Jerome Kern

"Downton Abbey" is set to get a visit from a famous opera singer in its new season. Kiri Te Kanawa, the renowned soprano from New Zealand, is scheduled to appear on the popular British period soap opera, shown in the U.S. on PBS. Producers announced...

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, a prolific British composer, arranger and pianist whose film scores were nominated three times for Academy Awards, has died in New York City. He was 76. Bennett died Dec. 24 after a brief illness, his publisher Novello & Co...

"Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy," which airs New Year's night on PBS (that's PBS SoCal, for local viewers) as part of its "Great Performances" series, shares again the great open secret that American culture is to a great extent Jewish culture. More...

As Sir Robin carols merrily to King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot, "In any great adventure, if you don't want to lose...you won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews." Eric Idle's cheeky lyric, which unfailingly generated knowing...

Chicagoans know the husband-wife vocal duo of Alfreda Burke and Rodrick Dixon from their exemplary work in "Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah," which plays annually at the Auditorium Theatre. But on Sunday afternoon Burke and Dixon bowed at the...

Somehow, someway, “Show Boat” at the Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs manages to burn through most of its problems. Glitchy microphones can’t dim the vibrant singing. Stiff blocking can’t trip up the peppy dancing....

In the spring of 1927, the waters of Mississippi River overflowed in spots from New Orleans right up to Cairo, Ill. Hundreds of people died, almost a million were uprooted and the course of American social history changed, with black sharecroppers...

It is a widely varied and provocative theater season coming up throughout South Florida, with plenty of promise (it’s the execution that can trip up a company, especially during these shoe-string budgetary times). Here are 15 shows you just shouldn&...

  The Northern State University Department of Music faculty will present its annual recital at 7:30 Sept. 20, at the Johnson Fine Arts Center.   More than a dozen faculty members will perform.  “The event is one of the music department’s...

One hesitates to leap to too many conclusions based on the work that pianist Fred Hersch turned in on his newest recording, "Alive at the Vanguard," and his performance Thursday night at the Jazz Showcase. But in both instances, Hersch played with a...

Tony Martin, one of the last of the big-name singer-actors from the golden age of Hollywood musicals, has died. He was 98. Martin, who toured for years with his wife, dancer-actress Cyd Charisse, died of natural causes Friday at his home in Los Angeles,...

For all of us who enjoy the summer concerts of the Pasadena Pops, the news Tuesday of the death of Marvin Hamlisch, its music director and conductor, was stunning. Even though it was apparent at his first two concerts this season that Hamlisch was not...