The Kate Welcomes Melissa Manchester April 26

OLD SAYBROOK, CT - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate”, welcomes Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 7:30 pm.

Melissa Manchester’s career is remarkable not only for its longevity and accomplishments but for its versatility. Following her time as a Harlette, singing on stage with Bette Midler, Melissa’s tremendously successful solo career brought her critical and commercial acclaim. The “Midnight Blue” singer received her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1979 for the Peter Allen/Carole Bayer Sager-penned “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” winning the Grammy in that category four years later for “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.”

In 1980, Melissa became the first recording artist in the history of the Academy Awards to have two nominated movie themes in a single year, “Through The Eyes Of Love” from Ice Castles and “I’ll Never Say Goodbye” from The Promise, and to perform them both on the Oscar telecast. She has appeared on both the large (For The Boys) and small (NBC hit Blossom) screen, as well as the stage. Melissa starred in the national tours of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music Of The Night and Song And Dance. She also co-created (with lyricist Sharon Vaughn and playwright Rupert Holmes) the musical theatre sensation Sweet Potato Queens, which premiered at TUTS in Houston in 2016.

Melissa has also had her songs recorded by Barbra Streisand, Roberta Flack, Dusty Springfield, Alison Krauss, Kenny Loggins, and many others. She has written tunes for several other films including The Great Mouse Detective, Lady and the Tramp II, Dirty Girl, and Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls.

Her upcoming album, RE:VIEW, due out in 2023, features previously unreleased songs as well as fresh takes on several of Melissa’s enduring classic hits. As she prepares for the release of RE:VIEW and continues to perform in concert, Manchester sets her sights on new career goals while she prepares to pass the torch to the next generation of artists. Her ongoing mentorship of music students at Citrus College has been a richly rewarding experience. And now, with the arrival of her first grandchild, Layla (the proud parents are her son Nathan and his wife, Sara), Manchester is excited to sing lullabies.

For information and tickets, visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center (the Kate) is a not-for-profit performing arts organization located in the historic theatre/town hall on Main Street in Old Saybrook. Originally opened in 1911, and reopened as the Kate in 2009, the building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Kate includes a state-of-the-art 285-seat theatre and presents work in several genres including music, theater, opera, dance, comedy, film, and a variety of children’s programing. The theater lobby boasts a museum honoring Katharine Hepburn, Old Saybrook’s most celebrated resident.