Crazy for Gershwin: Wichita Symphony celebrates music of iconic composer

The Wichita Symphony Orchestra is launching its first Symphonic WinterFest with four concerts, a classic film and even a swing dance party spread over the next two weekends.

It’s all in celebration of the legendary music of George Gershwin.

“When we think of the era of the 1920s and 1930s, we think of ‘The Great Gatsby,’ the Follies and flapper girls, the Jazz Age and the incomparable team of composer George Gershwin and his brother and lyricist, Ira,” says Don Reinhold, CEO of the Wichita Symphony.

“The Gershwin brothers symbolize a bygone era, and yet their artistry transcends time. Much of the music has an almost iconic identity to it,” Reinhold says.

Adds Daniel Hege, music director and conductor: “I have such respect for Gershwin’s music. George was a creative melodist who could straddle both worlds of serious music and pop music. (Leonard) Bernstein could do it too, but Gershwin set the standard. He could inhabit both worlds very well, moving easily from Tin Pan Alley to classical. He accomplished an astonishing amount in such a short life.”

George Gershwin, who died at age 38 from a brain tumor, left the world with a couple of dozen classical works like “Rhapsody in Blue,” “An American in Paris” and the folk opera “Porgy and Bess”; more than 30 Broadway shows like “Oh, Kay!,” “Girl Crazy” and “Of Thee I Sing,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1932; eight film musicals such as “Shall We Dance,” “Delicious” and “A Damsel in Distress,” and a Great American Songbook of enduring standards such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

For trivia fans: George Gershwin’s first commercial hit was “Swanee” (1919), a song made popular by Al Jolson. Oddly, it proved to be his all-time biggest moneymaker, allowing Gershwin the financial safety net to devote time to his classical and theatrical works. And, yes, it’s featured in the upcoming WinterFest concert pair.

Hege and the symphony, with help from Broadway guest stars Lisa Vroman, Rick Faugno, Kirby Ward and Joan Hess, intend to draw deeply from the Gershwin well with the help of the Gershwin family.

“The Gershwin Experience,” a pops concert that kicks off the Symphonic WinterFest on Friday, was conceived and developed by Todd Gershwin, a great-nephew of the composer, and endorsed by the Gershwin Trust. Besides the music, the Gershwins are providing historic photos and film clips from the family archives to project behind the musicians for a multimedia experience to illustrate the era that inspired the music.

“The Gershwin Experience” is designed to be packaged for use by other symphonies, producers say, but Wichita will host the world premiere.

For soprano Vroman, a classically trained singer comfortable with Broadway show tunes, Gershwin is the best of both worlds.

“I’m a crossover gal,” admits the native New Yorker who grew up in the picturesque upstate Thousand Islands region and is best known for 2½ years on Broadway in “Les Miserables” and for five years in “Phantom of the Opera” in San Francisco. Most recently, she played legendary diva Maria Callas in “Master Class,” her first non-musical play.

“I’ve done many concerts with just me, a pianist and Gershwin. There is no end to the material. So many of the songs are glorious,” she says. “The music is sculpted like a piece of art and the lyrics are delicious, crafted exactly to fit. Every one is a joy for me to sing.”

Vroman, who now lives in Pasadena, Calif., feels protective of Gershwin’s legacy and wants to make sure future generations don’t lose track of him.

“Gershwin is so much a part of our culture now. His music started the Great American Songbook. He is part of our lives even when we don’t recognize it, like his ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ in United Airlines commercials,” Vroman says. “I can only hope I can keep introducing him to new audiences. I am proud to be part of keeping his legacy alive.”

What Rick Faugno (pronounced FAWN-yoh) likes about “The Gershwin Experience” is that he gets to explore the music as much with his tap-dancing feet as with his tenor voice.

Faugno, who says he’s closer in style to energetic Gene Kelly than suave Fred Astaire, will be featured in “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” and “Slap That Bass,” then paired with Vroman for “Just Another Rumba” and “I Got Rhythm.” “I’m choreographing myself and there’s plenty of music to dance to. There’s a lot – a lot – of tap.”

A New York City native, Faugno was a child actor who made his professional debut at age 10 in “Sesame Street” and on Broadway at 12 in “The Will Rogers Follies.” He’s best known for playing Frankie Valli for 3½ years in the Las Vegas production of “Jersey Boys.” Most recently, he was on Broadway for the revival of “On the Twentieth Century” with Kristen Chenoweth.

While Faugno considers himself a Broadway performer first, he is also known for a series of award-winning one-man Las Vegas cabarets, some of which used Gershwin music.

“Gershwin is just timeless. There are certain songwriters, like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin along with Gershwin, who are America’s version of classical music. ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is probably our de facto national anthem,” Faugno says. “There’s something about (Gershwin’s) genius and brilliantly crafted music that is catchy and hummable and just makes you feel great.”

Hege says that while George Gershwin may have started his musical career by writing ditties for Tin Pan Alley, he was actually a serious musician.

“He had an innate talent and endeavored to be a serious composer. He was very ambitious and contacted (composer Maurice) Ravel in France. He was able to write something new. He wasn’t a crossover. That would be too simplistic. He created a new populist art form,” Hege says.

“Gershwin had something important to say and he discovered the means to reach the most people. He simply knew how to write a great tune. He made himself a better composer by combining both worlds,” Hege says.

“There is a naturalness to his composition process. His melodies just flowed. His rhythms were catchy, but he did not hit you over the head with cleverness. He never dumbed anything down.”

Hege, who immerses himself in the music when he’s conducting, no matter what it is, doesn’t want to make a class distinction between Gershwin and the symphony’s usual fare.

“Yes, it is more fun to do Gershwin in a visceral sense because it is flashy and enjoyable. But when we do Mahler, Beethoven or Brahms, say, I never think of what we do as elitist or more enlightened. They are merely different,” Hege says.

“When I’m conducting the orchestra, we are not in a vacuum. We feel the energy of the audience. We make music come alive when we share it with the audience. Communication is the extra component.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Crazy for Gershwin: Wichita Symphony celebrates music of iconic composer."