Gregory
Moore and Lana Rein in "Croon" at FireBird
THE
FIREBIRD CAFE (363 West 46th Street, NYC - 1-212-586-0244 - http://www.firebirdrestaurant.com/)
will open its fall season on Thursday, October 2nd, presenting the
New York premiere of "Croon," starring Gregory Moore and Lana Rein.
"Croon" will be the featured attraction at Cafe through November 2nd,
with shows at 9:00 pm, Thursdays through Saturdays and 7:00 pm on
Sundays. There is a $25 cover charge, no minimum food/beverage charge.
"Croon" was
conceived and written by Mr. Moore. Evoking the style of such "legit"
crooners as Tony Martin, Dick Haymes and Vic Damone, the show will
chronicle the beginning, rise, and influence of the baritone "crooner
sound," largely created by Bing Crosby in the 1930s. The wide net
cast by Crosby's revolutionary singing style virtually created the
template for such singers as Russ Columbo, Frank Sinatra, Nat "King"
Cole, Chet Baker, Dean Martin ... and even Elvis Presley, who repeatedly
acknowledged his vocal debt to Crosby.
"Croon" also
sheds light on some of the unjustly forgotten black crooners of the
1930s and 40s, such as Harlan "The Black Bing" Lattimore and cinema's
first African American cowboy hero, Herb "The Bronze Buckaroo" Jeffries
(who was also The Duke Ellington Orchestra's first male vocalist).
The show spans the years from 1931 to 1958 and is a musical pastiche
of some of the all-time greatest hits recorded by these 20th-century
troubadours, including "Prisoner of Love," "Just a Gigolo," "How Deep
is the Ocean," "Tenderly" and "Stardust."
Gregory Moore
is a classically-trained baritone who has performed with both The
Metropolitan Opera and The New York City Opera, as well as in musical
theatre and in concerts throughout the US and Europe. "Croon" is the
result of three years of intensive research, along with the study
of hundreds of recordings of the great male singers of the 20th Century,
to invoke the "classic crooner style."
Moore's "partner-in-croon"
for the show is The FireBird's own Lana Rein, who has created a legendary
warmth in The FireBird's "Upstairs Parlor" for the past 6 years. Miss
Rein, who performed a wildly-acclaimed (and sold-out!) recital in
2002 at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, is a master of the lush,
romantic piano stylings made popular by George Gershwin, Eddy Duchin,
and Oscar Peterson (with a decided "tip" of her Lily Dache hat to
Liberace as well). "Croon" will feature a solo rendition of "Deep
Purple," and her own fantasia arrangement of Harry Warren's beautiful
"An Affair to Remember." Lana's goal is to bridge the worlds of classical
and popular music; her legions of fans would agree that she does that
beautifully and in a classic and soulful style all her own.
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