FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club, again presents a cast of Harvard and Yale grads in The Fourth Annual Harvard-Yale Cantata. Join us for a unique evening at Feinstein’s/54 Below, with Team Harvard looking to avenge another lucky one-point victory by Team Yale, who won in HY III for the second year in a row by a score of 32-31. Last year wasn’t a pure win for Yale, as they were buoyed by some great songs and performances from their Princeton teammates. Harvard was bogged down (they say) by being paired with Columbia. No excuses in HY IV, as we’re back to a straight up Harvard v. Yale competition.
The Harvard team will be led by 2018 graduate Brian Ge, who will be both team captain and music director. Songwriters will include the late and greatly-missed Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), the brilliant songwriters Dan Wilson (“Closing Time,” “Not Ready To Make Nice,” and “Someone Like You”) and Anne Preven (“Listen” and “Torn”), as well as some other yet-to-be-decided Harvard alumni. Performers are still being assembled.
The Yale team will feature songs by Maury Yeston (Broadway’s Nine, Grand Hotel, and Titanic), the multi-talented David Brody (Prairie Home Companion, The Delaware Water Gap String Band, The Klezmer Conservatory Band), Tom Toce (MAC Award-winning songwriter), and more. Performers will be announced as the date approaches.
Judges have not yet been selected, but in the past have included veteran songwriters Marcy Heisler (NYU; Ever After and “Taylor the Latte Boy”) and Amanda Green (Brown University; Broadway: Hands on a Hard Body, High Fidelity) and SNL’s Rachel Dratch (Dartmouth).
The show is formatted after the Harvard-Yale Regatta. There will be seven heats, each with a Harvard song pitted against a Yale song. The show is produced by Tom Toce (Yale, 1978), who also hosts, in association with Victoria Ordin (Yale, 1995) and Brian Ge (Harvard, 2018). Musical direction and accompaniment will be provided by Brian Ge for Harvard and Ian Miller (Yale, 2016).
“The Harvard-Yale Cantata” plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Thursday, September 13, at 9:30. There is a $35-$40 cover charge ($60 premium) and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.