Let Me Entertain You: Jule Styne's Greatest Hits

October 5 – 16, 2016 36th Season, 19th Autumn Production BRIDGET McDONOUGH RUDY HOGENMILLER General Manager Artistic Director presents LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU: JULE STYNE’S GREATEST HITS Featuring JUSTIN ADAIR LARRY ADAMS EMILY BARNASH KELLY BRITT WILLIAM ROBERTS MARY ROBIN ROTH Music Director & Conductor Linda Madonia* Bass Drums Joseph Krzysiak* Joey Zymonas* Production Manager Katie Beeks Director RUDY HOGENMILLER * Members of Chicago Federation of Musicians, Local 10-208 Let Me Entertain You: Jule Styne’s Greatest Hits 1 ABOUT LIGHT OPERA WORKS LIGHT OPERA WORKS is a resident professional not-for-profit music theater, founded in 1980. The company’s mission is to produce and present musical theater from a variety of world traditions. Such works include American and Continental operettas, classic American musical theater, as well as contemporary fare. Since its inaugural season in 1981, LIGHT OPERA WORKS continues to be a leader in the United States for the presentation of these historically important and theatrically delightful works of art in productions similar in size and scope to their originals, in modern productions with professional artists and full orchestra. Other programs include musical theater workshops for young performers ages 8 to 18, and small concert performances throughout the Chicago area. LIGHT OPERA WORKS is a member of the Illinois Arts Alliance, League of Chicago Theatres, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Evanston and Wilmette Chambers of Commerce and Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau. For more about LIGHT OPERA WORKS, including information on repertoire and past productions, visit our website at www.LightOperaWorks.com. LIGHT OPERA WORKS will become MUSIC THEATER WORKS in 2017. Special thanks to Found Kitchen and Social House for sponsoring the LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU opening night reception. Found Kitchen and Social House, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Oceanique, Prairie Moon, and Trattoria Demi are the preferred restaurants of Light Opera Works. Whole Foods Market Green Bay Road is sponsor of the Light Opera Works Youth Company. The Light Opera Works Rehearsal Center, Box Office and Administrative Office are located at 516 4th Street, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. The Box Office phone number is (847) 920-5360, and Box Office fax line is (847) 920-5358. The Rehearsal Center is an ideal venue for a variety of events, from rehearsals and dance classes to meetings and celebrations. For rental information, call (847) 920-5360. SPECIAL THANKS TO The Saints; G. Todd Hunt; Dr. John D. McMahon; Tim Pleiman, Bravo Systems; Fiona Queen, Music Institute of Chicago; Adam Veness 2 Light Opera Works A FEW WORDS FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Welcome to our celebration of one of America’s prolific composers, Jule Styne. He started his musical career as a child prodigy pianist (he soloed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the age of 8!) and went on to become one of Broadway’s greatest composers. Along the way, he had a successful career in Hollywood, and wrote a tremendous number of popular songs as well, many introduced by Frank Sinatra, who said, “Jule Styne is simply the best there is at what he does.” There are many ways to approach a program of his music, but we decided to keep it simple. Act One focuses on the music he wrote for Broadway, while in Act Two you’ll hear his pop tunes, along with songs written for the movies. As always, special thanks is due to music director Linda Madonia, and to my talented singers for their collaboration on this concert. I think we’re “the luckiest people in the world” to have spent last few weeks in the company of the music of Jule Styne. Rudy Hogenmiller Artistic Director PRODUCTION STAFF Director ..............................................................................................................................Rudy Hogenmiller Music Director & Conductor ..............................................................................................Linda Madonia Assistant to the Director....................................................................................................... Clayton Cross Lighting Coordinator .............................................................................................................Aaron Lorenz Stylists..............................................................................................................Jane DeBondt, Jesus Perez Scenic Artist..............................................................................................................................Adam Veness Sound Engineer .........................................................................................................................Mike Patrick Sound Board Mixer ..................................................................................................................Cory Vincent Crew .........................................................................................................................................K.C. Matthews Wardrobe ..............................................................................................................................Alexa Weinzierl Orchestra Contractor ............................................................................................................Diana Brodick Production Manager .................................................................................................................Katie Beeks Production Assistant ............................................................................................................Olivia Jo Ellery Let Me Entertain You: Jule Styne’s Greatest Hits 3 ABOUT JULE STYNE (1905-1994) Jule Styne wrote so many great songs in so many different styles that it’s difficult to identify his musical fingerprints on a song, the way we often can with Cole Porter or George Gershwin. As a result, we know his songs, but we don’t always realize they are his. Styne was a songwriter’s songwriter; and worked with many major lyricists: Stephen Sondheim, Frank Loesser, Comden and Green, Sammy Cahn, Yip Harburg and Bob Merrill, to name a few. “You write as well as who you write with,” Styne said, and clearly relished his ability to find the perfect music to match the sensibilities of each one of those very different wordsmiths. When he said, “If you can’t be a collaborator, you don’t belong in the theater,” he wasn’t being modest. He recognized the value of his gifts: “I am the greatest collaborator there is.” Styne was equally adept at creating Broadway scores and Hit Parade singles. Sometimes, he brought these two worlds together—“Do-Re-Mi” and “Bells Are Ringing” are pitch- perfect examples of the brassy late fifties/early sixties pop sound adapted for the purposes of the Broadway stage. But his best work displays a kind of timelessness. In both “Gypsy” and “Funny Girl,” he evokes bygone eras of show business without resorting to pastiche, with music that is neither slavishly “period” nor jarringly contemporary. He had a great gift for melody, and an equally great gift for matching the right melody to the right character and situation. It’s the latter that turns a great songwriter into a great theater composer. Of course, Styne was both. He became a great songwriter in Hollywood, cutting his teeth on Gene Autry musicals and soon graduating to more prestigious assignments, turning out number one hits and winning the Academy Award in the process. Broadway beckoned, and while his first show, 1947’s “High Button Shoes,” wasn’t a smash, it gave him the chance to work with such Broadway royalty as writer-director George Abbott and choreographer Jerome Robbins, cementing Styne’s philosophy of collaboration: “I learned more from (Abbott and Robbins) on that show than I could have learned on ten shows with lesser talents.” As Styne learned the Broadway ropes, the hits came, including “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “Bells Are Ringing” and, working with the 29-year-old lyricist Stephen Sondheim, his 1959 masterpiece “Gypsy.” The songs in each show further pushed the boundaries of what a Jule Styne song could do. By “Gypsy,” it seemed Styne could do anything. So identifying a Styne style is a tricky business. But if at some point today you think to yourself “I”ve Heard That Song Before,” you won’t need to wonder who wrote it. It’s the work of the dazzlingly versatile Jule Styne. —Michael Kotze 4 Light Opera Works THE PROGRAM ACT ONE “Let Me Entertain You” “Broadway, Broadway” “Together Wherever We Go” “You’ll Never Get Away From Me” “Small World” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” .......................................................................................... from GYPSY (1959, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim) “The Music That Makes Me Dance” “Who Are You Now?” “Don’t Rain On My Parade” ..........................................................................................from FUNNY GIRL (1964, lyrics by Bob Merrill) “Just In Time” ..................................................................................................... from BELLS ARE RINGING (1956, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) “I Know About Love” ............................................................................................................from DO RE MI (1960, lyrics by Comden and Green) “I Met A Girl” ...................................................................................................... from BELLS ARE RINGING (1956, lyrics by Comden and Green) “If You Hadn’t But You Did” ...........................................................................

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