Randy Newman To Headline Bankhead Theater

LIVERMORE, CA — You’ve got a friend in Randy Newman, Livermore.

Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award winner Randy Newman, known for composing the soundtrack to “Toy Story” and many other Pixar films, will headline the annual Brilliance at Bankhead fundraising gala in September, The Independent reports.

Newman will be accompanied by the Livermore-Amador Symphony at a gala to support the Bankhead Theater and Bothwell Arts Center. Tickets for the Sep. 10 event will include dinner provided by On the Vine catering, raffle prizes, and live and silent auctions. Tickets go on sale June 2.

In September 2021, the gala was headlined by former Miss America and “Ugly Betty” star Vanessa Williams.

Newman, 79, is a singer-songwriter known for his Southern-accented, Americana songs that often feature satirical lyrics. He is best known for his hit “Short People” (1977), “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (the opening song to 1995’s “Toy Story”, and for scoring nine Disney-Pixar films, including “A Bug’s Life,” both “Monsters, Inc.” films, and the first and third “Cars” films. He has also scored “Meet the Parents”, “Seabiscuit,” “Marriage Story,” and many more. He has received 22 Academy Award Nominations and two wins for Best Original Song.

He has also won three Emmys, seven Grammys, and has been recognized by the Walt Disney Company as a Disney Legend. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.