Oscar-winning tunes steal the show at Stambaugh

Audience members relived great film moments through the presentation.
By TRACEY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Theater patrons relived Academy Award-winning moments Saturday night at the Monday Musical Club's presentation of "And The Winner Is!"
Internationally acclaimed pianist and conductor Mac Frampton and his Hollywood Hills Orchestra were joined by singers Lee Lessack and Joanne O'Brien in a tribute to Oscar, performing Academy Award-winning songs from over the years.
Selections for the performance, held at Stambaugh Auditorium, were cleverly arranged by subject, artist or era, recapturing Oscar-winning moments in history.
The show opened energetically with Lessack and O'Brien singing "Hooray for Hollywood" from the 1937 film "Hollywood Hotel," and "Would You Like To Swing On A Star" from the movie "Going My Way."
Next the orchestra performed a stirring and powerful instrumental rendition of the theme from "Titanic," "My Heart Will Go On," which included strains of "Nearer My Heart To Thee," said to be the last song that was played on the Titanic as it sunk.
Other featured selections included the rousing theme songs from "Rocky" and "Shaft"; a tribute to Doris Day with "Que Sera Sera" from the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Man Who Knew Too Much," and "Secret Love" from "Calamity Jane"; and Mac Frampton's stunning piano solo of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz."
Disney medleys
Two enchanting medleys from Walt Disney movies, including snippets of "Whistle While You Work," "Under The Sea," "When You Wish Upon A Star," "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee" had audience members reliving their childhoods.
The "Cinematic Almanac" medley included weather-inspired Oscar-winning songs such as "Baby It's Cold Outside" from "Neptune's Daughter," "It Might As Well Be Spring" from "State Fair," and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
The show ended with a song that didn't quite fit the bill -- it had won a Golden Globe, but not an Oscar -- the theme song from "The Quest for Camelot," titled "The Prayer."
Concert pianist Mac Frampton has toured the world, performing as a soloist, with his trio and with the orchestra in more than 2,000 concerts. In 1995 Frampton founded The Hollywood Hills Orchestra, a 16-piece ensemble dedicated to the performance of great cinematic music.