Ellington, Coward music to air on WTTW-TV

Ellington, Coward music to air on WTTW-TV

The multiple programs at the 1999 Chicago Humanities Festival on Duke Ellington and Noel Coward in celebration of their centennials are the subjects of short documentaries broadcast respectively today and tomorrow, on WTTW Channel 11.

Beginning at 8 p.m. (CST) each night, the two programs highlight the intensive efforts the CHF took in celebrating these two great music legends of the 20th century.

The Duke Ellington mini-documentary includes clips from Festival programs and performers' commentary on Ellington's music. Featured artists include jazz master Sir Roland Hanna; Chicago trumpeter Orbert Davis; singer Oscar Brown Jr., with his daughter Maggie Brown; jazz biographer Gary Giddins; John Edward Hasse, curator of American Music at the Smithsonian; opera star William Warfield; noted pianist Kevin Cole; and William Russo conducting the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. The half-hour program airs at 8 p.m. Dec. 20.

The Noel Coward program will feature the "After the Ball" story, explaining the restoration of this 1954 musical by the Chicago Humanities Festival in honor of the composer's centennial. The show features clips from the musical, which took place on Saturday, November 13 at the Auditorium Theatre, as well as interviews with cast members and the production team including: director Paul Curran; conductor John McGlinn; Coward's biographer and "After the Ball" editor, Barry Day; and Festival producer Eileen Mackevich - as they discuss the life and music of Noel Coward, the show itself, and the restoration of the piece.

The half-hour program begins at 8 p.m. December 21, followed immediately by a two-hour documentary on the life of Noel Coward.

The Coward and Ellington centennials at the 10th annual Chicago Humanities Festival were highly successful. More than 40,000 people attended the Festival programs over the two weekends.

The 11th annual Chicago Humanities Festival, "NOW!" will take place Nov. 2-12, 2000, at various sites around the city and promises to be the most exciting, provocative, and broadly appealing Festival to date by exploring the immediate, the cutting-edge and the engaging.

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.