Center for the Art of Performance presents a solo performance from iconic singer-songwriter Randy Newman in his first appearance at Royce Hall in five years Saturday, October 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($49-$119) are available at cap.ucla.edu, via Ticketmaster or the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310.825.2101.
With songs that run the gamut from heartbreaking to satirical and a host of unforgettable film scores, Randy Newman has used his many talents to create musical masterpieces widely recognized by generations of audiences. Newman’s many honors include six Grammys, three Emmys, and two Academy Awards, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year he was given an Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. Most recently, Newman was presented with a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in June 2014.
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2, a second in a series of new solo piano/vocal recordings of songs spanning his five-decade career, was released in 2011. Time Out New York said of the series: “The Songbook records strip away the orchestrations of his regular albums, leaving Newman alone at the piano, singing three-minute masterpieces from throughout a half-century career.”
That same year, Nonesuch Records released a live CD and DVD recorded at London’s intimate LSO St. Luke’s, an 18th-century Anglican church that has been restored by the London Symphony Orchestra, where he was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler. The 22-song set features some of his best-known songs including “Short People,” “Louisiana 1927,” and “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” as well as newer songs such as “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country” and “Laugh and Be Happy.”
