FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club, presents a cast of Harvard and Yale grads in The Second Annual Harvard-Yale Cantata. Join us for a unique evening at Feinstein’s/54 Below, as Harvard seeks to avenge last year’s loss to Yale! 
The first Cantata was such an enjoyable bloodbath that it’s time for a rematch! The 2015 event featured some of New York’s leading performers: (from Harvard) Rachel Flynn, Liz Leimkuhler, and Larry O’Keefe; and (from Yale) Benjamin Eakeley, Cicily Daniels, and Malcolm Gets. Casts and set lists are still being assembled, but this year for Harvard the performers will be Matt DaSilva (currently on tour in Beauty and the Beast), Jaclyn Huberman (who was in I Love You Because), Barry Shafrin, Kim Onah, Tess Davison (who will be in Ragtime on Ellis Island), and Jojo Karlin. For Yale, the performers will be Megan Loughran (Sweeney Todd at the NY Philharmonic) and many others.
Repeating their roles as judges will be songwriter Amanda Green (Brown University; Broadway: Hands on a Hard Body, High Fidelity) and the veteran Broadway performer (and songwriter) Bob Stillman (Princeton University; Broadway: Grand Hotel, Dirty Blonde, Grey Gardens), joined this year by Marcy Heisler (NYU; Ever After and “Taylor the Latte Boy”).
Harvard is likely to perform songs by their illustrious alumni Tom Lehrer, Alan Jay Lerner, and Larry O’Keefe. Yale will counter with songs by Bobby Lopez, Maury Yeston, and Jonathan Coulton.
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 Megan Loughran (Yale, 2009). Musical direction and accompaniment will be provided by Isaac Alter (Harvard, 2016) and Alex Ratner (Yale, 2015).
Critics raved about Cantata I. Cantata II can only get better:
“A great time was had by all at this unusual and brilliant musical evening.” – Linda Burns, TheaterPizzazz
“One of the best—and funniest—shows I’ve seen.” – Victoria Ordin, Cabaret Scenes
“The Harvard-Yale Cantata” plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Thursday, September 8, 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.
MORE ABOUT THE HY CANTATA II PRODUCTION TEAM
Tom Toce is a veteran theater and cabaret songwriter. He won the MAC Award for Comedy Song for “Shalom, Santa” in 2014. He has directed and produced numerous cabaret shows in NYC over the past few years, including the first Harvard Yale Cantata in 2015 at Feinstein’s/54 Below, Living Standards, starring Marissa Mulder, and Hopelesly in Love: The Lyrics of Tom Toce, both at the Metropolitan Room. The HIL recording was also nominated for a 2014 MAC Award. As a performer, Tom was nominated for a 2016 MAC Award for his debut show Songwriter in the House, which played to great acclaim at the Metropolitan Room in 2015-16. Tom has written a number of shows for children, and his cabaret songs have been sung and/or recorded by Jane Monheit, Andrea Marcovicci, Tovah Feldshuh, Maude Maggart, KT Sullivan, and many others. Tom is a two-time Jeopardy! champion (his encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook helped) and a member of the Jeopardy Hall of Fame, for high score in a single game. More at www.tomtocemusic.com.
Megan Loughran is an actor, singer and writer based in Manhattan. She performed in the ensemble of Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic, starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel. Also a cabaret artist, she was a 2015 Fellow in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s Cabaret Conference, under the artistic direction of John McDaniel. Prior to that, she completed a year in Off-Broadway’s Fancy Nancy The Musical. As an improviser, Megan performed with the Chicago City Limits National Touring Company, and is the winner of the Champions’ Edition of NYC’s Cabaret Showdown. Megan is currently developing a play she co-wrote with Yale classmate, Alex Trow, entitled “F Theory.” More at MeganLoughran.com.
Alex Ratner is a musical theatre composer, music director and arranger brand new to New York City. He graduated from Yale in May of 2015, where he wrote the score to three new musicals and sang a cappella as a first tenor in the Yale Whiffenpoofs. More at alexratnermusic.com.
Isaac Alter is a Manhattan-based music director, accompanist, and conductor. A Class of 2016 Harvard alumnus, his credits include both the Broadway and American Repertory Theater runs of Waitress (Music Assistant/Copyist), the ART and upcoming Broadway runs of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Music Assistant), and many projects on Harvard’s campus, including two seasons as the assistant music director of the regionally renowned Lowell House Opera. In addition, he works as the music assistant of the recording and performing group known as the Doo Wop Project. More at isaacalter.com.