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LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER: “JAMES NAUGHTON: THE SONGS OF RANDY NEWMAN”
April 4, 2014  | By David Bianculli

PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET

 

James Naughton isn’t the first singer with the idea of doing a project devoted entirely to the songs and lyrics of Randy Newman. That would be Harry Nilsson, whose LP Nilsson Sings Newman, with Newman himself providing piano accompaniment, was released in 1970, and remains a stunningly beautiful showcase of singing and songwriting. But Naughton, who also is an actor, is no stranger to Newman’s works, either. He’s sung from Newman’s songbooks in his own intimate cabaret appearances, and on a musical episode of Fox’s Ally McBeal in 2000, as the concerned father of Ally (Calista Flockhart), he sat at the piano and sang, beautifully and tenderly, a song just for her: Newman’s “Real Emotional Girl.” Anyway, tonight, in this performance taped in January, Naughton tackles an all-Newman set list, covering everything from the sarcastic “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind”) to the poignant “Marie.” Check local listings.

 
 
 
 
 
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