George and Ira Gershwin were enjoying increasing success in the early 1920s, but they had yet to write a hit show together. Lady Be Good is the story of how a single show changed the future of their careers and the future of Broadway’s musical theater. By Sarah Sisk 1924 was a good year for the Gershwin brothers. That February had seen the premiere and subsequent popular success of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It was also the year that Ira Gershwin, who had been working with George and other composers to write song lyrics for musical theater, decided to […]

Check out this letter from George Gershwin to Dorothy Heyward! It offers us a window into the working relationships between George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and literary couple Dorothy and DuBose Heyward. The famous collaboration between the Gershwins and librettist DuBose Heyward resulted in the creation of one of the best known American operas, Porgy and Bess, whose production forged lasting professional and personal relationships between the three men. George, Ira, and DuBose regularly kept in touch, exchanging new lyrics, novel-to-stage adjustments, and production ideas. DuBose’s wife Dorothy Heyward, herself a playwright, was also a part of this circle and frequently […]

When Blue Was New: Rhapsody in Blue‘s Premiere at “An Experiment in Modern Music” In the Roaring Twenties, American bandleader Paul Whiteman embarked on an audacious mission: to organize a classical concert of all-jazz repertoire. To do this, he commissioned a piece from a young George Gershwin, leading to the creation of one of America’s most famous musical compositions. ~Sarah Sisk is an undergraduate English major at U-M’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts. She is working with the Gershwin Initiative as an undergraduate research assistant in the university’s UROP program. In the early 1920s, ragtime was out and […]

In the ragtime-infatuated New York of 1918, George and Ira Gershwin’s lives seemed to be pulling in different directions. It only took one song to prove that a partnership between the two brothers would spell success for their musical careers. —– Sarah Sisk is an undergraduate English major at U-M’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts. She is working with the Gershwin Initiative as an undergraduate research assistant in the university’s UROP program.   The First Collaboration: The Story of “The Real American Folk Song” Most histories of George and Ira Gershwin’s popular songs begin with George’s instant hit “Swanee,” […]

Check out this blog post by Richie Gerber on George Gershwin’s busy January 1924!

Congratulations to the 2015 Broadway production of An American in Paris, directed by Christopher Wheeldon! The Gershwin-inspired ballet-musical made a strong showing at the 2015 Tony Awards with 12 nominations and 4 wins, the latter including: Christopher Wheeldon for Best Choreography Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, and Bill Elliott for Best Orchestrations Bob Crowley and 59 Productions for Best Scenic Design of a Musical Natasha Katz for Best Lighting Design of a Musical Congratulations to the actors, producers, and those who brought Ira and George’s music to the stage. Thank you for keeping their artistry alive! Note that the Gershwin Critical Edition’s new score and […]

George Gershwin was among the world’s first “Crossover Artists,” a master of not only opera, stage, and screen, but as well, of melding the styles of popular jazz with those more traditionally identified in the symphonic orchestra. As such, his music invites new and fresh interpretation, while still retaining the essence of Gershwin’s own artistic identity. Jazz trumpet professor Bill Lucas leads the project and points out: “As a Symphonic musician with serious jazz roots, it is often difficult to have to play Gershwin’s music within the orchestra, so straight laced, without any of the tools a jazz musician is […]