“The Windmills of Your Mind,” ”How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” “I’ll Never Say Goodbye,” "The Way We Were” – all are enduring songs whose lyrics were written by the husband-and-wife team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman. They were among two dozen numbers comprising an affectionate musical tribute to the couple by Michael Feinstein, at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, in May. The Bergmans’ lyrics, expressing love and romance, proved to be rich in imaginative word pictures that underscored their literacy and subtle rhyming. Performing the songs, in addition to Michael – with his own piano accompaniment as well as that of John Oddo – was Alan Bergman himself. It’s not a given that a songwriter does justice to his own works; Alan, however, singing with a gentle manner and warm tenor, proved an exception. Particularly lovely to hear was his rendition of “That Face,” his only lyric written without Marilyn; he created it, some 50 years ago, while courting her.
Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
May 13, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org
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