This Is The Life!
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This Is The Life!
''This Is the Life!'' is the debut studio album by American theater actor and singer Norm Lewis. The album contains an eclectic mix of Broadway, big band, jazz standards, easy listening,opera and pop. Track listing #"This Is the Life" (from the musical '' Golden Boy'') (Strouse, Adams) #"Wouldn't It Be Loverly" (from the musical ''My Fair Lady'') (Lerner, Loewe) #" No One Is Alone" (from the musical ''Into the Woods'') (Sondheim) #"Before the Parade Passes By" (from the musical '' Hello, Dolly!'') (Herman, Stewart) #"Moon River" (from the film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'') (Mercer, Mancini) #"We Live on Borrowed Time" (Friedman) #"It's Not Unusual" (Reed, Mills) #"Misty" (Garner) #"All the Things You Are," with Audra McDonald (from the musical ''Very Warm for May'') (Kern, Hammerstein) #"Di Provenza" (from '' La traviata'') (Verdi) #"Go the Distance" (from the Disney film ''Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupi ...
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Norm Lewis
Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include '' Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' The Wild Party'', and several others. Lewis was the first African-American actor to perform in the title role in Broadway's long-running production of ''Phantom of the Opera''.Hetrick, Adam and Daniels, Karu F"Norm Lewis Ends History-Making Engagement in Broadway's 'Phantom of the Opera ''Playbill''. February 7, 2015. Early life Lewis was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up in Eatonville, Florida. He graduated in 1981 from Edgewater High School, Orlando. He worked at the ''Orlando Sentinel'' prior to his acting career. Career Lewis credits the kickoff of his career to Ralph Petillo, who ran Theatre on Park in Winter Park, Florida. Lewis was featured as Agwe in the Gateway Playhouse (Bellport, New York) production of ''Once on This ...
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Before The Parade Passes By
''Hello, Dolly!'' is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce ''The Merchant of Yonkers'', which Wilder revised and retitled ''The Matchmaker'' in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. ''Hello, Dolly!'' debuted at the Fisher Theater in Detroit on November 18, 1963, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, and moved to Broadway in 1964, winning 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. These awards set a record which the play held for 37 years. The show album ''Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The album reached number one on the Billboard album chart on June 6, 1964, and was replaced the next week by Louis Armstrong's album '' ...
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Go The Distance
"Go the Distance" is a song from Disney's 1997 animated feature film, ''Hercules''. It was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, and originally recorded by American actor Roger Bart in his film role as the singing voice of Hercules. American singer-songwriter Michael Bolton recorded a pop version of the song for the film's end credits, which was also included on his eleventh studio album '' All That Matters'' (1997). In the Spanish version, the song is performed by Hercules voice actor Ricky Martin, both in the movie and in the credits; this version is included on Martin's album '' Vuelve''. Both the song and its reprise featured in a stage production of ''Hercules'', performed upon the Disney Wonder during 2007/2008. Production "Go the Distance" was one of two songs written for Hercules in the film, the second being " Shooting Star", which failed to make the final cut. However, "Shooting Star" is included on the ''Hercules'' soundtrack CD, sung by Boyzone. ...
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La Traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 1848 novel. The opera was originally titled ''Violetta'', after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice opera house in Venice. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, "c. 1700". It was not until the 1880s that the composer's and librettist's original wishes were carried out and " realistic" productions were staged. ''La traviata'' has become immensely popular and is among the most frequently performed of all operas. Composition history For Verdi, the years 1851 to 1853 were filled with operatic activity. First, he had agreed with the librettist Salvadore Cammarano on a subject for what would ...
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Very Warm For May
''Very Warm for May'' is a musical composed by Jerome Kern, with a libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was the team's final score for Broadway, following their hits ''Show Boat'', '' Sweet Adeline'', and ''Music in the Air''. It marked a return to Broadway for Kern, who had spent several years in Hollywood writing music for movies, including ''Swing Time'' for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Vincente Minnelli directed ''Very Warm for May'', which opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 17, 1939. It contained such favorite songs as "All the Things You Are", "All in Fun", and "In the Heart of the Dark." Gerald Bordman, author of the definitive Kern biography ''Jerome Kern: His Life and Music'', hailed the score as one of Kern's finest. ''Billboard'' magazine saw the show pre-Broadway, and was enthusiastic: "Prophesied this venture will be a season's hit. The ballet corps keeps the audience awake and eager. Choreography is unique and excellent. Its lyrics, in numbers such as 'All ...
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Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories.Best Actress in a Play, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as ''A Moon for the Misbegotten'', ''110 in the Shade'', '' Carousel'', ''Ragtime'', ''Master Class'', and ''Porgy and Bess''. As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2008, her recording of Kurt Weill's ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She has a c ...
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All The Things You Are
"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was written for the musical ''Very Warm for May'' (1939)"Jerome Kern"
. Songwriters Hall of Fame
and was introduced by , , , and Ralph Stuart. It appeared in the film ''

Misty (song)
"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it for the album '' Contrasts''. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on Johnny Mathis' 1959 album '' Heavenly'', and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become the signature song of Mathis. The song has been recorded by many other artists, including versions by Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. Recordings by both Mathis and Garner have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was ranked number 174 in the list of the Songs of the Century compiled by Recording Industry Association of America and National Endowment for the Arts. Composition Erroll Garner was inspired to write "Misty" on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago which passed through a thunderstorm: as the plane descended into O'Hare, Garner looked through t ...
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It's Not Unusual
"It's Not Unusual" is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. He intended it as a demo for her, but when she heard it she was so impressed with his delivery that she recommended he sing it instead. The record was the second Jones single Decca released, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1965. It was his first hit in the United States, peaking at No. 10 in May of that year. It was released in the US by Parrot Records and reached No. 3 on ''Billboard'''s easy listening chart. The BBC initially refused to play it because of his sexy image, but UK pirate radio did not. He sang the song twice in 1965 on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' in New York City, on 2 May and 13 June. He did it again on 21 April 1968. "It's Not Unusual" is the theme song of his late 1960s–early 1970s television musical variety series, ''This Is Tom Jones''. The first studio version was released in 1995 on the c ...
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Breakfast At Tiffany's (film)
''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote's 1958 novella of the same name, and starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer. It was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on October 5, 1961, to critical and commercial success. Nominated for five Academy Awards (winning two), with the music (including "Moon River") nominated for six Grammy Awards (winning five), the film was selected in 2012 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Plot Early one morning, a taxi pulls up in front of the Tiffany & Co. flagship store and from it emerges elegantly dressed Holly Golightly, carrying a paper bag containing her breakfast. After looking into the store's window displays, she strolls to h ...
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Moon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie ''Breakfast at Tiffany's (film), Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Song of the Year. The song has been recorded by many other artists. It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1962 (and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremony that year). He sang the first eight bars of the song at the beginning of each episode of The Andy Williams Show, his eponymous television show and named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri, after it; his autobiography is called ''"Moon River" and Me''. Williams' version was never released as a single, but it charted as an LP track that he recorded for Columbia on a hit album of 1962, ''Moon ...
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Hello, Dolly! (musical)
''Hello, Dolly!'' is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce ''The Merchant of Yonkers'', which Wilder revised and retitled ''The Matchmaker'' in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. ''Hello, Dolly!'' debuted at the Fisher Theater in Detroit on November 18, 1963, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, and moved to Broadway in 1964, winning 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. These awards set a record which the play held for 37 years. The show album ''Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. The album reached number one on the Billboard album chart on June 6, 1964, and was replaced the next week by Louis Armstrong's album ...
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