Story: Groundbreaking Tony Bennett Special Premieres

“Those specials are something that really shaped me,” said Marshall, an Emmy winner for choreographing the TV musical Annie and an Oscar nominee for directing Chicago. “What a great thing, to be able to do this.”

Marshall, who also executive produced, reunited with his colleagues from the show May 22 for a screening of Tony Bennett: An American Classic, which had aired in November on NBC.



Joining him in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were Bennett’s sons, executive producer Danny and audio engineer Dae, executive producer-choreographer John DeLuca, producer Jodi Hurwitz, director of photography Dion Beebe, ACS, A.S.C., production designer John Myhre, editor Wyatt Smith and Haworth Media chairman/CEO Gary Tobey, on behalf of the special’s presenting sponsor Target.



Megan Mullally moderated the panel discussion following the screening, which culminated with a performance by Tony Bennett himself.

In preliminary discussions with Tobey about the special’s concept, “We didn’t want to do the same old, same old,” Danny Bennett said. “We wanted to do a special that harkened back to the ’60’s, like [Streisand’s] Color Me Barbra.”



The two decided to approach Marshall, who in turn began focusing on a way to combine material from Bennett’s recent Duets CD with a birthday celebration.



“I started thinking about [Bennett’s musical] venues telling the story of [his] journey, such as the jazz club and Columbia Records, that that was the variety,” said Marshall, who recruited Chicago teammates DeLuca, Myhre and Beebe for the project.

Accordingly, such Duets performers as Streisand, Elton John, k.d. lang and Michael Bublé reported for one day each to sing with Bennett at the Los Angeles Theatre, a downtown movie palace where ten sets depicted various places in Bennett’s career. Robert DeNiro, John Travolta and Catherine Zeta-Jones were among those providing career commentary.



“Artists were calling us,” Hurwitz noted. “It’s every producer’s dream to hear the words: ‘Barbra Streisand is confirmed.’”

The artists all shot their segments live, rather than with the customary lip-synching. “We say that Tony never sings the same way once,” Dae Bennett said with a laugh. “He sounds like he’s singing something for the first time.” “You don’t want to can that,” Marshall agreed.



Throughout the project, “The creativity flew,” Danny Bennett said. That included on-set improvisation, such as grabbing rehearsal mirrors to augment the look of stage lights during one segment and dealing with a potential disaster when the lab ruined some black and white footage; fortunately, the effect of the damaged film added to the scene.



In editing, Smith said, “It was important that no camera movement overtook the lyric of a song.”



The panelists paused for Tony Bennett’s entrance, to a prolonged standing ovation; after singing “Watch What Happens,” he took a seat front and center. “It was such a magnificent experience,” he said. And to Marshall: “You set the tone, you and your whole team. It was a spiritual experience for me.”

Of his guests, he noted, “Stevie Wonder is a great jazz artist. He’s an original, one of a kind. k.d. lang is, to me, the nearest singer to Judy Garland. She’s honest on the stage. And she has all the elements of human feeling to touch your heart.



“I’ve never had a better year,” Bennett added. “And I’ve never heard ‘Happy Birthday’ so much in my life.”



The evening ended with another song by Bennett, “If I Ruled the World,” followed by – what else? – an impromptu audience serenade of “Happy Birthday.”

Rocci Chatfield produced the event. Barbara Wellner is chair of the activities committee.  Robert O’Donnell is director of activities for the Academy.