“The Music of Mancini" at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts -- September 28.
Saturday, September 28, 7:30 p.m.
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville IA
Celebrating the extraordinary compositions of Henry Mancini on the 100-year anniversary of his birth, the stage spectacular The Music of Mancini will delight audiences at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, its September 28 presentation taking patrons on a musical journey that travels from Mancini's early days with the Glenn Miller Orchestra to the timeless melodies of classics including Peter Gunn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Charade.
In 1946, newly discharged from the military, Mancini became a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra led by "Everyman" Tex Beneke. After World War II, Mancini broadened his skills in composition, counterpoint, harmony and orchestration during studies, opening with the composers Ernst Krenek and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In 1952, Mancini joined Universal-International's music department, and during the next six years, he contributed music to more than 100 movies, most notably Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, This Island Earth, The Glenn Miller Story (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination), The Benny Goodman Story, and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. His first hit as a pop songwriter was a single by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians titled "I Won't Let You Out of My Heart."
Mancini left Universal-International to work as an independent composer/arranger in 1958. Soon afterward, he scored the television series Peter Gunn for writer/producer Blake Edwards. This was the genesis of a relationship in which Edwards and Mancini collaborated on 30 films over 35 years. Along with Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Leith Stevens, and Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini was a pioneer of the inclusion of jazz elements in the late romantic orchestral film and TV scoring prevalent at the time. Mancini's scores for Blake Edwards included Breakfast at Tiffany's (with the standard "Moon River") and Days of Wine and Roses (with the title song, "Days of Wine and Roses"), as well as Experiment in Terror, The Pink Panther (and all of its sequels), The Great Race, The Party, 10 (including "It's Easy to Say") and Victor/Victoria. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, Mancini won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and 20 Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
The Music of Mancini will be performed at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts on September 28, admission to the 7:30 p.m. concert event is $23-28, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)248-9370 and visiting CoralvilleArts.org.
