Jeff Harnar

Jeff Harnar Sings The 1959 Broadway Songbook

Birdland, NYC, October 6, 2025

Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker

Photos by Kevin Alvey

Jeff Harnar transformed Birdland into a time machine and took his appreciative audience back to 1959 with songs from the nearly two dozen shows that were offered on Broadway back then. That was a simple enough task, but Harnar took it a step beyond and created a show within a show, using either complete songs or just snippets to tell a story that had all the elements of a 1959 musical. He even created a Playbill of sorts, with his Hirschfeld caricature on the cover, so one could keep track of all the shows and songs that were involved.

The evening began, appropriately enough, with “Tonight” (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim). His haunting and touching rendition began quietly and gradually built in intensity until it seemed Harnar would burst with the anticipation promised in the lyric.  Every musical needs an overture, and Harnar grabbed his baton and conducted the trio of musicians in a medley of tunes from almost half the shows that were recognizable and beloved. Many of us couldn’t help but smile and sway! These instrumentalists (Alex Rybeck on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Dan Gross on drums) were impeccable and created a seamless, nuanced musical tapestry. Rybeck was music director and, with Harnar, also created the arrangements.

What’s a musical without a “want” song? Harnar picked one of the most beautiful of those, “I Wish It So” from Mark Blitzstein’s Juno, to set the mood of expectancy. It was followed by Bob Merrill’s “Nine O’clock” from Take Me Along, which was rendered so evocatively that I felt Robert Morse was in the room singing it. The perfect ending to this segment was “On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe).

It was time for intermission, which was equally entertaining. For it, Harnar chose songs from 1959, including “Dream Lover” (Bobby Darin), and did a duet with Rybeck on “Theme from A Summer Place” (Max Steiner/Mack Discant).

Act Two began quite naturally with an entr’acte, once again conducted by Harnar, that featured songs that teased as well as excited. He created a subplot with the hilarious “Have Some Madeira, M’Dear” from Flanders & Swann’s At the Drop of a Hat. This was one of the selections from a lesser-known show, which joined Saratoga and Destry Rides Again in that category. Extra kudos to this team for bringing them back to the spotlight and giving them a moment to shine next to the many blockbusters that are still being revived.

Such was the magic of this evening that one couldn’t help but be transported back to the innocence of 1959. Memories of where one was when first hearing this music, or how it played a part in a special moment in one’s life were inevitable and comforting lagniappes throughout the performance. Harnar reminded the audience of tokens of that decade such as hula hoops and Barbie dolls along with Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee, reminders of a simpler time when we couldn’t imagine the wars and assassinations of the next decade. Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States that year, and The Twilight Zone and 77 Sunset Strip were prime entertainment.

This show was first performed at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel in 1991. It is a perfectly and meticulously crafted work of art brought forth by the supreme talents of all involved. Special recognition—and possibly a bouquet—are due to Sara Louise Lazarus, who masterfully directed this marvelous confection of a show.

Harnar ended the evening by saluting luminaries of the stage who were present—Penny Fuller among them—and also by reminding us of the immortal talents who originally presented this music on stage in 1959. Ebullience felt after an excellent cabaret show is usual, but the kind of effervescent joy many experienced when they left this show is rare. Congratulating the artists and greeting old friends warmly with hugs and smiles is par for the course. After this show, however, there was a something in the air that was almost palpable; it was like being transported to Cloud Nine!