Harold Arlen

"I don't think there was any songwriter closer to jazz," Orange County singer-bassist Jack Prather said Monday night before he and his Great American Music Co. proved their point with "An Evening of Harold Arlen." The spirited, classy affair, a salute to the tunesmith who penned favorites such as "Blues in the Night," "That Old Black Magic" and "Over the Rainbow," also spotlighted vocalists Stephanie Haynes and Dewey Erney, pianist Dick Shreve and drummer Jimmy Ford.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Two decades later, Mandy Patinkin still relishes what is probably the most iconic role of his acting career, the swashbuckler in "The Princess Bride." Classically trained as an actor, Patinkin, 55, has also spent over 20 years as an accomplished singer. He brings his smorgasbord of Broadway classics and Yiddish folk tunes to the Kodak Theatre Saturday at 8 p.m. HOW DID YOU GET INTO YIDDISH MUSIC? Joe Papp [the late founder of New York's Public Theater]

"Sing! Sing! Sing!," a series of Sunday afternoon sing-alongs led by pianist-vocalist Judy Wolman, continues Sunday with a program featuring the music of composer Harold Arlen. Best known for the score to "The Wizard of Oz," Arlen also wrote such classic additions to the American songbook as "Stormy Weather," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." Previous editions of "Sing! Sing! Sing!" have explored the music of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin.

IN his defense of Robert Hilburn's opinion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century," reader Fred Lucero states [Letters, Nov. 25] that he has "heard of" Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington. Lucero concedes that they were all "wonderful artists" but asks: "Can it be said that they changed the culture of this country the way Dylan did?" The answer is obvious: Yes and no. Each artist contributed immensely to our culture, thereby changing it immeasurably, but each in his own way. "Blonde on Blonde" changed 20th century America, but so did "Show Boat" and "The Wizard of Oz" and "Kiss Me, Kate" -- not to mention "Pet Sounds" and "Electric Ladyland."

Harold Arlen, the son of a cantor, grew up early in the 20th century listening to his father's singing and to classical music. He also was drawn to the sounds of black America and would go on to write songs for the Cotton Club. These influences and more wove their way into the songs he composed for stage and screen, including "Come Rain or Come Shine," "The Man That Got Away" and "Over the Rainbow."

I marveled at the audacity and absurdity of Robert Hilburn's assertion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century" ["Young Dylan, the Man of Ideas," Nov. 15]. Of the last half of the 20th century, maybe. Surely, most people wouldn't rate him as a songwriter in the same league with Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen or Duke Ellington, to name a few from the "golden age" of American popular song.

RE Len Gardner's assertion that Robert Hilburn's opinion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century" is absurd [Letters, Nov. 18]: I have heard of all the songwriters that you mentioned, sir [Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington]; I even like some of them. They all were wonderful artists, but can it be said that they changed the culture of this country the way Dylan did? FRED LUCERO Oxnard

IN his defense of Robert Hilburn's opinion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century," reader Fred Lucero states [Letters, Nov. 25] that he has "heard of" Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington. Lucero concedes that they were all "wonderful artists" but asks: "Can it be said that they changed the culture of this country the way Dylan did?" The answer is obvious: Yes and no. Each artist contributed immensely to our culture, thereby changing it immeasurably, but each in his own way. "Blonde on Blonde" changed 20th century America, but so did "Show Boat" and "The Wizard of Oz" and "Kiss Me, Kate" -- not to mention "Pet Sounds" and "Electric Ladyland."

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Two decades later, Mandy Patinkin still relishes what is probably the most iconic role of his acting career, the swashbuckler in "The Princess Bride." Classically trained as an actor, Patinkin, 55, has also spent over 20 years as an accomplished singer. He brings his smorgasbord of Broadway classics and Yiddish folk tunes to the Kodak Theatre Saturday at 8 p.m. HOW DID YOU GET INTO YIDDISH MUSIC? Joe Papp [the late founder of New York's Public Theater]

Harold ARLEN was responsible for the music for the Oscar-winning tune "Over the Rainbow" as well as such standards as "Let's Fall in Love," "Get Happy," "Stormy Weather," "One for My Baby" and "The Man That Got Away." Oscar winner Henry Fonda was one of cinema's most beloved "everymen." Like his peers Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper, he was adept at both dramas and comedies and possessed an earnestness, quiet strength and likability that endeared him to audiences for nearly half a century.

RE Len Gardner's assertion that Robert Hilburn's opinion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century" is absurd [Letters, Nov. 18]: I have heard of all the songwriters that you mentioned, sir [Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington]; I even like some of them. They all were wonderful artists, but can it be said that they changed the culture of this country the way Dylan did? FRED LUCERO Oxnard

I marveled at the audacity and absurdity of Robert Hilburn's assertion that Bob Dylan is "the most important songwriter of the 20th century" ["Young Dylan, the Man of Ideas," Nov. 15]. Of the last half of the 20th century, maybe. Surely, most people wouldn't rate him as a songwriter in the same league with Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen or Duke Ellington, to name a few from the "golden age" of American popular song.

Harold Arlen, the son of a cantor, grew up early in the 20th century listening to his father's singing and to classical music. He also was drawn to the sounds of black America and would go on to write songs for the Cotton Club. These influences and more wove their way into the songs he composed for stage and screen, including "Come Rain or Come Shine," "The Man That Got Away" and "Over the Rainbow."

Harold ARLEN was responsible for the music for the Oscar-winning tune "Over the Rainbow" as well as such standards as "Let's Fall in Love," "Get Happy," "Stormy Weather," "One for My Baby" and "The Man That Got Away." Oscar winner Henry Fonda was one of cinema's most beloved "everymen." Like his peers Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper, he was adept at both dramas and comedies and possessed an earnestness, quiet strength and likability that endeared him to audiences for nearly half a century.

One of the more intriguing "lost" musicals of Broadway's golden age has been reborn 57 years later as a major new work in the repertory of Dance Theatre of Harlem. The 1946 "St. Louis Woman," with a majestic Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer score, was recorded in aborted form and adapted into an unsuccessful opera. But after 113 performances, it joined the ranks of short-lived shows with strong music and a weak book whose original orchestrations were scattered to the winds.

"I don't think there was any songwriter closer to jazz," Orange County singer-bassist Jack Prather said Monday night before he and his Great American Music Co. proved their point with "An Evening of Harold Arlen." The spirited, classy affair, a salute to the tunesmith who penned favorites such as "Blues in the Night," "That Old Black Magic" and "Over the Rainbow," also spotlighted vocalists Stephanie Haynes and Dewey Erney, pianist Dick Shreve and drummer Jimmy Ford.

Hymen Arluck, a cantor's son who grew up to become Harold Arlen, the composer who took the world "Over the Rainbow," died Wednesday at his home in New York City Arlen, 81, who had suffered from cancer, died at his Manhattan home shortly after 4 p.m., and his body was found in bed by his son, Sam, a police spokesman said.

One of the more intriguing "lost" musicals of Broadway's golden age has been reborn 57 years later as a major new work in the repertory of Dance Theatre of Harlem. The 1946 "St. Louis Woman," with a majestic Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer score, was recorded in aborted form and adapted into an unsuccessful opera. But after 113 performances, it joined the ranks of short-lived shows with strong music and a weak book whose original orchestrations were scattered to the winds.

"Sing! Sing! Sing!," a series of Sunday afternoon sing-alongs led by pianist-vocalist Judy Wolman, continues Sunday with a program featuring the music of composer Harold Arlen. Best known for the score to "The Wizard of Oz," Arlen also wrote such classic additions to the American songbook as "Stormy Weather," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." Previous editions of "Sing! Sing! Sing!" have explored the music of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin.

Hymen Arluck, a cantor's son who grew up to become Harold Arlen, the composer who took the world "Over the Rainbow," died Wednesday at his home in New York City Arlen, 81, who had suffered from cancer, died at his Manhattan home shortly after 4 p.m., and his body was found in bed by his son, Sam, a police spokesman said.