Great Barrington — No 21st-century musician is more closely associated with the Great American Songbook than Michael Feinstein, who will appear at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Friday, August 5, at 8 p.m. to present “Get Happy!,” his show celebrating Judy Garland’s centennial.
After all, he founded the Great American Songbook Foundation, and long before that, he was known as “The Ambassador of The Great American Songbook.” His Wikipedia entry identifies him as a revivalist and archivist. And, indeed, he served for several years as Ira Gershwin’s personal archivist, helping the famed lyricist curate his brother George’s unpublished scores and manuscripts.
But Michael Feinstein is, first and foremost, a performing interpreter of the songs he has dedicated his life to celebrating and preserving.
Feinstein’s career as a performing musician started in Ohio when he was in high-school. He played local piano bars for a couple of years before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 20. After his stint there with Ira Gershwin, he moved to New York and started a lengthy engagement at one of New York City’s premier cabaret nightclubs, the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room. By 1988, Feinstein was starring in his own in-concert shows on Broadway and by the end of the decade had earned a national reputation for his live performances, Emmy-nominated PBS-TV specials, and multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated recordings. His output has really been staggering.
Michael Feinstein and Liza Minnelli are longtime friends and collaborators, Feinstein having served as her accompanist in various settings and Minnelli having executive produced Feinstein’s CD “Gershwin Country,” a tribute to the classic songs of George and Ira Gershwin set in the style of contemporary country music.
Now, Minnelli is executive producing “Get Happy!,” Feinstein’s live show celebrating Judy Garland’s life and career in the year she would have turned 100. Feinstein talked about the show when it was still in development:
“This is the nightclub incarnation of it…with multimedia, with a recording of hers that is a private, home recording. (That is one that I will accompany…)
“It’s curated, from my point of view, with help from the Garland family and access to the archives (because for many years I was a trustee of the Garland estate). So, I want to celebrate in a way that focuses on what was important to her and the important aspects of the legacy. And, not being a woman, I can sing these songs in a different way, and I’m not trying to channel her or imitate her or do what she did, but evoke a sense of why she is important.
“I wanted to pay tribute to her in a different way, because there has been so much focus on the tabloid aspects of Judy Garland’s life, and I felt that it’s the wrong perspective.”
See Michael Feinstein’s “Get Happy!,” a show celebrating the life and legacy of Judy Garland, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Friday, August 5, at 8 p.m. Purchase tickets here.
