Friday / November 20 / 8:00pm
Laura Osnes and Tony Yazbeck Fred Lassen, Music Director
Things Are Looking Up
An Evening of Gershwin Greats and Other Favorites
Broadcast from the Music Room
Thank You from Caramoor. We thank the following donors for their generous support of this benefit evening: Mr. Donald Anderson Helene Berger Ms. Dorothy M. Cooper Sandra & William Cordiano Ms. Julie Hilton Danan Trish & Raymond Dayan Ms. Kathryn E. Dysart & Mr. Jeffrey L. Schwartz Ms. Signe P. Flieger Ms. Amanda Fortunato Susan & John Freund Kate & Martin Glynn Virginia Gold Ellen & Robert Grimes Ms. Amber Guyotte Nicole & Larry Heath Anne H. Hess & Craig Kaplan Mr. Grant Holtzberg Mr. George Iadarola Patricia & Robert Ivry Mr. David Johnson Ms. Madeleine Leigh Ms. Ellen Lewis Mr. Thomas G. Loman Laura & Gary Lynch Mr. Louis Mazawey Melissa H. Mulrooney Mr. Scott Newman
Susan & Richard O'Leary Mr. Robert V. Okulski Ms. Joyce Ottinger Melinda Papp Durham Mr. Alan Pike Mrs. Robin Pino Mr. & Mrs. Laurence Polansky Kathy L. & Marc F. Pucci Mr. Andrew S. Reiskind Suzanne & Victor Rosenzweig Mr. Philip Shulman Ms. Marcy Smith Jill Sokol Mr. William Solomon* Maureen & Charles Steele Ms. Judy Stewart Marian & Bob Torre Stephen L. Ucko Lisa & Paul Welch Xin Wen Lucille Werlinich Leslie Williams & Jim Attwood Feiran Yang Anonymous (2) *Deceased List current as of October 30, 2020.
Caramoor thanks The Adela and Lawrence Elow Fund for The Great American Songbook: 1900 to 1960 for preserving and sustaining classic American songs through live performances. The Music Room theatrical lighting was a generous gift from Adela and Lawrence Elow. The Music Room piano, a Steinway Concert Grand, was the generous gift of Susan and John Freund.
Welcome! We look forward to all being together, at home, for this first-in-its-history virtual Cabaret performance! We are thrilled to be able to host such talented performers on our Music Room stage and for you to have a peek inside from the comfort of your own home. This program has had a growing following over its 20+ years — thank you for your support of this American genre and to Adela and Larry Elow for championing it at Caramoor. In the days prior to the broadcast, you will receive an email with instructions on how to view the program. In the meantime, get excited for the special evening by perusing some background information included here. Then, on November 20th, make yourself some nibbles and pour a cool cocktail, set yourself up in a cozy chair, and join in with the Caramoor family for a special virtual version of our show! We hope you make this a special evening in your own way.
Cabaret in the Music Room Through the Years. 1995. Adela and Lawrence Elow introduced the American Popular Songbook to Caramoor, with a Fourth of July performance starring Barbara Cook in the Venetian Theater. 1999. The Elows introduced the first evening of Cabaret in the Music Room, starring KT Sullivan; it would become an annual benefit event henceforth.
The Elows and Eric Michael Gillett at the 2015 Cabaret in the Music Room Benefit.
Lawrence and Adela Elow
2015. The Elows establish The Adela and Lawrence Elow Fund for The Great American Songbook: 1900 to 1960 dedicated to preserving and sustaining classic American songs through live performances. They generously make this gift to help Caramoor advance its mission and continue its strong dedication to music.
About Tonight’s Performers.
Laura Osnes can currently be seen starring in the Hallmark original movies A Homecoming for the Holidays and In The Key Of Love. Her newest Hallmark film, One Royal Holiday, will premiere this coming holiday season. She was last seen on Broadway starring in the Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical Bandstand (Drama Desk, Drama League nominations), which was filmed and released in movie theaters nationwide via Fathom Events. Other Broadway credits include Cinderella in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Drama Desk Award; Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Astaire nominations); Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (Tony Award nomination); Hope Harcourt in the Tony Award winning revival of Anything Goes (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Award nominations); Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center Theater’s South Pacific; and Sandy in Grease. Other New York/regional credits include The Scarlet Pimpernel and Crazy For You (Manhattan Concert Productions); The Threepenny Opera (Drama Desk Award nomination;
Atlantic Theater Company); City Center Encores! productions of The Band Wagon, Randy Newman’s Faust, and Pipe Dream; The Sound of Music (Carnegie Hall); On The Town (Boston Pops); Carousel (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Broadway: Three Generations (Kennedy Center). Her television credits include Dynasty (CW), Fosse/ Verdon (F/X), Elementary (CBS), Six By Sondheim (HBO), Live From Lincoln Center: Bernstein On Broadway, A Capitol Fourth (PBS), Sondheim: The Birthday Concert, The Miraculous Year (HBO pilot), and the Kennedy Center Honors salutes to Barbara Cook (2011) and Dustin Hoffman (2012). In addition to touring the country with her popular concert series Broadway Princess Party, her many concerts and cabarets include performing with Michael Feinstein, the New York Philharmonic, The New York Pops, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Boston Pops, The San Francisco Symphony, The National Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, The Café Carlyle, Lincoln Center, The Smith Center in Las Vegas, and MN Orchestra Hall. She can be heard on several original cast recordings and her two solo albums, Dream A Little Dream: Live at The Café Carlyle and If I Tell You: The Songs of Maury Yeston.
About Tonight’s Performers.
Tony Yazbeck will portray Cary Grant in the new original Broadway musical Flying Over Sunset in 2021 at the Vivian Beaumont theatre. He recently premiered his solo concert at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. He also was featured on the PBS Great Performances special The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood. Prior to that, he starred in the Susan Stroman/ Harold Prince–helmed Japan and Broadway productions of Prince of Broadway for which he received the Chita Rivera Award as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. For the 2014 Broadway revival of On the Town, he won the Astaire Award and was nominated for Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle awards for his virtuosic performance. His other Broadway credits include Finding Neverland, Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nomination), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance, and Gypsy with Tyne Daly at the age of 11. Off-Broadway credits include A Chorus Line (City Center), The Cradle Will Rock (Classic Stage), The Beast in the Jungle (Vineyard
Theatre), The Scarlet Pimpernel and Crazy For You (David Geffen Hall), Fanny Hill (York Theatre), and for New York City Center Encores! he has appeared in Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy,The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Pardon My English. Regional theatre credits include Alliance, Barrington, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, The Muny (St. Louis), Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep, Paper Mill, and Old Globe. Yazbeck was seen internationally in Kiss Me, Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London under the baton of John Wilson. His television and film credits include Billions, Smash, and the feature documentary Every Little Step. In concert he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops under the baton of Steven Reineke; with National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap with Michael Barrett; New Years concert at Tokyo’s Orb Theatre; and most recently at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra celebrating Leonard Bernstein. Yazbeck also stars in his own song and dance show. His debut album, The Floor Above Me, has been released digitally and on CD by PS Classics. He will make his New York directorial debut at David Geffen Hall (Lincoln Center) in 2021.
About Tonight’s Performers.
Fred Lassen is a Broadway conductor, music director, and arranger. Broadway productions he has conducted or led include: Sing Street, Prince of Broadway, Bandstand, Mean Girls, King Kong, Finding Neverland, Once, Porgy and Bess, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot, Cabaret, 42nd Street, Once Upon A Mattress. OffBroadway/Regional: Sing Street (New York Theatre Workshop), The Sting (Paper Mill Playhouse, w/ Harry Connick, Jr.), The Threepenny Opera (Atlantic Theatre, dir. Martha Clarke), ZORRO (Alliance Theatre). International: Prince of Broadway (Tokyo/Osaka), 4STARS, (Tokyo/ Osaka), Maury Yeston’s Peony Pavilion (Beijing), Cabaret (Folies Bergère, Paris). He was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award in Washington, DC, in the category of Outstanding Music Direction, for Ricky Ian Gordon’s musical Sycamore Trees. Fred has arranged and recorded two albums with Laura Osnes.
He was the Associate Music Supervisor for NBC’s live musical broadcasts of Peter Pan and The Sound of Music. Fred graduated with a degree in Organ Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife Vaishali, an independent documentary filmmaker, and his 5-year-old son Luca.
The Great American Songbook is thriving at Caramoor. Thanks to Adela and Lawrence Elow, audiences have experienced top-flight cabaret performers who keep the music relevant, accessible, and as pleasurable as ever. Because of their generosity and stewardship of Cabaret at Caramoor, we can look back at an earlier time and enjoy this extraordinary style of lyrics and music. Previous performances of Cabaret in the Music Room have included: 1999 / KT Sullivan Noel, Cole, and Bart 2000 / KT Sullivan The Song is You 2001 / Mary Cleere Haran Sweet and Low Down 2002 / Christina Andreas Here’s to the Ladies: A Songbook of Broadway’s First Ladies 2003 / Anna Bergman Souvenir: A Journey in Song 2004 / Joyce Breach Remembering Mable Mercer 2005 / Barbara Brussell Almost Like Being in Love: The Life, Loves and Lyrics of Alan J. Lerner 2006 / Klea Blackhurst Everything the Traffic Will Allow: The Songs and Sass of Ethel Merman 2007 / Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano Two for the Road 2008 / Jeff Harner and Shauna Hicks I Got Rhythm: Mickey and Judy’s Hollywood 2009 / Karen Akers Simply Styne: The Music of Jule Styne 2010 / Faith Prince A Leap of Faith 2011 / Karen Oberlin The Wizard of Words: Yip Harburg’s Songs of Wit and Wisdom 2012 / Liz Callaway An Evening with Liz Callaway 2013 / Jennifer Sheehan The Sensational ‘60s, I Know a Place 2014 / Rebecca Luker Sings Jerome Kern 2015 / Eric Michael Gillett Careless Rhapsody: An Evening Dedicated to the Lyrics of Lorenz Hart 2016 / Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley He Said / She Said 2017 / Melissa Errico Broadway’s Fair Ladies: The Music and Characters that have Shaped My Life 2018 / Emily Skinner Broadway Her Way 2019 / Christine Ebersole
Introduced by Adela and Lawrence Elow, Cabaret artists in prior summer seasons have included: 1995 / Barbara Cook 1996-2001 / Andrea Marcovicci 2002 / Steve Ross 2003 / KT Sullivan, Mark Nadler, Heather MacRae, Craig Rubano 2004 / Karen Mason
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Recipes from the Artists From Laura’s Kitchen | Ginger Cookies Yield: 30 cookies Ingredients 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 5 cracks freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup molasses 2 tablespoons ginger preserves (see Cook’s Note)
Directions 1. Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, mustard, salt and black pepper together in a medium bowl. 2. Beat the butter and the sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until just incorporated, about 20 seconds. Add the molasses and ginger preserves and continue beating until the batter is an even light brown color, 30 seconds more. 3. Add the dry ingredients all at once, beating slowly to make a soft, smooth dough. Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate the dough until firm, about 25 minutes. 4. Put about 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. With a spoon or a small ice cream scoop, portion the dough into a slightly heaping tablespoon for each cookie. Roll the dough, by hand, into balls. Roll the tops of the balls in the sugar, and space them 2 inches apart on a nonstick or lightly oiled cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 25 minutes. (The chilling is what gives this cookie a beautiful, crackly crunch on top, and a soft, chewy center.) Cont. on next page
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until the top is crackly, and the insides peeking out are dark and moist but not raw, about 15 to 20 minutes. Briefly cool the cookies on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely. 6. Serve or store in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 weeks. Cook’s Note: Ginger preserves give lots of flavor without the hard chunks of crystallized ginger. It is found in most grocery stores.
From Tony’s Bar | Tony’s Perfect Margarita Yield: 1 cocktail Ingredients 3 ounces tequila blanco or silver 1 ounce Grand Marnier 1/2 ounce agave syrup 1 full lime juiced Directions Shake with ice and pour into salted rim glass, then enjoy!
Now it’s your turn! Share with us your best take on Laura’s ginger cookies and Tony’s margarita by posting on social media with the hashtag #CaramoorCabaret or send the pictures to events@caramoor.org. We will repost your culinary creations on social media! @caramoor
Questions or concerns for accessing the broadcast? Contact the Box Office at boxoffice@caramoor.org | 914.232.1252 or Special Events at events@caramoor.org | 914.232.1492.