Harry Connick Jr. - A Celebration of Cole Porter

Written by Harry Connick, Jr.

Nederlander Theatre - Broadway

directed by Harry Connick, Jr.
scenic design by Beowulf Boritt and Alexis Distler
lighting design by Ken Billington
projection design by Caite Hevner and Beowulf Boritt

photography by Matthew Murphy, Rachel Papo, and Beowulf Boritt

Press:

"He’s written one quite wonderful sequence [. . .] in which he shows us how he arranged “Night and Day.” He walks us through the way that specific lyrics (a reference to a clock) make him choose instrumentation, and then, once he’s chosen trumpets, how he decides between cup mutes and Harmon mutes. The projections show us how the notation changes, and the brass section behind him plays the heck out of the song in response. It’s still all about ease — Connick tries singing the song in a couple of different keys, then chooses the one that “doesn’t make him work that hard.” But oh, the veil is down. We’ve seen the musicianship and care that all that relaxation requires, and it makes us melt a little further." 

-Helen Shaw, Vulture

"Connick begins his examination of “Night and Day” by explaining how masterful Porter was as an arranger and orchestrator. [. . .] Connick then sits at a desk and describes how Porter might orchestrate the song, with the notes he “writes” for the different instruments appearing on the expansive screen above the stage. This serves as a fine explanation of how Connick (rather than Porter) builds his arrangements, and the visuals are so nifty that one only wonders what Leonard Bernstein might have accomplished with this technology." 

-Steven Suskin, New York Stage Review