On August 1st and 16th, 2008 Eric Barsness (bass), Carol Diefenbach (mezzo soprano), Jody Weatherstone (soprano) and Jim Blanton (piano) will present The Wizard of Verse, a musical tribute to Yip and his composers. The concerts will be presented by the Delaware Valley Opera at the Seelig Theatre at Sullivan (NY) County Community College, 112 College St., Loch Sheldrake, NY 12754. Tickets: 845-252-7272 ; box office: 845-434-5750 x 4303. On the July 6, 2008 broacast of NPR's "Weekend Morning Edition" senior news analyst Daniel Schorr sang the Yip Harburg-Jay Gorney classic "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" a capella from memory as part of a reminiscence about the Great Depression. On Sunday June 29, 2008 singer Karen Oberlin presented an encore performance of her cabaret show, "The Wizard of Words: The Wit and Wisdom of Yip Harburg," at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan where she performed the show in February to packed houses. From June 12-28, 2008 the Medicine Show Theater in New York City concluded its 38th season with Pleasures of Peace, a lighthearted revue of plays, music, jokes and improv comedy centered around the general theme of Peace. Intertwined with the plays were poems from Yip Harburg's Rhymes for the Irreverent set to new music by Lenny Hat. On May 4, 9 and 11, 2008 cabaret entertainer Richard Holbook performed Richard Sings Burton: The Songs of Burton Lane at Don't Tell Mama cabaret space in Manhattan. Lane and Yip Harburg wrote dozens of songs together from the early 30s until Yip's death in 1981. Peddling Rainbows, the 42nd Street Moon company's new revue of songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg, enjoyed a successful run at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco from May 15-25th, 2008. The 1957 Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen-Fred Saidy musical Jamaica was presented by The Prince Music Theater of Philadelphia from May 30-June 22, 2008. Marjorie Samoff, Artistic Director of the theatre, along with scriptwriter Claudia Perry restored the original script rather than present the show as a revue, as was done on Broadway. The Caribbean dances were choreographed by Tania Isaac and Jumatatu Poe. The Arlen music was orchestrated by John Baxindine with music direction by PMT's resident music supervisor Eric Barnes. On Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 6 PM the Donnell Media Center in New York City, in association with the Yip Harburg Foundation, presented a one-hour version of Finian's Rainbow, the landmark, socially-conscious Broadway show with lyrics by Yip Harburg and music by Burton Lane. Featuring The Rainbow Troupe (school-age to seasoned pro performers); famed musical director David Brunetti. Co-producers Deena R. & Ernie Harburg (Yip's son & daughter-in-law) The event launched the fifth annnual series of screenings of films from Donnell's Yip Harburg Political Documentary Collection. [This year's films are: Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American (April 10); The Perfect Life (April 17th); Revolution '67 (April 24th).]From March 12 through April 6, 2008 the Medicine Show Theater in New York City presented the 1937 Yip Harburg-Russel Crouse-Harold Arlen anti-war satirical musical Hooray for What! This is the second staging of this musical by Medicine Show; their previous production in 1983 was the first since the show's original Broadway run. On February 12, 2008 World Village released Catherine Russell's new CD, Sentimental Streak, which contains a rarely performed song by Yip and Lewis Gensler, "Thrill Me." To learn more about Catherine Russell who has sung at many tributes to Yip, visit her web site. On January 13, 20 and 27, 2008 Bistro Award-winning singer Karen Oberlin presented her new cabaret, "The Wizard of Words: Yip Harburg's Songs of Wit and Wisdom" at Manhattan's Metropolitan Room. In addition to offering a fresh approach to familiar standards, she performed lesser-known gems including "Water Under the Bridge," "Under the Sunset Tree" and "Here's to Your Illusions." On November 26, 2007 the City University of New York hosted a 75th Anniversary Tribute to the 1932 song classic "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (music by Jay Gorney, lyric by Yip Harburg). The event was co-produced by CUNY's Gotham Center and the Yip Harburg Foundation and featured musical performances, video, slides and live commentary by Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Ernie Harburg (Yip's son), and Deena Harburg (Yip's daughter-in-law). Singers included acclaimed jazz vocalist Catherine Russell and Broadway's Stephen Bogardus and Sherry Boone and others. The event was packed to overflowing and unfortunately dozens of people had to be turned away. The New York Times published an article by Clyde Haberman about the "Dime" song and this event Columnist Mark Steyn weighs in on "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" in an online essay celebrating the song's 75th anniversary. The Harlem Repertory Theatre presented the Harburg-Lane-Saidy classic Finian's Rainbow from July 20 through September 6, 2007 at Aaron Davis Hall (135th Street & Convent Ave., New York, NY). On Sunday, July 15, 2007, the Deerpark Heritage Fund presented a program of songs with lyrics by Yip Harburg to inaugurate The Deerpark Heritage Fund, a newly created permanent endowment fund to support art, music, history and cultural programming in the community. The performers were members of the Delaware Valley Opera Company and included Jim Blanton, pianist and director, Carol Diefenbach, mezzo soprano, Jody Weathersone, soprano, and Eric Barsness, bass baritone, all under the direction of Jim Blanton.
On June 9, 2007 the New York Sheet Music Society presented The Necessity of Rainbows: The Lyrics of Yip Harburg with Ernie Harbug (Yip's son) and Ben Harburg (Yip's grandson) as special guests. Other guests included Deena Rosenberg, Yip's daughter-in-law, plus the Yip Harburg Foundation's "Rainbow Troupe" under the direction of Jonathan Hadley and musical direction of David Brunetti. The concert took place at Local 802 Musicians Hall, 322 W. 48th Street, New York, NY and was a resounding success Anna Wheeler Gentry and Broadway arranger/conductor Phil Reno are reconstructing and revising the 1932 Yip Harburg/Vernon Duke Broadway musical revue Walk a Little Faster which premiered the song "April in Paris." A cabaret version highlighting original songs from the revue was staged at Central Community Theatre in downtown Phoenix on April 13 and 14, 2007. The production, directed by Gentry and performed by students from Arizona State University School of Music, featured new treatments of long-lost score fragments and Duke/Harburg songs interpolated from the 1934 Ziegfeld Follies. On April 12, 2007 the Yip Harburg Foundation and the NY Public Library's Donnell Media Center presented the fourth annual theatrical concert to celebrate the Yip Harburg Political Documentary Collection at the Center. Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz? Yip Harburg, Lyricist focused on Yip's contribution to the classic 1939 motion picture. Deena Rosenberg-Harburg narrated; Catherine Russell, Ben Harburg, John Case, Gabrielle Georgescu, Libby Jacobson and Genevieve Koch sang; the musical director/pianist was David Brunetti.Acclaimed cabaret artist Eric Comstock saluted Yip's lyrics in a special Valentine's Day show called "It's a Barnum and Bailey World: Offbeat Love Songs of Yip Harburg" at the Metropolitan Room in New York City on February 11 and 12, 2007. This tribute to Yip was part of the "Eric Comstock Salutes the Manhattan Masters" series. From Feb. 10-12, 2007 New York City's 92nd Street Y presented Part 2 of its new series, "Collector's Items: Other People's Songs," narrated by lyricist Sheldon Harnick with Rob Fisher on piano. Harnick talked about some of his favorite lyrics, including Yip's. On January 31, 2007 at 7:30 pm Michael Feinstein presented Beyond the Rainbow: The Songs of E.Y. "Yip" Harburg as part of his "Standard Time with Michael Feinstein" series at Zankel Hall, the new performance space at New York City's Carnegie Hall. Joining Michael were Maureen McGovern, Catherine Russell and Noah Racey.