The label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song already has award-winning cabaret performer Jeff Harnar in its bullpen: He's heard on the praised PS Classics solo disc, "Dancing in the Dark." Hicks was a leading lady of Broadway's Blood Brothers.
Their show, which has played around the U.S. and in London, includes such classics as "Embraceable You," "I Wish I Were in Love Again," "But Not For Me," "I Got Rhythm" and others by the Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart, Harold Arlen and Burton Lane. Broadway conductor Barry Levitt led the 30-piece orchestra. Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne was on hand, providing background on the Mickey/Judy films.
Rooney and Garland played opposite each other as pals and love interests in ten pictures from 1937 to 1949, in which they premiered songs that endure to this day. Their films include "Babes in Arms," "Strike Up the Band," "Girl Crazy" and "Babes on Broadway." (Hollywood often stole songs and titles from Broadway shows, rewriting the plots to fit the talents of their young stars; the film "Babes in Arms," for example, isn't an exact match of the Broadway show of the same name.)
Jeff Harnar has twice won the Manhattan Association of Cabaret Award (MAC) as Best Male Vocalist and three Backstage Bistro Awards. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall in both the Cole Porter and Noel Coward Centennial Galas, and at other major cabaret venues in New York, around the United States and in Europe. His "1959 Broadway Songbook" was recorded live on CD and broadcast on PBS. His second solo recording, "Because of You: Fifties Gold," is a collection of pop classics from the songbooks of Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Doris Day and Johnny Mathis.
His most recent CD, the aforementioned "Dancing in the Dark," was released on PS Classics in October 2005. Shauna Hicks was featured in Broadway's Meet Me in St. Louis, and co-starred as Rosemary in the national tour of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opposite Ralph Macchio. Her one-woman show Shauna Hicks and Her 60s Chicks won MAC, CAB and Bistro Awards. Her follow-up show was Shauna Hicks and her 70s Mix, and recordings include "Unsung Berlin" and "Broadway Sings Bacharach."
For more information, visit www.psclassics.com.
