Bookwaves/Artwaves – March 21, 2024: Burton Lane (1912-1997)

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​Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.

Links to assorted local theater & book venues

​​​​​Burton Lane, Broadway and Hollywood composer and sometime lyricist, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, August 17, 1992 in New York.

Burton Lane, who died at the age of 84 in 1997, was best known for composing the scores for the hit Broadway shows Finian’s Rainbow (with E.Y. (Yip) Harburg) and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (with Alan J. Lerner). As a teenager, he was considered a protégé of George Gershwin, and was close to the Gershwin family until he moved to Los Angeles to compose songs for a variety of different musicals, including the Fred Astaire film, Royal Wedding . His other Broadway show, Carmelina, was produced in 1979.

In 1992, after creating a radio documentary about Leonard Bernstein, Richard Wolinsky embarked on another documentary on the life and music of George Gershwin, which started with a Morning Concert program featuring Ira Gershwin’s nephew Michael Strunsky and Gershwin expert Deena Rosenberg. That was followed followed with interviews with Michael’s father English Strunsky, with Ira Gershwin’s archivist, later a noted cabaret performer, Michael Feinstein, and New York Grande Dame Kitty Carlisle, who dated George Gershwin in the 1930s. This interview as the fifth of seven interviews, after which for personal reasons, the project was abandoned.

Special thanks to Ernie Harburg, son of Burton Lane’s lyricist E.Y. Yip Harburg, and to Gershwin historian Deena Rosenberg Harburg for their assistance in setting up this, and the other interviews in the Gershwin Project.

George Gershwin was born in 1898 and his brother Ira two years earlier. At the age of 15 he took a job as a song-plugger, playing other people’s songs on a piano for Remick Music Publisher for the sale of their sheet music. His first composed song was published when he was 17, and at 21 he scored his first big hit, Swanee. But it wasn’t until 1924 when he teamed up with his brother Ira as lyricist that George Gershwin became, what we might call a superstar, which he remained until his untimely death from a brain tumor in 1937. Ira Gershwin, who went on to work with other composers until he retired in the early 1960s, died in 1983.

The Gershwin Project: complete interviews

Interview I: English Strunsky, Ira Gershwin’s brother-in-law and George’s wingman in the 1920s.
Interview II: Musicologist Deena Rosenberg and Michael Strunsky, Ira Gershwin’s nephew.
Interview III: Kitty Carlisle.
Interview IV: Michael Feinstein.
Interview V: Burton Lane.

Review of “The Far Country” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre through April 14, 2024.

Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links

Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.

Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival Event calendar and links to previous events.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings.

Live Theater Companies
Actor’s Reading Collective (ARC). The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Steven Adly Guirgis, May 4, 7 pm, Marin Shakespeare Company, San Rafael.
African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar.
Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions.
American Conservatory Theatre Kristina Wong Sweatshop Overlord, March 30 – May 5, 2024, Strand Theater. A Strange Loop, April 18 – May 12, Toni Rembe Theater.
Aurora Theatre Blue Door by Tanya Barfield, April 19 – May 19. Streaming: March 14-19.
Awesome Theatre Company. Awesome High: A Sketch Comedy Play, directed by Nikki Menez, April 12-27, Eclectic Box, 446 Valencia, SF.
Berkeley Rep The Far Country by Lloyd Suh, March 8 – April 14, Peets Theatre. Galileo, World Premiere Musical, book by Danny Strong, with Raul Esparza, May 5 – June 10, Roda Theatre.
Berkeley Shakespeare Company. Cymbeline, adapted and directed by Stuart Bousel, May 10 – 26, Live Oak Theatre.
Boxcar Theatre. See website for upcoming shows.
Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for current and upcoming productions.
BroadwaySF: Haispray, April 16-21, Orpheum. See website for special events at the Orpheum, Curran and Golden Gate.
Broadway San Jose: Mean Girls, March 19-24.
California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes). Terrapin Roadshow, June 1-2; As You Like it, September 12 – 29.
Center Rep: The Great Leap by Lauren Yee. March 16 – April 7. Cabaret, May 26 – June 23, Lesher Center for the Arts.
Central Works Boss McGreedy, written and directed by Gary Graves, extended to April 7. Accused by Patricia Milton, July 13 – August 11.
Cinnabar Theatre. Shipwrecked! April 12 – 28.
Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing.
Contra Costa Civic Theatre In Repertory: Hamlet and Rosencranz and Gildenstern Are Dead, September 7 – 22.
Curran Theater: See website for upcoming one-night only live events, including the Unscripted series with various celebrities.
Custom Made Theatre. In hibernation.
Cutting Ball Theatre. The Soul Never Dwells in a Dry Place by Rotimi Agbabiaka, March 22 – 24.
42^nd Street Moon. Forever Plaid, April 18 – May 5, 2024.
Golden Thread VOD: What Do Women Say? March 12 – 29. Returning to Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani, April 12 – May 4, Potrero Stage.
Hillbarn Theatre: once, March 21 – April 7. Something Rotten, April 25 – May 12.
Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. (NO MORE) adjustments: A Black Queer Woman Evolves in Real Time, written and performed by Champagne Hughes, May 1-5, 2024. Fort Mason.
Magic Theatre. Dirty White Teslas Make Me Sad by Ashley Smiley, February 28 – March 24 (extended three performances).
Marin Theatre Company Torch Song by Harvey Fierstein, May 9 – June 2, 2024.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page.
New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) Unpacking in P’Town by Jewelle Gomez, March 1 – 31. The Tutor by Torange Yeghiazarian, April 5 – May 12.
Oakland Theater Project. Cost of Living by Martyna Majek, March 1-30, 2024.
Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming.
Pear Theater. In Repertory: The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh; Love Letters by A.R. Gurney. April 19 – May 20.
Presidio Theatre. See website for schedule of events and performances.
Ray of Light: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, June 1 – 23, 2024. See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein’s at the Nikko.
San Francisco Playhouse. The 39 Steps, March 7 – April 20..
SFBATCO See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. Sign My Name to Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin, March 29 – April 13.
San Jose Stage Company: Hangmen by Martin McDonagh. Regional premiere. April 3 – 28.
Shotgun Players. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. March 15 – April 14. Website also lists one night only events at the Ashby Stage.
South Bay Musical Theatre: Mary Poppins, the Broadway Musical, May 18 – June 8. Saratoga Civic Theater.
Stagebridge: Shady Manor, a musical play by Prescott Cole. June 14-16. 2501 Harrison St., Oakland.
The Breath Project. Streaming archive.
The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream.
Theatre Rhino Pride of Lions, by Roger Q. Mason, March 28 – April 21. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Queen by Madhuri Shekar, March 8 -31, Lucie Stern Theatre.
Word for Word. See website for upcoming productions.

Misc. Listings:
BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA.
Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings.
Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season.
Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows.
San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings.
San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings.

Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog.

If you’d like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write [e-mail]

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