News4U Online

Piano Man

Broadway at The Centre kicks off its 2008-2009 season on Oct. 21 with Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano, a tribute to a man is who considered by many to be the most beloved American composer and lyricist of the 20th century. The performance follows the highlights of Irving Berlin’s musical career and travels through several decades of American history and nostalgia. The show features over 50 of Berlin’s songs, including “There's No Business Like Show Business,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Anything You Can Do,” and “God Bless America.”

            Ray Roderick is the director and choreographer of “I Love a Piano,” and he co-created the musical with Michael Berkely. Together they bring new energy to the songs for today’s audience, while still maintaining the spirit of the songs as they were originally written.

            Russian-born Irving Berlin began his musical career as a singing waiter in New York City. He overcame poverty through tireless work and dedication as he moved through the city’s music industry — sometimes working as a singer, sometimes as a composer — but always adding to his repertoire of songs. The very image of a self-made man, Berlin taught himself how to plunk out tunes on the piano in his spare hours, learning exactly what notes and melodies could please a crowd. He had no formal musical training, but Berlin possessed a strong work ethic, which many see as a great factor in his success. He is famously quoted as saying, “The song writer must look upon his work as a business, that is, to make a success of it, he must work and work, and then WORK.”

            And work he did. In his lifetime, he wrote over 1,000 songs, and so many of those have become staples of America’s musical culture. He created musical shows to help raise money for the United States military during both world wars, and many are familiar with his patriotic tune “God Bless America,” which he wrote as a tribute to peace after World War II broke out in Europe. After movies developed the capacity for sound, Berlin began writing film scores as well. He wrote 17 Broadway scores, including Annie Get Your Gun, which was his most successful musical.

            Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano takes the audience through this expansive body of work, bringing to the stage the songs that defined America for decades. Following the travels of a piano from the beginning of the 20th century up until the present, I Love a Piano intertwines the history of Berlin’s music with the history of this country – indeed his music is inseparable from the chronicles of modern American history. “Irving Berlin has no place in American music,” Jerome Kern is famous for saying. “He is American music.”

            Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano is playing on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre, located at 715 Locust St. To purchase tickets, you can visit the box office during their hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also purchase tickets by phone through TicketMaster at (812) 423-7222 or go online to ticketmaster.com.