Hal David

The New York Pops: “007: James Bond Forever”

October 28, 2026

The New York Pops opened its Carnegie Hall season on October 23, 2026, with “007: James Bond Forever.” Music director Steven Reineke conducted, with Lena Hall as guest artist. Drawing on 18 films released between 1962 and 2021, the program celebrated a musical identity strong enough to accommodate orchestral suspense, romantic ballads, soul, and hard rock. Hall and the orchestra were strong throughout. The songs carry powerful associations with their original performers, including Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, and Adele. Hall gave this varied material a consistent vocal presence. Reineke kept the orchestra an equal partner, emphasizing how much of Bond’s character lives in the instrumental writing. [more]

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon

September 19, 2026

Fresh from a successful run earlier this year, "Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon" conceived by John Lewin is back by popular demand at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, replete with panache. Returning performers on stage this evening are vocalists Hilary Kole, Meecah, John Pagano and co-creator Adrian Galante on piano/clarinet. Expert musicians include Kristin Cappuccino on keyboard, David Rourke on guitar, Marco Panascia on bass, and Cory Rawls on percussion. [more]

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon

January 17, 2026

Legendary composer Burt Bacharach died in 2023 and it has taken until now for there to be a fitting stage tribute to his 1,000 song output (mainly written with lyricist Hal David) which includes six Grammy Awards and three Academy Awards. Entitled Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon, the musical revue has been conceived by producer Jack Lewin along with Will Friedwald (who has been called “the poet laureate of vintage pop music,”) musical supervisor Tedd Firth and musical director Adrian Galante, who is also responsible for the arrangements and orchestrations as well as playing piano and clarinet in the show. While Bacharach was best known for his mellow sound as sung by Dionne Warwick who recorded most of the songs in the show, the volume of this Going Bacharach is very loud, though this may be the fault of sound designer Matt Berman. Those of us who grew up with these songs won’t recognize the arrangements while younger people may be pleased to experience them for the first time. [more]

The Look of Love (Mark Morris Dance Group)

March 27, 2024

"The Look of Love" was filled with Morris’ least complex choreography, relying on repetition, walking, running and soft leg extensions along with simple arm gestures. Considering the sophistication and elegance of Iverson’s arrangements for the MMDG Music Ensemble, Morris, whose musicianship is his best feature, clearly decided to go for the obvious and easily digestible. Nothing wrong with this approach, but it made "The Look of Love" appear less substantial than it really was. [more]

The Look of Love

September 20, 2003

When polished and classy performers such as Broadway veteran Liz Callaway ("Merrily We Roll Along," "Baby," "Miss Saigon") and Capathia Jenkins ("Civil War"), as a Dionne Warwick substitute, attempt to provide some inner life to relatively uncomplicated songs, the effect is still-born. When the gentle and folksy "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is sung in Spanish by Kevin Ceballo and danced in orgiastic spasms by Shannon Lewis, you'll see how desperate staging can get. [more]