Pasadena, CA – Michael Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS close their popular outdoor summer concert series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum on September 14 with an evening showcasing the legendary films of MGM Studios for MGM Movie Classics. The POPS season finale will provide a quintessential Feinstein experience with Broadway’s best singers, dancers, vintage costumes from Hollywood Revisited and rare original arrangements from the golden age of the silver screen as only
Michael Feinstein can deliver. Hear timeless classics from Singin’ in the Rain, Meet Me in St. Louis and That’s Entertainment plus a special tribute to the 80th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz.
The centerpiece of the concert will be the premiere of the original film chart of “Over the Rainbow,” which Feinstein recently uncovered. Original MGM charts are extremely rare, since all of the MGM orchestrations and arrangements were destroyed in the 1960s to cut costs on storage space and became landfill for a golf course and the 405 freeway. Feinstein’s lifelong mission is to preserve and share the music of the Great American Songbook, and his acuity for finding a diamond in the rough will make the evening sparkle with a few original MGM charts he’s recently discovered, including this rare gem.
“To find any original MGM arrangement is sort of like finding the lost ark, but it seems to be my beautiful Karma to find lost things, musically speaking, and I stumbled across a set of the original parts for it! … it will be a true revelation for people to hear what they have literally never heard before.” – Michael Feinstein
Feinstein will be pulling out all the stops for this spectacular season finale with two Tony Award winners singing the songs of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Gavin Creel, winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, will take the stage for classics like “Singin’ in the Rain.” Audiences may also know Creel for his recent portrayal of Dr. Pomatter in Waitress or as The Book of Mormon’s Elder Price. Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba, will invoke some of Judy Garland’s most iconic numbers with “The Trolley Song” and more. Feinstein has even enlisted the “shimmering tones” (Opera News) of opera star Jamie Chamberlin to take on “Love is Where You Find It” with her coloratura soprano.
It’s the last chance to catch the best outdoor dinner party in town with spacious table seating and fine linens, or lawn seating for those who want to bring a blanket. Each option carries on the tradition of picnic-dining with your family and friends with Pasadena’s premier orchestra! Among many venue amenities, concert goers can enjoy pre-ordered gourmet dining packages for on-site pickup just steps from their table from Julienne, Marston’s and Claud & Co. The venue also offers mouth-watering food trucks and the convenience of two full beverage centers serving fine wines, beer, coffee and soft drinks.
All concerts are held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden located at 301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA. Grounds open for picnicking and dining at 5:30pm and performances begin at 7:30pm. Subscribers may purchase pre-paid onsite parking at the Arboretum, and all concertgoers can purchase guaranteed and convenient parking at Santa Anita Park, located just across Baldwin Ave. with complimentary non-stop shuttle service to the Arboretum’s main entrance.
Single tickets start at $25 and are available by calling the box office at (626)-793-7172, online at PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org or at the Arboretum on the day of the concerts.
- What: The Pasadena POPS presents MGM Movie Classics
Michael Feinstein, conductor, Tom & Erika Girardi Char
Gavin Creel, soloist
Karen Ziemba, soloist
Jamie Chamberlin, special guest - When: August 24, 2019 at 7:30pm
- Where: The LA County Arboretum | 301 N Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007
- Cost: Tickets start at $25.00
- Dining: Gates open at 5:30pm for picnicking. Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink or visit one of the many onsite food vendors.
- Parking: Subscribers have the opportunity to purchase onsite Arboretum parking. Single ticket holders may purchase guaranteed and convenient parking at Santa Anita Park, located just across Baldwin Ave., with non-stop shuttle service to the Arboretum’s main entrance for $10.
Recent Acclaim for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS:
“The Pasadena Symphony signals a new direction…teeming with vitality…dripping with opulent, sexy emotion.” – Los Angeles Times.
“In his five years leading the PSO, Lockington has taken an ensemble that was already quite good and elevated it into one where excellence is the byword.” – Pasadena Star News.
Formed in 1928, the Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an ensemble of Hollywood’s most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are the most heard in the world.
The Pasadena Symphony and POPS performs in two of the most extraordinary venues in the United States: Ambassador Auditorium, known as the Carnegie Hall of the West, and the luxuriant Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Internationally recognized, Grammy-nominated conductor, David Lockington, serves as the Pasadena Symphony Association’s Music Director, with performance-practice specialist Nicholas McGegan serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” Michael Feinstein, is the Principal Pops Conductor, who succeeded Marvin Hamlisch in the newly created Marvin Hamlisch Chair.
A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region for over five decades through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO), comprised of five performing ensembles with 300 gifted 4th-12th grade students from more than 50 schools all over the Southern California region. The PYSO has toured internationally at prestigious venues in New York, Vienna, and most recently San Jose, Costa Rica. They regularly perform throughout Southern California and have appeared on the popular television show GLEE.
The PSA provides people from all walks of life with powerful access points to the world of symphonic music.
Michael Feinstein
Principal Pops Conductor, Tom & Erika Girardi Chair
Michael Feinstein has built a dazzling career over the last three decades bringing the music of the Great American songbook to the world. From recordings that have earned him five Grammy Award nominations to his Emmy nominated PBS-TV specials, his acclaimed NPR series and concerts spanning the globe – in addition to his appearances at iconic venues such as The White House, Buckingham Palace, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House – his work as an educator and archivist define Feinstein as one of the most important musical forces of our time.
In 2007, he founded the Great American Songbook Foundation, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Songbook Academy. This summer intensive open to students from across the country has produced graduates who have gone on to record acclaimed albums and appear on television programs such as NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Michael serves on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America’s sound recording heritage.
The most recent album from his multi-platinum recording career is A Michael Feinstein Christmas from Concord Records. The CD features Grammy Award -winning jazz pianist Alan Broadbent (Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole). Feinstein earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project, his CD celebrating the music of “Ol’ Blue Eyes.” The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life was released in 2011. He released the CDs The Power Of Two – collaborating with “Glee” and “30 Rock” star Cheyenne Jackson – and Cheek To Cheek, recorded with Broadway legend Barbara Cook. For Feinstein’s CD We Dreamed These Days, he co-wrote the title song with Dr. Maya Angelou.
His Emmy Award-nominated TV special Michael Feinstein – The Sinatra Legacy, which was taped live at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, aired across the country in 2011. The PBS series “Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook,” the recipient of the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Television Broadcast Award, was broadcast for three seasons and is available on DVD. His most recent primetime PBS-TV Special, “New Year’s Eve at The Rainbow Room” – written and directed by “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry – aired in 2014. For his nationally syndicated public radio program “Song Travels,” Michael interviews and performs alongside of music luminaries such as Bette Midler, Neil Sedaka, Liza Minnelli, Rickie Lee Jones, David Hyde Pierce and more.
Feinstein was named Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena Symphony in 2012 and made his conducting debut in June 2013 to celebrated critical acclaim. Under Feinstein’s leadership, the Pasadena Pops has quickly become a premier orchestral presenter of the Great American Songbook with definitive performances of rare orchestrations and classic arrangements. He launched an additional Pops series at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, Florida in 2014.
Michael’s book The Gershwins and Me – the Los Angeles Times best-seller from Simon & Schuster – features a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano.
Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The theater is home to diverse live programming and a museum for his rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Since 1999, he has served as Artistic Director for Carnegie Hall’s “Standard Time with Michael Feinstein” in conjunction with ASCAP. In 2010 he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Michael’s nightclub at San Francisco’s Nikko Hotel, has presented the top talents of pop and jazz since 2013. He debuted at Feinstein’s/54 Below, his new club in New York, late in 2015. His first venue in New York, Feinstein’s at the Regency, featured major entertainers such as Rosemary Clooney, Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, Jane Krakowski, Lea Michele, Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz and Alan Cumming from 1999 to 2012.
He has designed a new piano for Steinway called “The First Ladies,” inspired by the White House piano and signed by several former First Ladies. It was first played to commemorate the Ronald Regan centennial on February 6, 2011.
In 2013 Michael released Change Of Heart: The Songs of Andre Previn in collaboration with four time Oscar and eleven time Grammy Award-winning composer-conductor-pianist Andre Previn. The album celebrates Previn’s pop songs and motion picture classics. Earlier album highlights include Hopeless Romantics, a songbook of classics by Michael’s late friend Harry Warren, recording with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. His album with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb, Only One Life – The Songs of Jimmy Webb, was named one of “10 Best CDs of the Year” by USA Today.
Feinstein received his fourth Grammy nomination for Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. The year before, Rhino/Elektra Music released The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a two-disc compilation spanning 1987 to 1996 and featuring old favorites and previously-unreleased tracks.
Michael was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where he started playing piano by ear as a 5-year-old. After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles when he was 20. The widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant introduced him to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. Feinstein became Gershwin’s assistant for six years, which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded.
Gershwin’s influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein evolved into a captivating performer, composer and arranger of his own original music. He also has become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren. Feinstein has received three honorary doctorates.
Through his live performances, recordings, film and television appearances, and his songwriting (in collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Lindy Robbins, Bob Merrill and Marshall Barer), Feinstein is an all-star force in American music.
For more information, please visit www.MichaelFeinstein.com.
Gavin Creel
Soloist
Multiple Tony Award-nominee Gavin Creel received the 2017 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as “Cornelius Hackl” in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly starring Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce. He most recently appeared as Dr. Pomatter in Waitress, with other Broadway credits including “Jimmy Smith” in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Broadway debut, Tony nomination), “Jean-Michel” in the revival of La Cage Aux Folles, “Claude” in the revival of Hair (Tony nomination), “Stephen Kodaly” in the Roundabout’s revival of She Loves Me, and “Elder Price” in The Book of Mormon.
His off-Broadway credits include Bat Boy and The Mystery Plays and he has been in the national tours of The Book of Mormon and Fame. He’s been seen regionally in Bounce (Goodman Theatre/Kennedy Center), Prometheus Bound(American Repertory Theater) and The Mystery Plays (Yale Repertory Theatre). He has performed in London in “Elder Price” in The Book of Mormon (2014 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical), “Bert” in Disney’s Mary Poppins, and Hair. Television credits include ABC’s “Eloise at the Plaza” and “Eloise at Christmastime,” opposite Julie Andrews.
He can be heard on the original recordings of GoodTimeNation, Quiet, Get Out, and the single “Noise,” and co-founded Broadway Impact. A native of Findlay, Ohio, Gavin is a proud graduate of University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Karen Ziemba
Soloist
Karen Ziemba received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of The Wife in Contact at Lincoln Center Theatre. For her performance as Georgia Hendricks in the Kander and Ebb musical Curtains, she received the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Tony, Drama Desk and L.A.’s Ovation Award. Other appearances on and off-Broadway include Never Gonna Dance (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award); Kander and Ebb’s Steel Pier (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations); And The World Goes ‘Round (Drama Desk Award), I DO! I DO! (Drama Desk nomination), Chicago, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Crazy For You, and leading roles at the New York City Opera in 110 in The Shade and The Most Happy Fella.
Jamie Chamberlin
Special Guest
Praised for her “shimmering tones” and “star struck vulnerability” by Opera News, Greek-American Soprano Jamie Chamberlin is recognized for her versatility as both a singer and as an actress.
ArtsInLA hailed her role debut as Cunegonde in Long Beach Operaʼs Candide as “jawdropping”. Most recently at LBO, Ms. Chamberlin earned rave reviews for her “soaring tone” (LA Weekly) and “superhuman soprano” (Schmopera) as Faustine in The Invention of Morel, a new opera by Stewart Copeland of the legendary rock band, The Police. In 2015, Chamberlin garnered national attention when she was selected to portray Marilyn Monroe in the US Premiere of Gavin Bryars’ Marilyn Forever in a haunting production by LBO’s visionary Artistic Director, Andreas Mitisek.