A Musical Melting Pot

The Great American Songbook, and the immigrants who wrote most of it.

Raissa Katona Bennett and Arbender Robinson take the Rotunda through the making of the American songbook from 1776 to now, tracing what the people who arrived here wrote, what the people born here wrote, and what came over from across the pond. It is programmed to mark America's 250th anniversary, and it is built as much on storytelling as on the singing.

Who is on. Bennett played Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and has sung at Feinstein's and Lincoln Center. Robinson spent seventeen consecutive years on Broadway across eleven productions including The Lion King and Beautiful, and was the first African American to play Marius in Les Miserables. Mark Janas, who has conducted Les Miserables on tour and holds MAC and Bistro awards, is musical director.

What happens after. A tour of the mansion's first floor, and a meet and greet with the performers in the Green Room. That is not a usual add-on for a concert of this size.

Good to know. Tickets are on the museum's Eventbrite page.

Where to go. The Rotunda at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue in Norwalk.