Steve Ross (photo Stacy Sullivan)
(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) — Noted singer and pianist Steve Ross bring his repertoire celebrating the pre-rock American popular songbook, Broadway show tunes, and classic standards at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, May 7 at 3pm in the auditorium. The concert is a prelude to the Clark’s summer exhibition, Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema and Design, opening June 4.
Dubbed “the Crown Prince of New York cabaret,” Ross has played in virtually all the world’s fabled clubs from New York and London to Sydney and Sa? Paolo and is widely considered one of the greatest interpreters of Broadway and American pop standards. Ross pays musical tribute to some of America’s greatest composers, including Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein, and Stephen Sondheim, among many others.
Steve Ross rose to fame as a cabaret entertainer during his lengthy sojourns at New York’s Ted Hook’s Backstage in the late 1970s, followed by years of residency at the celebrated Oak Room at the Hotel Algonquin. In 1992, Ross starred off-Broadway in “I Won’t Dance – Steve Ross Sings and Plays Fred Astaire.” He made his Broadway debut in the revival of Noël Coward’s “Present Laughter,” playing the Cockney valet and performing at the keyboard.
Ross has been hailed by the New York Times as “the suavest of all male cabaret performers,” and by the Times of London as “the smoothest cabaret act in the world.”
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Model D Pianoforte and Stools
The concert is a prelude to the Clark’s summer exhibition, Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema and Design, opening June 4. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the Clark’s magnificent Steinway grand piano, ornately designed by artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. During one of the most colorful periods in its long life, the piano was a fixture in the lobby of Broadway’s Martin Beck Theatre, where it was played by many musicians including Ross. Although playing a much younger piano for the concert, Ross will evoke the glamour of the piano’s storied past.
Tickets are $40 ($35 members); reserve at the Clark Art Institute or call 413 458 0524.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit The Clark or call 413 458 4303.