The Laguna Beach Arts Alliance announces award-winning singer Melissa Manchester will be the honored guest speaker at the 12th Annual Art Star Awards to be held on Sunday, April 29th at [seven-degrees] in Laguna Beach at 6 p.m. As the guest speaker, Melissa will share stories about her successful and diverse career, including her new album The Fellas. During the event in true Academy Award style, awards in seven categories will be presented to organizations, businesses and individuals who shaped and contributed to the community’s arts and culture in Laguna Beach this last year.
More than 25 years after Melissa Manchester released Tribute, her 1989 album that honored the great female singers who influenced her, she turns the tables with The Fellas, a radiant encomium to the men, including Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, and the iconic songs they made famous. Singing with a verve and emotional vulnerability that immediately captivates, the Grammy winner inventively reimagines these beloved standards. She turns “Chances Are” into a sly bossa nova and scats with seemingly impossible ease on “Love Is Just Around the Corner,” while bringing an understated urgency to “Night and Day.” Many of these tunes embedded themselves into Manchester’s musical DNA while she was growing up on New York City’s Upper West Side. “These were the artists and songs that were on the radio as my family ate dinner,” she says. “I am deeply familiar with this world.”
Primarily a solo album, Manchester did recruit one very special fella to join her on The Fellas: Barry Manilow duets with Manchester on a jubilant “For Me and My Gal,” a tribute to Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, who performed the 1942 movie’s title track. “Silver screen musicals could have their own album by me,” Manchester says. “So much of my life always goes back to Judy Garland. She’s always with me and with Barry.” Manilow and Manchester met 40 years ago when they were young jingle singers trying to break into show business. In fact, Manilow was responsible for introducing Manchester to Bette Midler, which led to Manchester’s stint as a founding member of Midler’s backing singers and dancers, the Harlettes.
Like many of the men she salutes on The Fellas, Manchester’s career is remarkable not only for its longevity and accomplishments, but for its versatility. Following her time as a Harlette, Manchester’s tremendously successful solo career brought her critical and commercial acclaim. The “Midnight Blue” singer received her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1979 for the Peter Allen/Carole Bayer Sager-penned “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” winning the Grammy in that category four years later for “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” Manchester has also had her songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Dusty Springfield, Alison Krauss, Kenny Loggins and many others. Two songs she performed, “Through The Eyes Of Love” and “The Promise,” were nominated for Oscars in the same year.
With The Fellas, Manchester completes a journey that began more than a quarter century ago, while also creating an exciting new chapter for her and her fans. And she’s already thinking ahead to a possible second volume. “With all of these singers, for every song I chose, there were 20 more I could have chosen,” she says. “There’s so much music to mine. I’m happy to be my fans’ guide.”
It is an honor to have such a talented artist at this year’s Art Star Awards. The stage comes alive when Melissa Manchester steps out onto it, sharing her stories, her talent and her music. This is going to be one great evening, remarked Rosemary Swimm, LBAA Chair. To purchase tickets to attend the 12th Annual Art Star Awards, please contact: info@lagunabeacharts.org.
Tickets are $100 each and include dinner as well as all the festivities.
The Laguna Beach Arts Alliance was established in 2002 as the result of an exciting partnership among more than 20 Laguna Beach organizations. The mission is to serve as an advocate for the arts, promote collaboration and networking among the arts organizations of Laguna Beach, and to serve as a united voice for the arts in the city. Members of the Arts Alliance include City of Laguna Beach Arts Commission, Blue Water Green Earth, Community Art Project, Festival of Arts, First Thursdays Art Walk, KX 93.5 Radio, Laguna Art-A-Fair Festival, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach Craft Guild, Laguna Beach Live!, Laguna Beach Sister Cities Association, Laguna College of Art & Design, Laguna Concert Band, Laguna Dance Festival, LOCA Arts Education, Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Lagunatunes Community Chorus, No Square Theatre, Sawdust Art Festival, [seven-degrees], and Visit Laguna Beach,.