Maureen McGovern Brings A Long And Winding Road: The Concert To New Works Festival 8/6

TheatreWorks' 8th Annual New Works Festival presents the incomparable Broadway and pop star Maureen McGovern in A Long and Winding Road: The Concert. This stunning performance is a tribute to "the second half of the Great American Songbook," the music that inspired McGovern before her smash hit, the Academy Award-winning Gold Record, "The Morning After." The New York Times heralded this concert as "captivating" and praised McGovern as being "blessed with vocal technique second to none." The Washington Post lauded McGovern's vocals, raving "Gloriously done... A warm pure voice with unerring pitch." This spectacular concert plays one night only 8pm, Thursday, August 6, 2009 at TheatreWorks at the Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. For tickets ($75) and information, the public may visit www.theatreworks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

A Long and Winding Road: The Concert is a musical exploration and reinvention of classic songs from singer/songwriters including Bob Dylan, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Lennon & McCartney, Jimmy Webb, and Paul Simon, among many others. The concert pays homage to the music that inspired McGovern during her early years as a folk singer in Ohio. Throughout the show, McGovern transforms popular folk and soft-rock songs of the 1960's and ‘70's into more formal, piano-accompanied masterpieces, sending audiences back to "a time where anything was possible" through the use of her exquisite vocal range and power.

Hailed by The New York Times as possessing "perfect intonation, impeccable enunciation. . . dynamic control and vocal flexibility," Maureen McGovern's career spans over 38 years, including Grammy- and Oscar-winning records, Broadway and national touring shows, and acclaimed songwriting, in addition to appearances in film, television, and radio. McGovern's music career quickly took shape when she was discovered by the head of 20th Century Records, who was looking for a singer to record the theme song for an upcoming motion picture. McGovern soon recorded what would become the Oscar-winning, International Gold Record "The Morning After," the theme from The Posiedon Adventure (1972), which garnered an Academy Award for Best Original Song and sky-rocketed to Billboard's enviable #1 slot during 1973. In 1975, she made history as the first singer to record two Oscar nominated songs in the same year, "Wherever Love Takes Me" from Gold (1974) and the Oscar-winning "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno (1974). Other critically acclaimed recordings include songwriter tributes to George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers, Marilyn and Alan Bergman and her solo piano/voice albums, Another Woman In Love and Grammy-nominated The Pleasure of His Company with jazz pianist, Mike Renzi. McGovern has recorded for seven Grammy-nominated albums, was personally nominated for "Best New Artist" (1973) and "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance" (1998), and won a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Recording for Children" (2005) for her participation in the CD/DVD Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers.

McGovern's accelerating career momentum and stellar singing reputation propelled her to the stage, playing roles in Broadway productions of The Pirates of Penzance, Nine, and Threepenny Opera, and starring in regional productions of The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Guys & Dolls (playing both "Sarah" and "Adelaide"), I Do, I Do, Dear World, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Letters from ‘Nam, and Elligies. On screen, McGovern has played roles in feature films such as The Towering Inferno (1974) and Airplane! (1980) and her television roles include appearances on One Life to Live, The Tracy Ullman Show, Pacific Blue, and Beyond Belief. On radio, she spent three seasons as a frequent special guest on Garrison Keillor's "American Radio Company of the Air." In 2005, McGovern returned to the Broadway stage, originating her Drama Desk nominated role of 'Marmee' in Little Women, The Musical and reprised her role in the First National Tour of Little Women that performed in 32 cities across the country. Her current CD, A Long and Winding Road, was voted by Playbill.com and TalkinBroadway.com among the "Best of 2008 Performances" and "Top 10 Vocal Recordings of 2008."

In addition to an outstanding music career, McGovern is an avid philanthropist and volunteer. She serves on the National Board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, is chairperson of the annual Shamrocks Against Dystrophy campaign, actively participates in AIDS charities, and has been an artist spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association since 2001. McGovern is also the president of the Maureen McGovern "Works of Heart" Foundation for Music and Healing, founded to address the emotional and inspirational needs of patients and caregivers.

TheatreWorks' 8th Annual New Works Festival continues through August with a musical concert from ethereal chanteuse Vienna Teng (Vienna Teng In Concert), three play readings (Sparrow and the Birdman, a play that sings, Auctioning the Ainsleys, a show for people and the objects that own them, and the psychological thriller The North Pool), and three brand new musicals (the alluring musical comedy Makeover, the fever dream musical Ernest Shackelton Loves Me, and Tales from the Bad Years, a song cycle for the new generation). For more information on readings and shows, please visit www.theatreworks.org.

Photo Credit: Deborah Feingold