The celebration of the musical legacy left behind by singers Steve Lawrence and his wife, Eydie Gormé, “A Toast To Steve & Eydie,” will go on tomorrow night, as scheduled, at Carnegie Hall, despite the death of Lawrence on March 7.
Steve and Eydie’s son, Emmy-nominated composer David Lawrence, and Tony Award winner Debbie Gravitte will be backed by a 30-piece orchestra, performing some of the duo’s most famous songs, with the original orchestrations, including “This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” “I Gotta Be Me,” “If He Walked Into My Life,” “Together, Wherever We Go, and “Cheek To Cheek.”
“This event was always meant to be a heartfelt tribute to my parents, honoring the timeless music that they made together. My father’s recent passing makes this celebration even more timely and poignant,” said David Lawrence.
“Debbie and I can’t wait to sing before an audience of devoted Steve and Eydie fans, sharing my parents’ personal history and celebrating their extraordinary musical legacy that continues to live on. It’s going to be a joyful, musical night that, I think, would make mom and dad kvell.”
The concert will be directed by Lonny Price (Sunset Boulevard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill) and Matt Cowart (Associate Director for Sunset Boulevard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill); with musical direction by Tedd Firth (music director for Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein, Marilyn Maye); it will be written by Tony Award winner Robert L. Freedman (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder) and Faye Greenberg (Disney’s High School Musical).
The concert’s venue is most meaningful: With their run of concerts at Carnegie Hall in 1981 and 1983, Steve and Eydie are second only to Liza Minnelli in the number of back-to-back, consecutive evenings performed at Carnegie Hall.
At a private reception last month, the Lawrence Family foundation made a “generous endowment contribution” to the Carnegie Hall Education Endowment Fund to support NYO Jazz, one of Carnegie Hall’s three national youth ensembles.