Thursday, August 9, 2012

MARVIN HAMLISCH - Music Man for a Generation - In Memorium 1944 - 2012


Photo courtesy of Marvin Hamlish Official Website

"I have to keep reminding myself that 'A Chorus Line' was initially considered weird and off the wall," ... "You mustn't underestimate an audience's intelligence." -Marvin Hamlisch

One of America's most talented musical artists, left us suddenly this past week. Marvin Hamlisch was also one of only two people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize (the other person was Richard Rodgers). Plus he also won Golden Globes.




When he was 21 Hamlisch wrote Lesley Gore's song Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” later, the pop hit “Nobody Does It Better,” sung by Carly Simon,  Aretha Franklin's “Break It to Me Gently” and Barbara Streisand's “The Way We Were.” 
Hamlisch wrote the film scores for:  the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me," "The Sting", “Ordinary People,” “Sophie’s Choice” and, most recently, “The Informant.” His theater scores included: “The Goodbye Girl” (1993), “Sweet Smell of Success” (2002) and “Imaginary Friends” (2002) and his greatest theatrical hit "A Chorus Line."

A CHORUS LINE: (a synopsis) At an audition for an upcoming Broadway production, the formidable director and his assistant choreographer put the dancers through their paces. Every dancer is desperate for work. The director tells them he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. He asks the dancers to introduce themselves and talk about their pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood of each career.
His comment about writing music, "It’s easy to write things that are so self-conscious that they become pretentious, that have a lot of noise. It’s very hard to write a simple melody. ”






MARVIN HAMLISCH MOVIES: 

MARVIN HAMLISCH BROADWAY PLAYS:

His funeral visitation in NYC is open to the public and will be held August 12 & 13 at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, 81st and Madison.

(source: Marvin Hamlish website and wikipedia)


Until later,
Jack
ARTSnFOOD 
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All rights reserved. Concept & Original Text © Copyright 2012 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.

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