Sherry’s Cherries: I Have Dreamed

Frank Sinatra’s I Have Dreamed from The Concert Sinatra, taken from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I  is an all-time favorite. In fact, all the songs on Sherry’s Cherries new show, I Have Dreamed, are all all-time favorites. 

Composer and lyricist, Cole Porter, came from a wealthy family. Although encouraged to go to “law school”, Cole knew that his future belonged to music. It should be noted that Cole composed the music and wrote the lyrics for his songs. His work was brilliant and graced both stage and screen. 

Sadly, a terrible accident in the late 1930s brought him a lifetime of pain, but Cole’s destiny was to create pieces of music to enthrall the heart. Cole could write about passion as in So In Love, and he could also write about despair, as with Down In The Depths on the Ninety-fifth Floor. For this show I play two of my favorites, K.D. Lang’s So In Love, and no one sings Down In The Depths better than Lisa Stansfield.

One of my all-time favorites since childhood, Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine was created while he was on a cruise, and it was considered to be a slow rumba. Music producers at that time did not know quite what to do with it and the song was not such a success at first. 

At the time, band leader Artie Shaw was leading his orchestra without much success, but he recognized that Begin the Beguine had a lot of potential. He decided to use the music for his band and consequently Artie and his band achieved so much success that he became one of the primo bandleaders of the 1940s. He considered Begin the Beguine his signature song. After Artie, other big bands, like Harry James, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and others all recorded it!

It became a standard for singers like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. Even Elvis recorded it. Begin the Beguine became the first song to sell a million copies. 

The show premiers on Movies Broadway Singers and Beyond on Sunday, August 5th, and will feature songs like Sweet and Lovely, You Stepped Out of a Dream, Barry Manilow’s I Made it Through the Rain and so many others. We open the show with Frank Sinatra’s I Have Dreamed, and we close with the memorable Why Should I Wake Up sung by Brent Barrett and Ruthie Henshaw. 

Please join me on this beautiful musical journey. Some of these songs might become favorites of yours. Let me know. 

With a song in my heart.

Sherry

Show Times

Sunday, August 6th 2 pm Eastern Time 11 am Pacific Time	Saturday, August 12th 7 pm Eastern Time 4 pm Pacific Time
Tuesday, August 8th 1 pm Eastern Time 10 am Pacific Time	Wednesday, August 16th 2 pm Eastern Time 11 am Pacific Time
Thursday, August 10th 5 pm Eastern Time 2 pm Pacific Time	Friday, August 18th 5 pm Eastern Time 2 pm Pacific Time

Tidbits

Artie was not only famous for his music, but he is also remembered for his romantic interests which included Judy Garland and ex-wives, Ava Gardner, and Lana Turner.

Harry James married gorgeous movie star, Betty Grable, who had her legs insured for a million dollars.

Many big band leaders were considered the rock stars of their day.

Bobby Darin’s Beyond the Sea was Sandra Dee’s favorite song of Bobby’s. 

The song, I Left My Hat in Haiti, is from a movie called Royal Wedding. It’s sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, and it is fantastic. If you ever get a chance, you should see the movie. On this show it is sung by the wonderful Brent Barrett.

Until next time.