https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin With a life that spanned more than 100 years and a catalogue that boasts over 1,000 songs, Irving Berlin (1888-1989) epitomized Jerome Kern’s famous maxim that “Irving Berlin has no place in American music – he is American music.” Berlin wrote scores to 13 Broadway musicals, contributed to seven revues, wrote songs for 12 classic Hollywood movie musicals and created many of the most well-known popular songs of the 20th century. Born in Russia, he immigrated to the Lower East Side, where he started as a singing waiter and soon became a lyricist, composer and music publisher. An intuitive businessman, Irving Berlin was a co-founder of ASCAP, founder of his own music publishing company and builder of the Music Box Theatre to house his Music Box Revues. For his paean to his beloved country, “God Bless America,” he established a fund which receives all revenue for the song and distributes it to the Boy and Girl Scouts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Fields Dorothy Fields (1904–1974) was an award-winning American librettist and lyricist. The brother and sister team of Herbert and Dorothy Fields was part of a vibrant New York theatrical family that also included their brother, Joseph, a prolific librettist and playwright, and their father, Lew, the famous producer, actor, and director. Together, Herbert and Dorothy Fields wrote the books for eight Broadway musicals, including three with scores by Cole Porter (Something For the Boys starring Ethel Merman, Let's Face It! starring Danny Kaye, and Mexican Hayride); By The Beautiful Sea with music by Arthur Schwartz; Up in Central Park with music by Sigmund Romberg; Arms and the Girl with music by Morton Gould; Redhead with music by Albert Hague; and the classic Annie Get Your Gun with a score by Irving Berlin. In a career spanning more than 45 years, Dorothy Fields wrote the lyrics to such standards as "I Can't Give You Anything But Love,"(a timeless classic featured in the film A League of Their Own), the Academy Award-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" with music by Jerome Kern, "On The Sunny Side Of The Street," "Exactly Like You," "Don't Blame Me," "I'm In The Mood For Love," "I Won't Dance," "A Fine Romance," "I Feel A Song Coming On," "Lovely To Look At," "I'll Buy You A Star," "Pick Yourself Up," "Remind Me," "Big Spender," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "Where Am I Going?," "There's Got To Be Something Better Than This," "It's Not Where You Start," "Nobody Does It Like Me," and "Seesaw." In addition to Kern, her great collaborating composers included Harold Arlen, Cy Coleman, Morton Gould, Albert Hague, Burton Lane, Oscar Levant, Jimmy McHugh, Arthur Schwartz (with whom she wrote the score for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Sigmund Romberg and Harry Warren. Her final Broadway scores, written with Coleman, were Sweet Charity and Seesaw. In March 1971 Dorothy Fields became an inaugural inductee of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Fields Herbert Fields (1897-1958) was a celebrated librettist and screenwriter. The brother and sister team of Herbert and Dorothy Fields was part of a vibrant New York theatrical family that also included their brother, Joseph, a prolific librettist and playwright, and their father, Lew, the famous producer, actor, and director. Together, Herbert and Dorothy Fields wrote the books for eight Broadway musicals, including three with scores by Cole Porter (Something For the Boys starring Ethel Merman, Let's Face It! starring Danny Kaye, and Mexican Hayride); By The Beautiful Sea with music by Arthur Schwartz; Up in Central Park with music by Sigmund Romberg; Arms and the Girl with music by Morton Gould; Redhead with music by Albert Hague; and the classic Annie Get Your Gun with a score by Irving Berlin. Prior to collaborating with his sister, Herbert Fields wrote the books for musical comedies featuring scores by some of the greatest talents of his day. He wrote seven musicals with Rodgers & Hart, including Dearest Enemy, Peggy-Ann and A Connecticut Yankee, and seven with Cole Porter, including Fifty Million Frenchmen, Du Barry Was A Lady, and Panama Hattie, as well as the three cited above. Among his other collaborators were Vincent Youmans (Hit the Deck), George and Ira Gershwin, Sigmund Romberg and Arthur Schwartz.

An experienced local actor who has performed at Riverside Dinner Theater, Lake of the Woods, and Fredericksburg Theater Ensemble. He has appeared in four Stage Door productions, notably as Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Other favorites include Uncle Fester in The Addams Family Musical, Caliban in The Tempest, and Andrew Carnes in Oklahoma!. An accomplished singer, he formed the Show Stoppers singing group in 2020, specializing in big Broadway musical numbers.