Benjamin Sears and Bradford Conner
 Benjamin
Sears and Bradford Conner have been called “Boston’s favorite song
duo” by the Boston Globe, and “the delightful cabaret team” by the
Boston Phoenix. Recipients of IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New
England) and LIP (Life in Provincetown) awards, they have performed
as a duo since 1989, carrying on the great cabaret tradition of “the
song, the singer, and the pianist.”
Sears and Conner are noted recording artists with a significant
discography that features many previously unrecorded songs by Irving
Berlin, the Gershwins, and E.Y. Harburg.
Come On And Hear! —Early Songs by Irving Berlin, was hailed by the
Cabaret Hotline as a “little gem [which] will add much to anyone’s
collection” and Keep On Smiling (covering the period 1915–1918) was
featured by Sheridan Morley in BBC Music Magazine.
She’s So Beautiful, a collection of Berlin songs written for shows
produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, was praised by Jim Bessman of
Billboard, “If you’re interested in hearing some of the 1,200-plus
Irving Berlin songs compiled in the recently published Complete
Lyrics of Irving Berlin, She’s So Beautiful is a good place to
start.”
Delishious—Lyrics by Ira Gershwin (the only Ira Gershwin release for
his 1996 centenary) was listed by The Boston Globe as one of the
“Best CDs of 1995,” and is cited in The Gershwin Years (Jablonski
and Stewart, 1996 edition): “Sears and Conner feature the words in
true, Ira Gershwin-approved style: clear, musical, and no tricks.”
Paired with Delishious for the Gershwin centenaries is Sweet and
Low-Down— Songs by George Gershwin.
Beyond the Rainbow—Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg is the most comprehensive
collection of his songs on record. In 2000 Sears and Conner added
two recordings: Noël and Cole—Together with Music with duo Valerie Anastasio & Tim Harbold (an Amazon.com Top 100 in the Cabaret
category, and called “a felicitous pairing all around” by Show Music
magazine), and their first “live” recording, Rest You Merry—A
Holiday Cabaret.
Their newest release is a continuation of their survey of Berlin’s
output with Everybody Step—Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revues, which
has already been hailed by Rob Lester of TalkinBroadway.com as “a
major find for those who appreciate and are fascinated by the work
of one of our legends of American music.” Upcoming is another CD
with Anastasio and Harbold, Fred & Ethel—Great Songs of Astaire and
Merman.
In March 2003, Sears and Conner were panelists at the Hofstra
University conference The Broadway Musical—1920-2020, where they
performed Irving Berlin’s Mandy with Doris Eaton Travis, who danced
the number in the original 1919 Ziegfeld Follies.
Sears and Conner have appeared at Boston’s Emerson Majestic Theatre,
the Wang Centre for the Performing Arts, the Mabel Mercer Foundation
Cabaret Convention (Town Hall, New York City), Don’t Tell Mama (New
York), Tom Rolla’s Gardenia (Los Angeles), the International Fringe
Festival (Orlando, Florida), Cabaret at Windows (Washington, DC),
Chicago Public Library, Scullers Jazz Club (Boston), the first
Boston Cabaret Festival, CabaretFest! (Provincetown and Newburyport,
Massachusetts), Clark Art Institute (Williamstown, Massachusetts),
and at colleges, concert series, and other venues throughout the
Northeast. For the 2002 Richard Rodgers Centennial, they gave a
special performance using Rodgers’ own piano at the Dramatist Guild
in New York. On radio they appear regularly as performers on Boston
and regional stations; and on the nationally syndicated The
Connection (WBUR-FM, Boston) they spoke as commentators on the
Gershwins, Sir Noël Coward, and Fred Astaire. Sears and Conner are
Producing Directors of American Classics and are founding members of
the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists (BACA), an organization
promoting awareness and performance of cabaret in the Boston area.
In 1999 they joined forces with voice and piano duo Valerie Anastasio & Tim Harbold to create and tour a Noël Coward centenary
program, Noël and Cole- Together With Music, followed by a second
show, Fred & Ethel—Great Songs of Astaire and Merman, which was also
nominated for a 2001 IRNE award.
For the Astaire Centenary, Ben and Brad created a new show,
Top Hat,
with songs sung by Fred on stage and in films, along with songs
about and by him.
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