Irving Berlin, The American Dream In Song
Celebrating the Life and Music By One
of the Best-Loved Songwriters in America
Radio personality BILL RUDMAN takes you on a musical journey celebrating the life of Irving Berlin (1888-1989), the American icon whose 1,500 songs have become a permanent and irreplaceable part of our culture.
This multi-media concert tells a rags-to-riches story of a legendary Jewish immigrant. At the age of five, Berlin fled Czarist Russia with his family and arrived on Ellis Island, settling on New York’s Lower East Side. There he learned much more than how to speak English – he taught himself to play the piano and create his own music and lyrics.
Berlin broke through on Tin Pan Alley in 1911 with his worldwide sensation “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” and over the next 60 years there was no stopping him. You’ll hear the proof in 30 great songs, including “White Christmas,” “God Bless America,” “How Deep Is the Ocean?,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “I Got Lost in His Arms,” “Play a Simple Melody,” “Always,” “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” and “Steppin’ Out with My Baby.”
These and other gems are performed by singers ERIN KUFEL and VINCE MASTRO, accompanied by pianist and co-host JOE HUNTER and his trio.
IRVING BERLIN: THE AMERICAN DREAM IN SONG is an inspiring tribute to a Broadway and Hollywood master. Walter Cronkite said it all: “Irving helped write the story of this country by capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives.”
Bill Rudman
BILL RUDMAN (Writer, Co-host) is a broadcaster, an educator and the artistic director of Musical Theater Education Project. His radio program "Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical," launched in 1983, is heard on 75 public stations around the country, and he produces and hosts the weekly program "On the Aisle" for XM Satellite Radio. Bill has co-produced a number of jazz albums celebrating classic American songs and featuring such artists as Peggy Lee and Maxine Sullivan. For the past six years he has produced, written and hosted "The Song Is You!," a multi-media concert series devoted to the Great American Songbook. In addition to the Irving Berlin concert, the series has showcased the work of George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (and Oscar Hammerstein), Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, Jule Styne and Cy Coleman, among others.
The Musical Theater Project
MUSICAL THEATER EDUCATION PROJECT was formed in 2000 to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the unique art form known as the American musical by creating programs that educate as well as entertain people of all ages. No other organization holds this mission. The cornerstone is the nationally syndicated radio show “Footlight Parade,” distributed free of charge to public stations, but MTEP also creates a variety of other educational programs including the Irving Berlin, The American Dream in Song concert.