Fans of classic American songs are sure to rejoice when out Emmy and Grammy-winning musician and singer Michael Feinstein comes to town, performing Aug. 2 at the Mann Center with fellow stage and singing stars Christine Ebersole and Betty Buckley.
The three stage and screen icons sharing the same stage is amazing in and of itself, but the trio has the added bonus of being backed by the Philadelphia Orchestra for this show.
Feinstein, who is used to performing in large venues with acclaimed musicians, said he plans to bring his best efforts to the stage for this show.
“Working with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which is one of the great orchestras in history, spurred me to make sure that the orchestrations and arrangements that I bring are ones that are lavish and show off the brilliance of the orchestra,” he said. “Working with Christine and Betty just is a reminder that I’d better be on the top of my game because there is nobody better or more charismatic than either of them.”
While the show will consist of sets by each of the three singers, Feinstein said they will also team up for numbers over the course of the evening.
“I’ll be doing a duet with Christine and a duet with Betty,” he said. “Of course they have their solo spots. The rest of the show is ‘Great American Songbook’ selections that will be largely solo but I think we’ll do something all together as an encore.”
Besides recording and performing the songs, Feinstein has spent a large part of his career researching and archiving classic American music, leading to the launch of the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative in 2008, which collects and exhibits physical artifacts, both published and non-published, of the “Great American Songbook.”
Feinstein said the music of the “Songbook” was something he became enamored with early on.
“The music that I perform is music that I grew up with my entire life,” he said. “I was one of those kids that had an interest in classic and show music. I had a singular, lonely childhood. I didn’t have the commonality of being interested in pop music in the way that all of my contemporaries were. So there was always an interest there. I started to become a professional pianist and singer right out of high school and it was this music that I performed and I became recognized wherever I was performing. It was something I always did.”
Feinstein’s initiative also seeks to educate younger musicians and music lovers about the “Songbook’s” relevance to the history of music in the United States and today’s popular music.
“We live in a time when art overall is devalued so we have a generation that doesn’t know anything about music, which I think is a great loss for our culture and the country,” he said. “We’ve lost the commonality of common ground that united us, and that is what great art can do. It makes people look past the differences and find things in common and creates a shared humanity. So in that sense, I think it’s tragic. The good thing about our world today is, because of technology, all of this classic music, regardless of whatever you are interested in or looking for, is out there and you can discover classic jazz, the ‘Great American Songbook’ or reggae. Whatever it is, it’s out there in a way that wasn’t possible 20 years ago. So I feel that we have a great hope for the future and there’s accessibility. So for that reason, I know that none of this will ever die. The music will live.”
Michael Feinstein performs with Christine Ebersole, Betty Buckley and the Philadelphia Orchestra, 8 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave. For more information or tickets, call 215-546-7900 or visit www.michaelfeinstein.com.