Fri

2/3/2012

8:00pm

Cabaret

UM Musical Theatre Seniors

with NY Cabaret icons Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, musical directors

• $20 Assigned Rows 3-5
• $15 General Admission
• $10 Student

• UM Musical Theatre Seniors
• Eric Comstock, musical director
• Barbara Fasano, musical director

Event Details

See the University of Michigan Musical Theatre seniors in one of their final Ann Arbor performances!

Daniel Belnavis • Daniel Berryman • Gabi Deluca • Alex Finke • Colin Hartman • Olivia Hernandez •       Bre Jackson • Samantha Massell • Danny Romeo

Students from the renowned University of Michigan Musical Theatre Department have collaborated with celebrated New York cabaret duo Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano to present a unique evening of American song. Barbara and Eric are in residence at the University for one week, working with 10 student performers on new arrangements of classic songs, shaping the interpretations and sharing their insights from years of highly regarded performances around the country and well-reviewed recordings.  

Eric himself will be the accompanist/pianist for this special performance, giving audiences a rare opportunity to experience the exciting original arrangements of Comstock and Fasano as performed by the future stars of Broadway, film and television.

PROGRAM: Pure Imagination

Performing favorite songs from Stephen Sondheim, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer and many more!

 

Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, whose electrifying combination of warmth, wit, swing and sensuality have made them the nightclub world's most celebrated team, began 2011 with an acclaimed ("Exhilarating" –New York Times), sold-out engagement at the Oak Room Supper Club at the Algonquin Hotel. Winners of the 2010 New York Nightlife Award, they are as entertaining as they are musically savvy.

Whether the song is by Cole Porter or Paul Simon, Duke Ellington or Joni Mitchell, Comstock and Fasano make it fresh and new, and their audiences feel they've been to a terrific party where the music and the stories have been equally great. 

Stephen Holden of The New York Times has declared that "Mr. Comstock and Ms. Fasano are turning the neighborhood into a hotbed of pleasure." Rex Reed of The New York Observer wrote, "He is hip, daring, confident and dynamic. She gives off palpable electricity. They lure sophisticated New Yorkers to discover magic after midnight. If love is a wave, they’re riding the crest of it."  The New York Post’s Frank Scheck raved, "Their joint venture is a capital idea. When they sing together the evening is transformed from collaboration to alchemy."

Although they’ve been compared to Nick and Nora, Fred and Ginger, and Lunt and Fontanne, Comstock and Fasano's unique style is all their own. The multi-award winners (MAC, Nightlife, Back Stage Bistro, Mabel Mercer Foundation) have been honored as vocalists, recording artists, and writers of their numerous performance pieces.  They received an unprecedented three MAC Awards in one year including Best Vocal Duo, Outstanding Female Vocalist and Record of the Year. Barbara’s award-winning Record of the Year, “Written In The Stars”, a Harold Arlen collection, is played on radio stations throughout the world, and has been praised in such diverse publications as JazzTimes and Playbill.  Eric, the co-creator and star of the hit revue OUR SINATRA, just released his fourth CD, “bitter/sweet”, an intimate guitar-vocal collaboration with guitar star Randy Napoleon. 

Barbara and Eric also love to share what they’ve learned with students of all ages.  They have an ongoing relationship with University of Michigan’s Theatre Department, and will be in residence this winter.  Their work as teachers includes private coaching, workshops and master classes in the art of performance and song interpretation.

Their many New York engagements include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, New York Festival of Song, Feinstein's, The Carlyle and Birdland, and the 92nd Street Y's ‘Lyrics and Lyricists’ series. They headline at Caramoor, Cooperstown Music Festival, Arizona Jazz Festival, The Rrazz Room in San Francisco, Guild Hall in East Hampton, Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia, The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, and in music festivals and concert halls from coast to coast.