Internationally Acclaimed Jazz Cabaret
34 West 22nd St., New York, NY 10010 Phone: 212.206.0440

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Aaron Morishita

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Aaron Morishita
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 7:00 PM
Metropolitan Room, New York, NY
  • $25 Food Bev Min
 
Admission Type Price Quantity
Ticket Sales Closed for this show!
Show Details
  • Ticket Price: $20.00 - $115.00
  • Door Time: 6:15 PM
  • Show Type: Cabaret
  • Restrictions: $25 Food Bev Min
SINGING SONDHEIM with AARON MORISHITA
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
 
“Something’s Coming” music by Leonard Bernstein
 
Musical Direction & Arrangements by Jon Delfin

Emenar Records is proud to release “Singing Sondheim”, the full recording  of Aaron Morishita’s acclaimed, Back Stage Bistro Award-winning evening of songs by Stephen Sondheim. Featuring musical director Jon Delfin at the piano, this CD includes tracks from the original recording sessions in the 1990s, plus a brand new recording of “I Never Do Anything Twice”.

Immediately available for purchase or download at CD Baby (https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aaronmorishita)
 
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2016 Bistro Award Winner — Recording Talkin’ Broadway — One of the “Top Ten Vocal Albums of 2015”
 
Aaron Morishita is happy to present a special performance of his acclaimed show “More — The Songs of Stephen Sondheim”, which was the basis his 2016 Bistro Award-winning CD “Singing Sondheim: songs by Stephen Sondheim”. With arranger and musical director Jon Delfin at the piano, Jack Bashkow on reeds and David Dunnaway on bass, Aaron is thrilled to revisit the show which Back Stage called “a performance of real artistry by a singer who has become one of cabaret’s most exciting male performers.”
 
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About the recording, “Singing Sondheim”
 
Attend the tale of Stephen Sondheim: Most of his theatre songs are built in such jewel-like and complex ways, with every “hair” in place, that to tinker can be tantamount to tragedy. Many singers tend to perform them as written, finding little room, need, or inspiration for variation or shifts in tone or emphasis. Sure, it's respectful, but then so very many singers sound, well, so very much like the performances on the original cast albums. When “re-done” becomes “redundant,” the listener's ear and mind and fancy are no longer tickled and we nod along and sing along in our heads, far from the edge of our seats. Enter Aaron Morishita. When he sings Songs by Sondheim, the oft-done and the less so, he amazes me with the refreshing shifts in emphasis and musical stresses he finds. This New York City song man and actor knows the power of a tiny pause, a sigh, an implied shrug, the echo of a chuckle, the differently shaded word with a brightening or darkening emotion. This is the album's first release, though it was actually recorded 15 years ago and foolishly shelved. He's not necessarily the character from the show, but his own cast of characters. He makes them work and makes them interesting. The appealing Morishita voice can sound youthfully naïve or world-weary or like a man conflicted. John Delfin's piano accompaniment is his ally and fellow intrepid investigator of new vistas and variations.   — Rob Lester, Talkin’ Broadway
 
About the cabaret show, “MORE–The Songs of Stephen Sondheim” Morishita created 60 minutes of atmospheric performance marked by subtly dark bittersweet flavor. Morishita’s voice is flexible and rich, capable of capturing the myriad human emotions found in Sondheim's sometimes deceptively simple lyrics. “Something’s Coming” and “Our Time” opened this set on a hopeful note, followed by an upbeat “What More Do I Need.” But the hard realities of life soon entered with a haunting “I Remember” and “Move On.” This feeling was again underlined by a touching “It Wasn’t Meant to Happen” and “Not a Day Goes By.” Biting satire entered with Morishita’s reading of “Could I Leave You.” This was a performance of real artistry by a singer who has become one of cabaret’s most exciting male performers. Morishita’s Sondheim may become a standard against which other vocalists must measure themselves.  — Back Stage
 
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About AARON MORISHITA
 
Aaron Morishita has appeared at clubs, cabarets and other music venues throughout New York City over the past three decades, including the legendary Cornelia Street Cafe and The Iridium Jazz Club in Times Square. In addition, Aaron has appeared in a variety of special events coast-to-coast, from the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention in NYC to the annual J-Town Revue in San Francisco. Performing his acclaimed music shows, including “Aaron Morishita Sings A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night”, “Morishita Sings Nilsson”, “More–the songs of Stephen Sondheim”, “The Best Is Yet to Come–the lyrics of Carolyn Leigh” and “Tora! Tora! Kick Step” (Aaron’s biographical reflection of his life in the musical theater), Back Stage has called him “a standard against which other vocalists must measure themselves.” In addition, Aaron’s alter-ego, “Hot Rod”, performs with cabaret stalwart Ricky Ritzel as the retro lounge act, The Lounge-O-Leers, in venues varying from New York City’s Irving Plaza to the Encounter Bar at the Los Angeles airport. The Lounge-O-Leers can be heard on their series of eight CDs released on the Emenar label, covering everything from sixties lounge favorites to current Top 40 hits. Aaron is a winner of multiple Bistro Awards and Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabaret Awards. As an actor, singer and dancer, Aaron made his professional debut as the crown prince to John Cullum’s King in The King and I, appeared in the 1984 Off-Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures and has played a variety of roles in stock and regional theater, from Thurio in the Guare-
MacDermont musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona to Mr. DePinna in You Can’t Take It With You.