THE GREAT JEWISH AMERICAN SONGBOOK
9th February and 28th February 2015 – Upstairs at the Gatehouse
6th March 2015 – Radlett Centre
How is it that Jews wrote the musical background to American lives from the First World War to the sixties?
In a land of opportunity, they created a musical world of escapism and romance… and helped invent the American Dream.
The Great Jewish American Songbook explores a century of song, featuring music from some of the greatest songwriters who ever lived. Which famous composers or which famous songs weren’t written by Jewish composers? Not many – as this celebratory show will remind music lovers of all ages.
CAST
Jennifer Harding
Jessie May
Grant McConvey
Lee Ormsby
Writer – Chris Burgess
Director – Matthew Gould
Musical Director – Neil MacDonald
Musical Arranger – Andy Collyer
Lighting Designer – Martin McLachlan
Casting Director – Jane Deitch
Production Assistant – Angie Lawrence
Producer – Aria Entertainment
THE JEWISH LEGENDS
UK Concert Tour 2016
A celebration of some of the greatest Jewish performers in entertainment history.
Why did American Jews find such success in the world of entertainment? Because they arrived in America in the late nineteenth century with nothing but a gift to peddle. And what better to peddle than a song, a dance or a comic routine.
This show uniquely explores a century of song, dance and comedy with a nod to some legendary performers such as Streisand, Jolson, Midler, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice and Groucho Marx. Song writers include Burt Bacharach.
Their songs, their lives, their stories.
CAST
Molly Walsh
Kimberly Moses
Martin Milnes
Joanna Lee
Steven Serlin
Martin Neely
Writer – Chris Burgess
Musical Arrangements – Andy Collyer
Director – Stewart Nicholls
Musically Director – Lee Freeman/Freddie Tapner
THAT’S JEWISH ENTERTAINMENT
7th February – 11th March 2017 – Upstairs at the Gatehouse
12th March 2017 – Radlett Centre
Why have Jews dominated the entertainment industry? How is it that so many writers, composers, performers, directors and producers are Jewish?
THAT’S JEWISH ENTERTAINMENT presents a cornucopia of Jewish talent, with song, dance and comedy spanning decades of Jewish life. From the shtetls of Eastern Europe to Broadway. From Yiddish folk songs to Hollywood blockbusters.
It’s been a long bitter-sweet journey, and on the way contributors to this entertainment heritage are artists such as:
THE GERSHWIN BROTHERS / AL JOLSON / SOPHIE TUCKER / EDDIE CANTOR / IRVING BERLIN
THE MARX BROTHERS / FANNY BRICE / WOODY ALLEN / MEL BROOKS / BARBRA STREISAND
JACKIE MASON / JERRY HERMAN / SID CAESER / JOAN RIVERS / BETTE MIDLER
…and many, many more!
From Louis B Mayer to Steven Spielberg. From The Jazz Singer to Yentl. From fiddlers in the shtetl to Fiddler on the Roof.
A CENTURY OF JEWISH ENTERTAINMENT – IN ONE SHOW!
CAST
MATTHEW BARROW
JOANNA LEE
DAVID McKECHNIE
EMMA ODELL
WRITER – CHRIS BURGESS
DIRECTOR – KATE GOLLEDGE
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS – ANDY COLLYER