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For Immediate Release Elizabeth Moore 973-408-3628 [email protected]

BROADWAY STARS PERFORMING AT DREW UNIVERSITY IN CONCERT HONORING COMPOSER Famous American composer penned hits for and .

Madison, N.J.—Two of Broadway’s brightest stars are coming to Drew University to perform in a concert honoring composer Jimmy Van Heusen, who is best known for writing many of Frank Sinatra’s hit .

Norm Lewis and Sierra Boggess, who starred together on Broadway in both The Little Mermaid and Phantom of the Opera, are making a special appearance at the Drew University Concert Hall on Monday, October 6 in a show titled Swinging on a kalexojr 9/11/14 4:28 PM Star: The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen. Deleted: kalexojr 9/11/14 4:28 PM Van Heusen won an Emmy award for the ” and won Oscars Deleted: T for four others: “,” “All the Way,” “High Hopes,” and “Call Me kalexojr 9/11/14 4:28 PM Deleted: : Irresponsible”. Other well-known Van Heusen songs are: “Come Fly with Me,” “Love is the Tender Trap,” and “”. He wrote 85 songs for Sinatra and composed the music for six of the seven Bing Crosby/ road pictures.

The concert is on Monday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the in Concert Hall at the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts on the Drew University campus. Tickets are $50 per person, $40 each for a group of 10 or more and $15 for those with a current educational ID. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-408-3917 or www.drew.edu/concerthall/special-events

Famed Musical Director Rob Fisher will serve as the musical director and host for the concert. Fisher, who has won several awards, is a sought after pianist, conductor and musical director. He’s also served as a musical director for Broadway shows and as a guest conductor and soloist for many orchestras. kalexojr 9/11/14 4:29 PM Deleted: as a The Swinging on a Star concert is being underwritten by the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

“It is with great pleasure that the Laurie Foundation is able to present this concert to honor one of America’s most prolific composers and to feature two of the most talented performers on Broadway,” said Gene Korf, executive director of the foundation. “Jimmy Van Heusen’s songs have become standards in the .”

A native of Syracuse, New York, Van Heusen got his start as a radio deejay and chose his stage name from an ad for Van Heusen collars. He wrote his first hit song for Benny Goodman in 1939 and was later hired to write songs for Paramount Pictures. He was a well-known Hollywood bachelor and also was a test pilot during World War II. He eventually married and lived until 1990.

It is a rare treat that his music will be brought to life by the tremendously gifted and talented singers, Lewis and Boggess, both winners of several drama awards. Boggess, who debuted the role of The Little Mermaid on Broadway in 2007 and performed in the West End production of Les Miserables, most recently performed as Christine in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, opposite Lewis. kalexojr 9/11/14 4:30 PM Deleted: Lewis has appeared in several Broadway productions, including Phantom,and is particularly well-known for his roles in Porgy & Bess, Les Miserables and . kalexojr 9/11/14 4:30 PM Television fans will recognize him from his recurring role in the hit show Scandal. Deleted:

About Drew University

Drew University is a private, liberal arts university located in Madison, N.J., in the New York City metro area. Ranked among the top liberal arts institutions nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and Washington Monthly, Drew is also listed in Princeton Review’s Best 379 Colleges. The Drew promise—We Deliver Full-Impact Learning to the World—emphasizes the university’s commitment to borderless education that enables a student’s greatest success in a globally connected world. Drew has a total student enrollment of more than 2,000 in three schools: the College of Liberal Arts, the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies and the Drew Theological School. The undergraduate program offers degrees in 30 different disciplines, while Caspersen and the Theological School offer degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels.

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