New Randy Newman Musical Harps and Angels to Play Mark Taper Forum in 2010

Academy Award winning song-slinger Randy Newman's musical Harps and Angels will close out the 2010 season at California's Mark Taper Forum. Conceived by Jack Viertel, the production begins previews November 10, 2010, with opening set for November 21. The limited engagement plays through December 19. A director for the piece will be announced shortly.

Billed as a satirical comedy about life in the U.S., Harps and Angels will feature songs previously composed by Newman, including "I Love L.A.," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "Sail Away," "Feels Like Home" and "You've Got a Friend in Me," which was made famous by the animated film Toy Story.

Newman's long career as a composer, singer and songwriter first took off with his critically acclaimed, self-titled solo album in 1968. Over the years, his songs have been covered by artists including Judy Collins, the Everly Brothers, Dusty Springfield, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Tom Jones and many more, and have appeared on nearly 100 film soundtracks. As a composer, Newman has provided the scores for dozens of films, including Awakenings, Maverick, Toy Story, Pleasantville, A Bug's Life, Seabiscuit, Monsters Inc., for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "If I Didn't Have You," and Cars, which earned him a Grammy Award for the song "Our Town." In 2000, South Coast Repertory Theatre produced the musical The Education of Randy Newman, based loosely on the life of the songwriter, who provided additional songs for the production.

Harps and Angels completes a season which begins in February 2010 with David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Glass Menagerie rounds out the year's offerings.