East Alabama Arts Society presents Mary Ann Lanier and Robert Humphreville
On Friday, August 11, at 7 p.m. at the Hub Restaurant on Highway 431 in Wedowee. Mary Ann Lanier and Robert Humphreville will perform a dinner theater show called Night and Day. This program features the great songs of Cole Porter, including selections from the Broadway hit, Anything Goes. Some of the great hits included are “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” and “Night and Day.” A buffet dinner will be served. Tickets are $25. For information and tickets, contact Sidney or Jo Ann Lanier (256)357-2361.
Sunday, Aug. 13, at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Wedowee, Rob and Mary Ann present A Rose Is… This program features songs about roses. The performance will include popular songs, spirituals, art songs, show tunes and more. Songs include “In the Garden,” “Give Me Jesus,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” Second-Hand Rose,” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” Admission is free.
While they are here, Lanier and Humphreville will offer a short presentation at the Wedowee Middle School for the students on Friday, Aug. 11. This presentation will include a performance and question and answer session.
Lanier performs opera, oratorios, recitals and improvised music and has a passion for singing American music. The Boston Globe wrote of her, “Lanier’s soprano soars and she boasts excellent diction.” In February of 2006 she performed the premiere of Be My Love: Songs of love, lust and other folly, a songs cycle for soprano, violin, cello and piano, by Graham Gordon Ramsay. In addition to her busy freelance performing schedule, Lanier is a producing director and founding member of American Classics, an organization dedicated to the performance of American music. She also teaches voice at MIT, Groton and Brooks School.
Humphreville enjoys a full-time career as an organist, pianist and music teacher. Equally at home with both popular and classical music, he accompanies silent movies and has been singled out by the Boston Globe several times for his inventive improvisations. He graduated from Harvard in 1980 and lives in Cambridge, Mass.
Together, Mary Ann and Rob have been delighting audiences with their imaginative programming and original musical arrangements since 1996. Their compact disc, You’d Be Surprised: Ragtime, Waltz & Novelty Songs, 1891-1919 is available at www.cdfreedom.com or 800-937-3397.
