I couldn’t pick Bing Crosby out of a lineup. The only reason I know the song “Swinging on a Star” is that my childhood friend used to torment her little brother with it, singing sweetly until she got to the zinger: “Or would you rather be a PIG!”
The song had a similar effect on me at Riverside Theatre Tuesday, opening night of the revue by the same name. OK, I didn’t burst into tears and scream for mom, but I did cringe when I saw it coming, amidst a torrent of pretty silly, definitely dated lyrics by early 20th century songwriter Johnny Burke.
Though not widely known today, Burke is considered one of the greatest lyricists of that era, which just points to how quickly language is evolving, and maybe sentiment, too. Hard to believe that song won an Oscar in 1944, one of a slew of songs the Chicago-born pianist wrote for Crosby’s movies. I do fondly remember “Misty” not from my parents’ cocktail hour playlist, as Riverside’s Alan Cornell claims to have developed his affection for Burke’s music, but from Clint Eastwood’s thriller “Play Misty for Me” released in 1971. I wonder what Burke would think of the stalker plotline his lyrics would one day accompany: “Don’t you notice how hopelessly I’m lost? That’s why I’m following you.”
I felt lost not knowing many of these tunes. But if the audience didn’t either, they seemed to connect with them nonetheless, as did the show’s spry performers, with their slapstick antics, gaudy costumes, vintage dancing, and solid singing.
This “Swinging on a Star” was written by Michael Leeds – written in the sense of giving context to connect Burke’s random songs by setting them chronologically in various period places – a speakeasy, a USO show, a supper club, and so on. Leeds opened the show on Broadway in 1995; today he’s directing plays at a theater in Fort Lauderdale.
Riverside’s show is directed and choreographed by DJ Salisbury. It runs through Nov. 15.
If it’s been a while since you’ve been to Earl’s Hideaway along the river in Sebastian, there’s a great reason to drop in Sunday afternoon. Bruce Katz, Hammond B3 organ and keyboard player, fires up the blues and boogie-woogie off his latest album “Homecoming,” released last year. Katz has toured and recorded with the best of them – Delbert McClinton, John Hammond, Ronnie Earl, and Gregg Allman.
Katz studied composition and performance at Berklee College of Music in the mid-1970s, then hit the road with a number of bands for the next 15 years. When he came off the road, he went back for a master’s degree in jazz performance at the New England Conservatory of Music.
He ended up teaching at Berklee for 14 years until 2010. Most recently, he did a European tour for his new album, his seventh, and taught at Butch Trucks’ Roots Rock Revival music camp in the Hudson Valley, New York. Katz now lives in Woodstock.
At Earl’s, Katz will be playing with his longtime band members Ralph Rosen on drums and guitarist Chris Vitarello starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Cover charge: $10.
Tickets were still available at press time for what was a sell-out last year: Ballet Vero Beach’s collaboration with the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Last year’s dances, inspired by the museum’s kinetic sculptures exhibit, was stunning and really showed the awed audience the stuff of which this young company is made.
This year, “Moving Images – 3 X 3” again features the choreography of ballet master Camilo Rodriquez and artistic director Adam Schnell. And for the first time, Vero fans can see the choreography of Matthew Carter, ballet master of Ballet Nebraska and a regular performer with Ballet Vero Beach.
The performance takes place Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $30 for museum members, $45 for non-members.
Friday’s gallery stroll adds another stop on the tour of the downtown arts district: the Other Half Gallery, opening at 1847 14th Avenue. The gallery will feature the paintings, porcelain, stoneware, prints and photography of six artist friends who met while working in the Catskills. The featured artist in the gallery’s grand opening is Ann Lee Fuller, who shows her stirring small paintings of vast landscapes. The gallery shares a neatly renovated house with the Hidden Garden, which sells plants and garden accessories.
