Written by Tamara Norden Brognano, Outreach Coordinator for Four Seasons Theatre

The film historian Gerald Mast wrote “Where else but in America could a Russian Jew write the most successful popular songs for the two holiest Christian holidays [‘White Christmas’ and ‘Easter Parade’]?” Where, indeed? The story of Irving Berlin is the dream of every 19^th-century immigrant writ large – to become an American, raise a family, have a successful career, and forge a legacy worthy of the history books.

Born in Russia in 1888 and immigrated to America in 1893, Berlin learned how to play to the crowd as a busker singing for coins in the taprooms of the Bowery; he learned how to charm an audience with a sentimental ballad as a singing waiter; and he learned the craft of songwriting while churning out sheet music in Tin Pan Alley. All that he learned in those early days, along with an astounding work ethic, helped him build one of the longest, and most successful, songwriting careers of any American composer.

Berlin was a self-taught pianist, and he depended on a transposing piano—an instrument familiar to the tunesmiths and song-pluggers of Tin Pan Alley. Berlin wrote all of his songs in the key of F sharp, but by shifting a lever below the keyboard, he could transpose the song into any key. He never learned to read or write music, but employed a series of transcribers who would listen to him play a song and then notate it for him. A young George Gershwin once interviewed for a job as a transcriber and arranger for Berlin’s music publishing house. Berlin gave him an audition, but dismissed him with “You’ve got more talent than an arranger needs.”

The movie musical Alexander’s Ragtime Band was a retrospective about American music with elements of Berlin biography in it, featuring more than 20 Berlin songs. It says a lot that a retrospective covering 30 years of American music could rely on songs from just one composer—a composer who, only midway through his career, had already spanned so many musical styles. And that film came out in 1938—Berlin would continue to write new songs for another 25 years.

At the 100^th birthday celebration for Berlin held at Carnegie Hall in 1988, Walter Cronkite stated that “Irving Berlin helped write the story of this country by capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives. Since 1906, Irving Berlin has written over 1,500 songs, and it is there we find our history, our holidays, our homes and our hearts.” We’ve chosen just a few of those 1,500 songs, and we hope you’ll enjoy hearing them as much as we enjoy singing them.



Jonathan Larson started working on RENT (the musical) in earnest in 1991.  The show was first seen at New York Theatre Workshop in 1994 and opened off-Broadway in January 1996, transferring to Broadway in April 1996.  The show was written 20 years ago, premiered on Broadway 15 years ago.

We open RENT tomorrow. It's a small cast (20 people) and staff (8) with a 6 person band.  34 people total.  Within this group there are 5 people who have close friends or family members who have either passed away from HIV/Aids or are living with the disease.

According to statistics provided by the Wisconsin AIDS/HIV Program:

Worldwide, over 33 million persons are living with HIV and over 7,100 individuals are infected daily. An estimated 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV and one out of five don’t yet know it. Since 1983, more than 8,700 people in Wisconsin have been reported with HIV infection. Today, more than 6,400 persons are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in Wisconsin.

A few resources:

One Tough Pirate, a blog written by Bob Bowers, who has lived with AIDS for 27 years, share stories of those living with the disease.

The AIDS Network has offices in Madison, Beloit, and Janesville. Learn more, volunteer, get tested.

This morning I found a link to an archive on that 1939 production which includes the program and photos from the show. It also includes a wonderful section on why the theater was built - who it would serve and how the university hoped it would benefit the community. 

FST has produced ten shows at the Wisconsin Union Theater. We feel so lucky to be a part of this incredible history and are looking forward to returning when the theater reopens.  (Although, truth be told, we will miss the dressing rooms and historic photos and posters which are currently backstage.)

Read, "It ain't necessarily Porgy" from the August 7, 2011 issue of the New York Times.  This article provides good background for the project and its attempts to turn the 1935 work into something which appeals to modern musical theatre audiences. 

While the production has support from the estates of George Gerswhin (composer), Ira Gershwin (lyricist), and Dubose Heyward (author of the 1925 novel "Porgy" which served as source material and co-lyricist), not everyone has agreed that this "reconception" of the work is a great idea.  Among those who have spoken out against the changes is composer Stephen Sondheim whose comments are featured in the August 10 New York Times article, "Sondheim takes issue with revamped Porgy and Bess."

Both articles raise interesting issues and questions. Is Porgy and Bess being treated differently because it's considered an opera rather than a musical?  Does changing the story make it more relevant to modern audiences?  Does "revamping the work" somehow lessen the impact of the original? 

What do you think?

Some works, like many operas written before copyright was a normal, official thing for composers to do, are considered public domain.  When you produce an opera like "Carmen," you have access to a few different printed versions of the score and libretto and have the flexibilty to combine them, choose one, cut anything you feel like cutting etc.  This why organizations like Opera for the Young can create their own one hour versions of operas which would normally be three hours long.  This is also why you'll probably never see the same exact version of script for a play by Shakespeare, either. 

Most works written in the past century are full copyrighted. With this license, you agree that you will not make changes to the script or score and will present the work as it was originally intended.  Also, recording (vidoe or audio) for commerical purposes is strictly prohibited.  (You can't record the show and then sell copies of the DVD, for example). 

Another major difference is payment for the right to perform.  While companies who produce works in the public domain have to rent or buy music and scripts, they usually do not have to pay performance rights or royalties.  For most works written in the last century, you must pay for rights with the amount due  based on the total number of seats available for each performance and the number of times you are presenting it, in combination with your ticket prices.  For FST the rights for most of our shows range from $5,000 to $6,000 plus any music and script rental costs. For straight plays you may pay a flat fee based on seating and number of shows and you may also have to pay additional royalties if you sell beyond an intial estimate.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion.

Women's fashions have moved from being tightly corsetted with huge skirts and heavy fabrics to the more "natural" silhouette of the Gibson Girl - less fabric in the skirts, more relaxed bodices, hemlines that may have exposed an ankle.

The previous decade brought a wave of technological advancements that became more readily available to wider numbers of people from the phonograph to electric light bulbs. The Brownie camera was invented by the Eastman Kodak company.  Henry Ford introduces the world to the Model T and assembly line production.

An age of wonder - the Wright Brothers first flight and the construction of the Panama Canal.  1906 and the invention of radio broadcasting.   The world's first feature film is released in 1906.  Imagine, if you will, the reaction to Picasso's 1907 painting "Les Desmoiselles" - from John Singer Sargent's striking beauties and the soft lines of many Impressionist paintings to women with faces that look like tribal masks and features.

Tin Pan Alley grows in popularity - marked by record breaking sales of "Alexander's Ragtime Band," sheet music by Irving Berlin, in 1911.

All of this brings us to 1912 - the year when "My Fair Lady" is set.  What happened in 1912?

On January 12, 30,000 workers walk out of textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, beginning one of the most successful strikes in American labor history.

On March 7, Roald Amundsen embarks toward the South Pole.

On April 10, the British oceanliner RMS Titanic leaves England.   It strikes as iceberg at 11:30 pm on April 14 and sinks at 2:20 am on April 15.

On April 20, Fenway Park opens in Boston.

On May 4 over 10,000 women suffragettes march in New York City.

On October 18 Italy and the Ottoman Empire sign a treaty which ends the Italo-Turkish War.

Read "American Folklore Theatre: Remembering a pillar of AFT" by Doc Heide, a co-founder, playwright, and performer at AFT.

Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist of My Fair Lady, will be honored with a memorial plaque at the east end of St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden, close to the portico made famous as the place where the character Eliza Doolittle sold her flowers.

Read the full article.

A few things which stand out:

• Women continue to be the ones that make purchase decisions and the majority of the audience members are female. 
• If a show was not part of a subscription, the single biggest influence on a purchase was word of mouth (personal recommendation).
• 35% of ticket buyers purchased tickets online - up from 26% in 2008-2009.

Read more.