A Conversation with Composer John Kander
Four from Kander and Ebb
Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are the heart and soul of some of the most recognizable songs of stage and screen: "Cabaret," "All That Jazz" and of course, "New York, New York."
A familiar sight and sound: John Kander at the piano.
A familiar sight and sound: John Kander at the piano.
Liane Hansen, NPRTheir partnership lasted 40 years, and when Fred Ebb died in 2004, they still had four different musicals in the works.
Kander has just turned 79. Liane Hansen paid a visit to his Manhattan home studio... a cozy basement room with a garden view and a baby grand piano.
Minstrel Show is one of the four projects under way before Ebb's death. The others are an original musical called Curtains, a musical based on The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder and a musical version of the Friedrich Durrenmatt play The Visit.
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This story was produced by Elaine Heinzman.
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