Celebrate Brooklyn will bring together
two of Brooklyn’s most acclaimed institutions – the Brooklyn
Philharmonic and the borough’s very own Broadway star, Lillias
White – on Friday, July 25.
This will mark the first time that the Tony-winning Best Actress
in a Musical (for "The Life" in 1997, for which she
also won the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Award, and the
People’s Choice Award) will have performed with the Philharmonic.
"It’s just never happened," she told GO Brooklyn. "But
I can’t wait to go out there and sing with them behind me."
White, who grew up in Crown Heights and now lives in Harlem,
counts among her other Broadway credits, "How to Succeed
In Business without Really Trying," "Cats," "Once
on this Island," "Dreamgirls" and "Barnum."
She credits her work with another orchestra for affording her
this opportunity.
"I believe it was because of Lorna Dolci, whom I knew from
working with the Concordia Orchestra," she explains. "She
put my name in the hat, so to speak, and the next thing I know,
this program was being planned."
The program, which also officially kicks off the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s
50th anniversary celebration, relies heavily on the great American
songwriters, like Leonard Bernstein, John Phillip Sousa, and
two Brooklyn boys who made good – Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.
That point especially excites White.
"[Singing these songs] is absolutely what I wanted to do
within the framework of what this evening is all about,"
she says. "It’s a wonderful opportunity to sing some of
my favorite music, which is something we don’t always get to
do as performers. In addition to the classics, it’s also going
to be a mixture of some jazz, some standards and some show stuff."
As is her custom, White doesn’t want to fully commit to what
the evening’s program will be because she doesn’t always keep
to the scheduled song list.
"I don’t really like to say what I’m going to do because
I might change it," she notes. "Some musicians like
to do it exactly as we originally rehearsed it, but I like to
reserve the right to change something, depending on how it flows.
But I will say that I’ll definitely be doing some Hoagy Carmichael
and even something recorded by Barbra Streisand."
Speaking of Streisand, the biggest moment of White’s career happened
in Brooklyn a couple of years ago, when she was given her star
– actually a leaf – on Brooklyn’s Celebrity Path, right near
Babs herself. "That was really a thrill for me," she
says, "because I used to go to the Botanic Garden (where
the Celebrity Path is located) when I was a kid, and I still
can remember how beautiful it was there. It’s nice to know that
I’m now part of that."
Since her current digs are merely a stone’s throw from her old
neighborhood, White often treks to Brooklyn to check out the
original stomping grounds, and to see if her memories of growing
up have clashed with harsh reality.
"From time to time I do go back," she says. "I
drive my kids around, pointing out to them what’s still there
and what’s not there any more." After a pause, she says,
"A lot has changed."
Following her Celebrate Brooklyn concert, White heads south to
North Carolina, where she’s going to be one of the headliners
at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem (Aug.
4-9). Her new one-woman show, "From Brooklyn to Broadway
II," picks up where her first solo show left off, showcasing
White’s tremendous voice through some of her favorite songs.
Will New Yorkers get the chance to hear her latest venture? There’s
always hope, says White. "I always intend to bring it back
locally," she says, "but right now I’m in the process
of looking for a venue. So if anybody out there has one available,
I’m all ears!"
The Brooklyn Philharmonic and Lillias
White, under the baton of conductor Michael Morgan, will perform
American songs on Friday, July 25, at 8 pm at Celebrate Brooklyn
in the Prospect Park Bandshell. Enter the park at Ninth Street
and Prospect Park West. Admission is free, with a suggested donation
of $3. For more information, call (718) 855-7882, ext. 45, or
visit the Web site at www.brooklynx.org/celebrate.
Rain or shine.
