Palm Beach Pops 2009

The Music of Burt Bacharach, Cole Porter & More

• November 29-30, 2011 at 8pm – Kravis
• December 1, 2 & 4, 2011 at 8pm – FAU
• December 5, 2011 at 8pm – Eissey
Bob Lappin, Music Director and Conductor
Guest Artists - John Pagano and Christine Andreas

Tickets $29-$89

John Pagano

The great American songbook is too rarely approached with the unique blend of honesty, inventiveness, and reverence that John Pagano accords it on his Pure Imagination. From conception to execution, Pure Imagination is a refreshing, even daring journey, encompassing twelve timeless, classic songs — setting well-known standards alongside more unexpected, revealing selections. Pagano is quick to note that Pure Imagination was approached as a genuine creative release. "I wasn't trying to follow guidelines," he explains. "For years I've dealt with record companies telling me what to do. This CD is the sound of me making the decisions myself, experiencing the freedom of being able to be creative without someone else calling the shots."

Pagano's unbridled spirit is immediately apparent from the very outset of Pure Imagination, as he caresses the opening verse of Cole Porter's "Let's Fall In Love" with tender anticipation before surging brass herald the chorus's arrival and Pagano's soulful tenor glides in with equal parts assurance, gusto, and playfulness. Throughout, Pagano wisely sets aside ring-a-ding swing-era vocal clichés and falls back on his own razor-sharp instincts. Recording in a classic old-school style — with Pagano singing live in the studio with the band and orchestra — brought an element of risk to the proceedings which only elevated the intensity of his performances. "You never know what you'll hear when you step up to the mic in the studio," he reflects. "Maybe a certain string part will bend your ear. I'd hear the violas do something and my heart would react, leading me to resolve a phrase just a little bit differently, or take a line up or down in a way I haven't tried before. I just let myself follow those feelings."

Reacting so quickly and yet so gracefully to one's surroundings requires a formidable musical intelligence, and Pagano is quick to credit the eleven years (and counting) that he has spent as Burt Bacharach's lead singer — a role that has put him in front of symphony orchestras around the world. Pagano has also served as vocalist for Bacharach's song demos, exposing him to new, often challenging material. "I wasn't close to the singer I am now before I met him," Pagano says with noticeable awe and respect. "I've learned so much from Burt...when I was younger, I thought it was all about going for it and singing as loud as you can to get people to react. But I remember him saying to me, 'You can make someone cry with the softest note.' He taught me to translate that sensitivity to the smallest gestures." Three of Bacharach's songs are featured on Pure Imagination, with arrangements, piano, and production on two of them provided by the master himself.

Part of the genius of Pure Imagination is Pagano's willingness to extend the boundary of what constitutes a standard — resulting in a track list that blends songs associated with Sinatra, Martin, Bennett, and Baker with Bacharach and Anthony Newley's title track, best remembered from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. "I thought that I might get some flack for that song, but I've always wanted to record it — and I know there are people out there who remember it the way that I do, as something special from another time in their lives..."

Pagano's own childhood was what first instilled this music in him, growing up in an Italian family in Providence, Rhode Island. "I've always had the feel for it," he says. "My father woke us up every morning to go to school with Sinatra!" While his brother, now a professional drummer (who plays on several tracks on Pure Imagination), brought the sounds of jazz into the household, his sister introduced him to R&B renaissance happening around him in the seventies and eighties -- thus Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, and Donnie Hathaway emerged as strong early influences on Pagano. Beginning his career as an R&B vocalist, he was signed to MCA Records and began to make a mark as a solo artist and behind the scenes as a producer, songwriter, and guitarist before signing on with Bacharach.

It was through his studio work that Pagano first began the sessions that resulted in Pure Imagination. "A publisher hired me," he remembers, "to sing five Sinatra songs — but they asked me to do it in my own style and not to mimic Frank. It was a big gig — full orchestra and everything — and I took it very seriously. I went out and researched every version of these songs I could find." When the big day came, he got up to the mic with the full band and strings behind him. "I was very nervous...a lot of these musicians and string players were around during the heyday of Sinatra, but when it went down...I can only compare it to dancing — it would be like dancing with Fred Astaire. We went with the first take of the first song, and I fell in love with the process.

Christine Andreas returned to Broadway in April 2010 and is currently starring nightly as Jacqueline in the Tony Award-winning production of “La Cage Aux Folles” with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge. Prior to La Cage, she received nation-wide raves starring as Margaret Johnson in the 55 week national tour of the Tony Award winning musical, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

Best known for her work on the Broadway stage, Ms. Andreas burst onto the New York theatre scene starring as Eliza Doolittle in the 20th Anniversary production of MY FAIR LADY opposite Ian Richardson of the Royal Shakespeare Company and garnering the Theatre World Award. As revivals gained popularity, Ms. Andreas received two Tony nominations re-creating Laurey in OKLAHOMA ! working with Billy Hammerstein and Agnes DeMilles, and as Frankie Frayne in ON YOUR TOES directed by the legendary George Abbott. Other Broadway credits include WORDS AND MUSIC with Sammy Cahn, Nancy in ANGEL STREET with Dina Merrill, Rebecca in RAGS, the short-lived Alice in the short-lived LEGS DIAMOND with the late, great and wonderful Peter Allen, and the Broadway bound and derailed Erte production of STARDUST. Ms. Andreas created the role of Marguerite St . Just on Broadway in the original production of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL opposite Douglas Sills and Terrence Mann. She received rapturous notices and a Barrymore Award for her portrayal of Vera Simpson in the Prince Music Theater’s production of Rogers and Hart’s PAL JOEY.

Television credits include: Law & Order: SVU, The Cosby Show, PBS’ Musical Comedy Tonight, Taylor Benson in Another World, and as Ava Gardner in Fox’s mini-series, Mia, Child of Hollywood .

“With the birth of my son, Mac, I took a pivotal detour. When he was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disabilities, I moved into concert work so that I could continue to sing and give him the attention he needed. And in concert, without a character, I realized I had stepped into a rich new musical world. As Mac grew older, the theatre beckoned and I allowed myself to collaborate with composer Martin Silvestri and writer Joel Higgins leading to my West End debut starring in their musical THE FIELDS OF AMBROSIA at the Aldwych Theatre in London followed by concerts with Marty in London, Paris, Rome, Australia and The White House.”

She has sung in concert in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall, the Kennedy Center Jazz Festival and the Caramoor Festival to name a few. Symphonic work includes the Boston Philharmonic with Ben Zander, the Tulsa Symphony with Peter Nero, the Detroit Symphony , the Richmond Symphony with Charles Strouse, the Palm Beach Pops with Bob Lapin and Symphony Silicon Valley.

Engagements in New York at the CAFÉ CARLYLE and the ALGONQUIN’S OAK ROOM prompted the New York Times to extol: “She delicately kills with the sheer beauty of her voice”…”She finds a blend of lyricism and sweet sensuality that only the finest Broadway voices can conjure.” Liz Smith was moved to write: “Christine Andreas is everything anyone who loves romantic pop music could want - simply sine qua non.” Her CARNEGIE HALL debut was hailed as ‘brilliant’, ‘delicious’ and ‘sexy’ in Variety.

The natural next step was to capture her music on CD. In collaboration with Silvestri, a Grammy nominated producer, they released LOVE IS GOOD. HERE’S TO THE LADIES, their second CD collaboration and a tribute to the great ladies of the theatre, recorded in London with a 50 piece orchestra; and THE CARLYLE SET, a sophisticated set of contemporary standards recorded with a quartet of New York 's most outstanding musicians. Both CD’s were selected on USA Today’s’ top 10 list... After the release of the CD she returned to The Café Carlyle in New York for an encore performance and repeated it once again at the Catalina Grill in Los Angeles . The LA Times called her “a mesmerizing musical presence”.