“The last time Randy Newman played Pittsburgh, Jimmy Carter was the president and the first ‘Star Wars’ movie had just come out,” writes Scott Mervis in Thursday’s (7/30) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It was October 1977 at the Syria Mosque…. The composer and satiric singer-songwriter will make his long-awaited return tonight with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall as part of the Thursday Night Icons series. He’ll be doing some songs on solo piano, some backed by the PSO, and he’ll conduct the orchestra in music from several of the films he scored. The PSO collaboration makes sense for Mr. Newman, who has long made use of orchestral arrangements.… As a songwriter, Mr. Newman is about as decorated as they come, having won six Grammys, three Emmys and two Academy Awards (out of 20 nominations)…. He [wrote] music for the ‘Toy Story’ movies, including the beloved ballad ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ that spoke to Andy’s friendship with his cowboy doll Woody. That’s a song with mileage. ‘ “You’ve Got a Friend” will last because of the movie,’ he says. ‘Kids come to shows now, which never happened.’ ”
Posted July 30, 2015
