Gershwin in Pittsburgh

by Gregory Suriano

Overview

Meticulously researched, Gershwin in Pittsburgh chronicles Gershwin’s tours of his Broadway shows, his appearances as a concert pianist, and his myriad associates with ties to the Steel City.

The great American composer George Gershwin was a product of the energetic Jazz Age city of New York. Yet Pittsburgh may have been his adopted town. Theatrical venues such as the Nixon and Alvin Theatres and colleagues like Ned Wayburn, Oscar Levant, George S. Kaufman, Dolores Costello, Fritz Reiner, and Pandro S. Berman are all spotlighted. Most revealing are the visits Gershwin personally made to the city—as accompanist to vaudeville star Nora Bayes, during his Rhapsody in Blue tours with the Paul Whiteman and Leo Reisman orchestras, and for his 1933 guest appearance with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467106498
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	05/10/2021
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Gregory Suriano, formerly a senior editor at Random House in New York, is a professor of art and music at Robert Morris University and editor of a Pittsburgh magazine. He has created Gershwin exhibitions for the Pittsburgh Symphony/Pops, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and the Oakland Carnegie Library. Suriano is the author of The Pre—Raphaelite Illustrators and two other books on his favorite composer, Gershwin in His Time and The Cinematic Gershwin.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Overture 9

2 A Gershwin Song or Two at the Nixon and Alvin 23

3 A Lady, a Maid, and Gershwin 33

4 Scandals at the Nixon 47

5 The Classic Gershwin Musicals on Tour 59

6 A Rhapsody and Blue Laws 71

7 Of Kaufman, an Anniversary Tour, and Radio Days 85

8 A Grand Jazz Opera 95

9 A Hollywood Year 103

10 Encore 115