Broadway singer Ashley Park did an a cappella rendition of the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen song classic “Over the Rainbow” on The Drew Barrymore Show on Oct. 30, 2020. See it here.
Category Archives: Video
CHER AND MELISSA SING YIP… FOR JOE BIDEN
Cher has contributed a slightly rewritten lyric to the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen classic “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe” as her pitch for the 2020 Presidential candidacy of Joe Biden. See it here. Previously, Broadway singer Melissa Errico, accompanied by Lara Downes, performed the same song for the same campaign, with her own rewrite of the lyric. See it here. Melissa and Errico have also released the track for streaming and it can be accessed here.
RANDY RAINBOW’S “JITTERBUG” PARODY
See and hear Randy Rainbow’s clever parody of the Yip Harburg-Harold Arlen song “The Jitterbug” (cut from The Wizard of Oz film) in which the singer-satirist skewers the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd killing.
GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL
This 1929 Paramount release featured Yip’s first widely released song, “What Wouldn’t I Do for That Man?” (composer, Jay Gorney). In the film, Helen Morgan sings it perched on a piano, her trademark performing pose. The Kino BluRay edition was released in December, 2019 (Kino 24183). The song was also used in a dramatic context in another 1929 Paramount feature, Applause, in which Helen Morgan sings it while holding a portrait of the man she loves.
Harlem Repertory Theatre Does the Wizard of Oz Featured on New York Live TV!!
Check out this NBC segment that aired 8/27/19 about our Wizard of Oz: A Jazz Musical for All Ages, a unique 21st century take!
Yip Harburg Foundation’s Rainbow Troupe: Hallowe’en 2015 Concert
The Yip Harburg Foundation’s Rainbow Troupe presented a concert of songs with lyrics by Yip at Theater for the New City’s Annual Hallowe’en Costume Ball on Oct. 31, 2015. Ben Harburg, Holly Rae Phillips, Eric Poindexter and Reanna Armellino performed, with David Gaines as Musical Director and Deena R. Harburg as Conceiver and Producer.
(“Over the Rainbow”) The Song of the Century
Everyone knows the songs from The Wizard of Oz; in fact, Over the Rainbow is often cited as the greatest movie hit of all time. Few, however, know the names of the men who wrote Rainbow and the rest of the classic Oz score.
The remedy for their anonymity now is in the hands of Aaron Harburg — great-grandson of The Wizard of Oz lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg — who has begun production on The Song of the Century.
Finian’s Rainbow: An “Unbelievably Current” Classic “Old-Time Musical”
The 2009 revival of Finian’s Rainbow brought Cheyenne Jackson, Jim Norton, Christopher Fitzgerald, and Kate Baldwin to the St. James Theatre to revisit Yip’s still timely lyrics and Burton Lane’s glorious score that raise issues such as racial harmony, social equality, and living beyond one’s means.
*
“Finian’s Rainbow overflows with songs that are pure heaven, propelled by Yip Harburg’s wit and Burton Lane’s timeless sense of melody. Scrumptious!” – Elizabeth Vincentelli, The New York Post (2009)
“Infectious song and exuberant dancing are on abundant display in this thoroughly winning, joyous production.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times (2009)
*
Applause
Applause (1929). Groundbreaking early talkie directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Helen Morgan; contains Yip’s first film song, written with composer Jay Gorney, “What Wouldn’t I Do for That Man?” One of the extra features of this DVD is Morgan’s performance of the same song in another 1929 release, Glorifying the American Girl. Kino BluRay K24183.
Radio Riot
Radio Riot (1930). To this cartoon Yip contributed “The Bed Time Story,” which occurs at about one minute before the end. It is a satire of spooky Brothers Grimm fairy tales, spoken by an animated radio to a group of terrified mice. Not commercially available, but viewable on You Tube.