Therese Lee :Pennies From Heaven: My Life in Bing Crosby Songs

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Therese Lee

Pennies From Heaven: My Life in Bing Crosby Songs

Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, September 19, 2026

Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker

Therese Lee
Photo by Stephen Mosher

This thoughtful and reflective show began with forceful positivity delivered by Therese Lee in the form of “New Sun in the Sky” (Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz) and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer). Lee cleverly used songs that Bing Crosby was famous for singing, including some surprisingly done by him (“I Whistle a Happy Tune” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II). She used these songs to weave her message with some bits about her life, all the while maintaining an upbeat and almost inspiring tone.

A native of California, Lee’s personal story is one to be admired. She battled addiction to alcohol and has been sober for several decades. Lyrics such as the ones she showcased no doubt helped her find her way out of that darkness, as no doubt it has done for others. Peppered in with familiar tunes were brief vignettes of her life, which underscored the overall message of her performance. During one particularly difficult time, she just “sat back and let God show off!”

Lee performed a moving rendition of “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (Jay Gorney/E.Y. Harburg), and she worked the same magic with Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” In both of these she showed that slower can indeed be better.

With her masterful compatriots Christopher Denny providing music direction, piano, and arrangements and Jeff Harnar skillfully overseeing direction, Lee delivered a show that was philosophical in its message, a message that was easily absorbed by her enthusiastic audience.

Jacqueline Parker

Like Ethel Merman, lifelong New Yorker Jacqueline Parker began her career as a stenographer. She spent more than two decades at the city's premier public agency, progressing through positions of increased responsibility after earning her BA in English from New York University (3.5 GPA/Dean’s List). She won national awards for her work in public relations and communication and had the privilege of working in the House of Commons for Stephen Ross, later Lord Ross of Newport. In the second half of her career, Jacqueline brought her innate organizational skills and creative talents to a variety of positions. While distinguishing herself in executive search, she also gave her talents to publishing, politics, writing, radio broadcasting and Delmonico's Restaurant. Most recently, she hosted Anything Goes! a radio show that paid homage to Cole Porter and by extension the world of Broadway musicals and the Great American Songbook. Other features of the show were New York living, classical music, books, restaurants, architecture and politics. This show highlighted the current Broadway scene, both in New York and around the country through performances and interviews with luminaries including Len Cariou, Charles Strouse, Laura Osnes, Steve Ross and Joan Copeland. Her pandemic project was immersion into the life, times and work of Alfred Hitchcock, about whom she has written a soon-to-be-published article. Jacqueline has been involved in a myriad of charitable causes, most notably the Walt Frazier Youth Foundation, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sisters of Life, York Theatre, and the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. She is a proud Founder of Hidden Water. Her greatest accomplishment is the parenting of her son, a lawyer specializing in mediation. She has many pretend grandchildren, nieces and nephews, on whom she dotes shamelessly, as well as a large circle of friends to whom she is devoted. Her interests in addition to theater and cabaret are cooking, entertaining, reading, and spending time on Queen Mary 2.

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