NY Festival of Song's "Manning the Canon" in New York City and Maryland

Tim McDevitt

If you missed Steven Blier's insightful and entertaining "Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life" last year, you're in luck because they are reprising the show in Maryland and New York City. The first performance will be at the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland in College Park on November 15th. On November 17, the show returns to Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The show includes two barihunks who have appeared regularly on this site, Tim McDevitt and fan favorite Jesse Blumberg (whose posts often shows up in our top ten site visits). Not only are these guys eye candy, but they are amazing singers and worth hearing. They will be joined by Scott Murphree and Matt Boehler.

Jesse Blumberg

The program includes a number of songs that might be familiar to you, as well as some that you'll want to experience. They include Marc Blitzstein’s “Purest Kind of a Guy," Christopher Berg’s "Is It Dirty?," Lutvak and Campbell's "Exit Right," Schubert's quartet for four male voices “Auflösung," Tchaikovsky’s “At the Ball," Poulenc’s “Montparnasse," Griffes’s “Evening Song,” John Wallowich’s  “Bruce.” Bolcom’s “Piano Walk” and “I’ll Be By,” Camille Saint Saëns’s “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire,”  Benjamin Britten’s “Night covers up the rigid land,” Manuel de Falla’s “Polo," Cy Coleman's "Tennis Duet,"  Chris DeBlasio’s “Walt Whitman in 1989,”Bernstein's “To What You Said,” and Cole Porter's "You're the Top."



Don't be fooled by the title, as this show isn't just for gay audiences. Like all of Steven Blier's shows they are an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of a canon of work. Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times: "Such programs can easily fall into the trap of social politics and turn maudin, agenda driven and campy. This one was insightful and imaginative, touching and funny."

For tickets to either show, please visit the New York Festival of Song website.

Jesse Blumberg and Martin Katz working on Schubert last year:



We also want to remind fans of Jesse Blumberg on the West Coast that he will be performing Handel's "Messiah" with the American Bach Soloists on December 15, 16 and 18.

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