When twenty-three-year-old historian and composer Emerson Hurley first encountered the music of Broadway composer Wilbur Weissman, he was astonished to find that almost no information about this once-famous songsmith was publicly available. Once at the heart of Tin Pan Alley in the Thirties and Forties, it seemed that Weissman, like many of his contemporaries, had fallen into complete obscurity.

Leading a passion project combining his love of music and history, Hurley is thrilled to be bringing Weissman’s work to the stage for the first time in decades. Fans of classic musical theatre will adore this charming collection of forgotten tunes from Broadway’s Golden Age. Alongside a new book, the product of painstaking research, and presented with humour and sensitivity, the music of The Forgotten Songbook makes a heart-warming case for one overlooked artist’s reintegration into the musical theatre canon.

Performed by veterans of Melbourne musical theatre Karla Hillam and Jonathan Guthrie-Jones, with Hurley on the piano, the show is directed by Mikey Halcrow.

Details:
25th-27th July in The Loft – Chapel Off Chapel
Tickets $44 – $49, available via Chapel Off Chapel