played to sold-out houses at New York’s The Laurie Beechman, Davenport’s in Chicago, The Gaslight in St. Louis and was recently filmed for PBS. The team has won BroadwayWorld, MAC and Bistro Awards for OUTSTANDING REVUE

Read the NY TIMES ARTICLE “Sex-Role Reversals in Sondheim”  HERE.

Read “Review: ‘Another Hundred People’ Digs Into Stephen Sondheim’s Catalog” in the NY TIMES HERE.

“Two singers TRANSFORMED by Sondheim.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Exploring the roads less traveled on the familiar Sondheim journey,
the Sullivan-Harnar team solves a few mysteries and offers many surprises.. . .The result is FRESH, EXHILARATING and DELIGHTFUL!” – REX REED

“Ms. Sullivan continues to excel at exploring multiple layers of both sentiment and sardonic humor. For his part, Mr. Harnar is adroit as ever in tightrope-like feats of lyric acrobatics but now, more than ever before, he attains the upper brackets of tenderness and vulnerability.” – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“STUNNING . . . The entire enterprise is inspired and the cumulative impact is powerful.” – BISTRO AWARDS. COM

“BEGUILING AND THEATRICAL!” – THEATRE PIZZAZZ

“RUN, DON’T WALK to GET TICKETS!” – CABARET HOTSPOT

With Director Sondra Lee and Music Director Jon Weber

SULLIVAN & HARNAR Sing HARNICK & STROUSE

Music Director: JON WEBER
Director: SONDRA LEE

MAC, BISTRO & BroadwayWorld Award-winning duo KT SULLIVAN & JEFF HARNAR return with an all-new show celebrating the legendary songwriters SHELDON HARNICK & CHARLES STOUSE.

SULLIVAN & HARNAR explore familiar standards, with some gender-bending surprises, and uncover hidden gems from the vast HARNICK & STROUSE separate and unique catalogues: Sheldon Harnick was lyricist for such shows as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Fiorello” and “She Loves Me; and Charles Strouse was composer for such shows as “Annie,” “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Applause.”

Featured songs include “To Life,” If I Were a Rich Man,” “Vanilla Ice Cream,” and “Politics and Poker” by Sheldon Harnick and “Applause,” “Put on a Happy Face,” “A Lot of Living To Do” and “Tomorrow” by Charles Strouse.

“A pow-pow-pow pizzazz-packed parade” – EDGE MEDIA NETWORK 

“A parade of vaudeville-style musical show-stopper favorites” – CABARET SCENES

“‘Applause’ seems a fitting close to the winning buffet we’ve sampled.” – WOMAN AROUND TOWN

With Sheldon Harnick and Charles Strouse

REMEMBER: Songs of the Holidays – KT SULLIVAN & JEFF HARNAR

Music Director: David Gaines

This unique Holiday celebration was televised on PBS and features seasonal favorites and surprises from the songbooks of Sammy Cahn, Tom Lehrer, David Friedman, Frank Loesser, Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel, Carol Hall, Carol King and more.  While traditional holiday music is threaded throughout, it’s the unexpected Broadway, pop and original comedy material, combined with the remarkable arrangements and harmonies that make this a unique and memorable entertainment.

The concert was filmed for PBS at The Brownville Concert Center in Nebraska and has subsequently played New York engagements at The Firebird Cafe and The Laurie Beechman Theater.

JEFF HARNAR & SHAUNA HICKS
I GOT RHYTHM: Mickey & Judy’s Hollywood

Music Director: JAMES FOLLOWELL
Director: BARRY KLEINBORT 

The Mickey and Judy Show is a star-spangled salute to the movie music of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, the “Gable & Garbo of Hollywood High,” and top box office stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era. The show takes a tuneful & nostalgic look at their classic MGM films, including “Girl Crazy,” “Babes in Arms,” “Strike Up the Band,” and “Babes on Broadway,” and salutes their reunion years later on CBS television.

Mickey & Judy’s silver screen songbook includes classics by the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart, and Harold Arlen & Yip Harburgh, featuring unforgettable songs such as “Embraceable You,” “Our Love Affair,” “Where or When,” “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” and “I Got Rhythm,” among many others. Whether you’ve seen a Mickey & Judy film or not, their treasure chest of American standards makes for an evening of good old-fashioned entertainment everyone will enjoy. Audiences have responded with standing ovations for this musical tribute to two legendary performers and the songs they sang from their talented teens to their full-throttled prime.

The Mickey & Judy Show: Two mikes, two stools, and a trunk-load of great songs!

“Polka dots and moonbeams … Just the right amount of nostalgia and irony in a seamlessly fluent show … frothy but insightful.  Two polished theatrical singers with a peaches-and-cream blend.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Sparkles!” – NEW YORK POST CRITIC’S PICK

“Playful and Breezy” – VARIETY

“A crowd pleaser.  You’ll love this show.” – BACK STAGE

“A smart and sophisticated celebration.” – CHICAGO SUN TIMES

“As informative as it is entertaining, and as sophisticated as it is delightful.” – THE STAGE, LONDON

“A warm and affectionate tribute happily buoyed by can’t-miss material.” – SHOW BUSINESS

EASY TO LOVE: Andrea Marcovicci & Jeff Harner Sing Cole Porter

Two of our foremost interpreters of the Cole Porter songbook join forces to conjure up a uniquely entertaining portrait of the master songwriter, bon vivant, and citizen of hte world. Their chemistry is infectious during duets and in sharing their love for Porter’s clever, intricate rhyme schemes and unforgettable melodies.

The sophisticated team of Marcovicci and Harnar have crafted a program that includes timeless romantic ballads, witty and fun love longs, and brilliantly clever “list” songs. And they’ve even discovered some “lost” Porter treasures that are heard here for the first time in decades!

The show sketches Porter’s life from marriage to globetrotter and from Broadway to Hollywood. As Marcovicci paints the love story of Cole’s marriage to wife Linda with a knowing perspective that brings the celebrated composer’s romance vividly to life, Harnar taps into Porter, the wordsmith, with a selection of Broadway and Hollywood gems replete with the behind-the-scenes lore that captures a singular era in show business when Cole Porter was crafting the Great American Songbook to the talents of Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, and Bing Crosby to name a few. In duets, Marcovicci and Harnar capture the joyous intelligent humor and tender romance of Porter’s most beloved compositions.

A warm, witter, and delightful evening, this tribute to Cole Porter perfectly captures America’s most sophisticated composer.

DOUBLE TAKE: SALLY MAYES & JEFF HARNAR At the Same Time

Music Director: ALEX RYBECK

Broadway performer SALLY MAYES (“Welcome to the Club,” “Urban Cowboy”) and Tony nominee (“She Loves Me”) joins forces with multi-award winner JEFF HARNAR
(Noel Coward Foundation Award, and multiple BroadwayWorld, MAC and Bistro Award winner) in their show “DOUBLE TAKE: SALLY MAYES & JEFF HARNAR At The Same Time.”

Cross saucy with dapper, screwball with smooth and jazz with an Aznavour twist; add songs by Paul Simon, Mary Rodgers, Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn, Ann Hampton Callaway, and more; and you have SALLY MAYES and JEFF HARNAR At The Same Time.

“One of the best shows ever!” – Will Friedwald of The Wall Street Journal

“Mayes and Harnar play off each other with palpable glee . . . a bouyant collaboration … effervescent … musicianship is top-notch.” – Woman Around Town

“The display of consumate technique combined with their sheer joy of singing made the show feel like a special event.” – Theater Pizzazz

“Double your pleasure, double your fun…Mayes and Harnar seemed to get sparks from each other with a mutual affection showing in more than a show-bizzy way.” – Cabaret Scenes

The 1959 Broadway Songbook

On Saturday, the 92nd Street Y launched the latest edition of “Lyrics and Lyricists” with “The 1959 Broadway Songbook,” which concludes tonight. At first, the idea seemed to have been borrowed from another long-running New York concert series, Town Hall’s “Broadway by the Years.” But the L&L program, which was hosted and produced by the cabaret singer Jeff Harnar, turned out to be a highly ambitious graduate lesson in the etymology of the musical comedy. Using the 23 shows that were playing on Broadway 48 years ago, he took us step-by-step through a typical Broadway production of the so-called “Golden Era.”

The soprano Sarah Uriarte Berry and baritone David Burnham served as the romantic leads, and could have stepped out of a Disney musical. Mr. Harnar also cast Sally Mayes and, with admirable modesty, himself, as what he called the “second-banana couple.”

The program illustrated the introduction of the characters with an “I Want” song (the beautiful “I Wish It So”), an “I just met a girl”-type song, a comedy number (“I Don’t Think I’ll End It All Today”), a romantic duet, a charm song, a wedding vow, and so on. For the big dance number, Donna McKechnie re-created Gwen Verdon’s Tony-winning turn in “Redhead.” Later, Ms. Mayes hit a home run with Billy Barnes’s touching “Too Long at the Fair,” a diva aria at the same level as anything in “Follies.”

But the standout of the evening was the host, who was funnier than I’ve ever seen him. His high point – literally – arrived in a routine that symbolized the kind of music one might hear on the street during a Broadway intermission, wherein he knocked out a stratospheric version of the “Theme from a Summer Place.” After watching Mr. Harnar perform for decades, it’s something of a shock to discover that his greatest strength may not be in traditional cabaret material, but as a pop falsetto in the fashion of the Frankies – Lyman and Valli. It’s almost like he’s been holding out on us for all these years.

TOGETHER THIS CHRISTMAS: A Holiday Cabaret

ANNA BERGMAN, KLEA BLACKHURST, JEFF HARNAR & TODD MURRAY

Music Director & Director: ALEX RYBECK

A glorious musical celebration of the Holiday season created and staged by Alex Rybeck starring four singers all of whom have had lined major venues in the New York cabaret scene. Filled with seasonal standards and surprises, and performed to standing ovations at The Brownville Concert Series NE, The Asolo Theater in Sarasota FL and The Austin Cabaret Theatre, TX.