The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Singer pays tribute to Skitch Henderson
NEW MILFORD — Singer Lynn Henderson presents her one-woman show, “A Skitch in Time — A Tribute to Maestro Skitch Henderson,” on Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. as a benefit for New Milford’s Hunt Hill Farm, founded by Skitch Henderson and his wife Ruth in 1972.
“A Skitch in Time” was originally presented in New York City in April, conceived by Lynn Henderson as a tribute to friend and mentor Skitch, who was the founder of the New York Pops Orchestra, director of the NBC Orchestra and the “Tonight Show” bandleader under both Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. The concert will take place at Hunt Hill Farm in the Silo performing space. Tickets are $40 and reservations are required. Call 860-355-0300. Hunt Hill Farm is at 44 Upland Road.
After purchasing and combining two farms to make Hunt Hill Farm, Skitch and Ruth Henderson set about converting the many buildings into a cooking school, art gallery, museum and kitchen store. Gifted to the town of New Milford by the Hendersons, Hunt Hill Farm became a 501c3 nonprofit institution in 2003. It has been a center of learning for over 45 years, offering educational opportunities and experiences for children, youths and adults to nurture a deeper understanding of art, music, cooking, organic farming and land use.
Lynn Henderson and Skitch, who are not related, bonded over music at a benefit dinner in Connecticut, where they both lived at the time. Skitch assisted Lynn, who was chairwoman of Deck the Halls benefits for New Milford Hospital, by bringing his New York Pops All Stars to Connecticut. He mentored Lynn as she created a show about his friend, Cole Porter, for a local club with a cast ranging in age from 5 to 85. Later, Lynn and her musicians brought her cabaret shows to Hunt Hill Farm.
⏩ Lynn Henderson, a resident of Litchfield County for many years before moving to Manhattan in 2014, is known for taste and style throughout several cabaret shows she’s performed in New York City, as well as her two recordings of Great American Songbook music. After performing in many venues in the eastern U.S. since her college years as a big-band singer, Lynn debuted in cabaret in 2012 at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan with “Try to Remember,” and followed that with “I Travel Alone.” In 2016, she brought “’T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do so Don’t Tell Mama,” including music from composers Charles Aznavour, Doug Cohen, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerry Herman, Amanda McBroom and Cole Porter. She released her debut CD, “Singer at Work,” in 2012, followed by “If We Only Have Love” in 2014. Douglas J. Cohen, her musical director, arranger and accompanist, will join her at Hunt Hill Farm with bassist Bob Sabin and special guest, New York Pops percussionist and founder of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Sherrie Maricle. Powerhouse entertainer and multiple award-winning actresssinger Klea Blackhurst directs.
⏩ Pianist, composer, librettist and arranger Douglas J. Cohen was the first recipient of the Noël Coward Prize, and has won the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting and the Richard Rogers Award for “The Gig” and “No Way To Treat A Lady.” He’s the composer and co-lyricist of “The Evolution Of Mann” with an upcoming New York premiere, and “Bridges,” a Berkeley Playhouse world premiere. Cohen was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics for “Children’s Letters To God.” He received a Jonathan Larson Grant for his music to “Barnstormer.”
⏩ Sabin is a bassist, composer, and educator specializing in jazz and contemporary improvised music. He was awarded second place in the 2001 and 2003 International Society of Bassists’ Jazz Competition, and has appeared with Chico O’Farrill, Billy Taylor, Diana Krall and Ernie Watts. He is on the music faculty of Hunter College High School and New York University, and is a New York Pops teaching artist.
⏩ Sherrie Maricle, New York Pops drummer and founder of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, has performed in including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the Hollywood Bowl. She is a frequent guest musician at jazz festivals all over the world. The DIVA Jazz Orchestra has been featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” and co-stars in the documentary, “The Girls in the Band,” directed by Judy Chaikin. DIVA Jazz Orchestra is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and its DIVA 25th Anniversary Project commemorative recording has been at the top of the jazz charts for months. It is DIVA’s first album release featuring completely original music written by the composers and musicians of DIVA.
⏩ Actress-singer Klea Blackhurst recently appeared in the New York premiere of Party Face at New York’s City Center. In 2016, she introduced the title role in the world premiere of “Hazel” at Drury Lane in Chicago. She starred in Goodspeed Opera’s 50th anniversary production of “Hello, Dolly!” and the world premiere of the Marvin Hamlisch/Rupert Holmes musical, “The Nutty Professor.” Her New York and regional stage credits abound. She has appeared on TV and radio as Shelby Cross on “Onion News Network,” “The Knick,” “Sesame Street” and “Prairie Home Companion.” Known for her Ethel Merman tribute, “Everything The Traffic Will Allow,” her other concert shows are “Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke’s Broadway” and “Dreaming of a Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael,” in collaboration with Billy Stritch. She has appeared in halls from London’s Palladium to Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall to Jazz at Lincoln Center and with symphony orchestras from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Blackhurst is a charter member of the Jerry Herman Legacy Concerts and a distinguished alumna of the University of Utah.