Like many lyricists, Carolyn Leigh is not as well known as her songs and the stars who sang them. However, she was the writer behind such successes as “Young at Heart” (her first hit, and a Sinatra chart-topper), “The Best is Yet to Come,” “Witchcraft,” “Rules of the Road,” “I’ve Got Your Number,” and more.  She was a show writer as well, having fashioned the lyrics for Little Me and several for Peter Pan.

It was Leigh’s work that was featured in the March edition of the 92^nd Street Y’s 38-year-popular series, Lyrics & Lyricists. Thanks to each program’s artistic director and the singing stars who have brought the evenings alive on stage, the program—expanded over the years from a single night on each writer to five performances over a weekend— continues to pack the Y’s spacious auditorium. Legend has it that many in the audience have had to wait to inherit their tickets before they could attend.

The salute to Leigh featured pop star Debby Boone, the Carlyle’s charming Loston Harris, Broadway leading man James Naughton, and the dynamic Karen Ziemba. The production was overseen and scripted by Deborah Grace Winer, an expert on the American Songbook and several of its writers and stars; she has just been appointed artistic director for the L & L series.

In a pleasant, smoothly flowing show staged ny Mark Waldrop, the artists—in solos and combinations, including a delightful duet featuring Ziemba and bassist Jay Leonhart—performed in front of rear projections suggesting Manhattan and musical motifs. The evening was strongly supported by a jazz-flavored band under the direction of John Otto.

Coming to L&L in early May: The 1959 Broadway Songbook, with Jeff Harnar as artistic director, host and vocalist.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
March 29, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org