Q+A: Alexis Gershwin

Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun

Thursday, July 19, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

What: "Gershwin Sings Gershwin"

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday

Where: Suncoast Showroom

Tickets: $22 to $55; 636-7075

George and Ira Gershwin created some of the most enduring music in the world.

The brothers wrote such musicals as "Lady Be Good," "Funny Face" and "Girl Crazy" and the folk opera "Porgy and Bess." They are responsible for a string of memorable songs, including "The Man That Got Away," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Embraceable You," "Fascinating Rhythm," "I Can't Get Started" and "Summertime."

George Gershwin also put an indelible American stamp on classical music with "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris." As the composer, George often seemed to overshadow his older brother, lyricist Ira.

But when George Gerswhin died in 1937 at age 38, Ira continued to collaborate with the likes of Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill and Harold Arlen. Ira died in 1983 at age 86.

Carrying on the family legacy is their niece, Alexis Gershwin. She launches a nationwide tour of "Gershwin Sings Gershwin" at the Suncoast this weekend .

The descendant of the two icons of American standards teamed with acclaimed musical director Steven Applegate to re-create the music that keeps her uncles' names alive.

Gershwin will be backed by six singers and an eight-piece orchestra.

She recently spoke to the Sun from her home in Los Angeles.

Q: What is your exact relationship with George and Ira Gershwin?

I'm the niece. My mother, Frances, was the baby sister. She was the only girl in the family.

Did your mother inherit the Gershwin musical talent?

Mother was a jazz dancer but she gave it up for her family. And she was a painter. My father's side of the family had the classical music genius of my grandfather, who toured the world and was very highly renowned. He was like an Arthur Rubinstein. I have classical on my father's side, jazz on my mother's. My father's name was Leopold Godowsky. He was an inventor and also a brilliant violist. We used to have chamber music all the time at my house.

Are there still a lot of Gershwins around?

No. There were only my mother and three brothers. Only one of them, Arthur, had a child, Mark. He's my cousin, and that's it. George never married. Ira never had children. I have a brother, Leopold Godowsky II, who is a very talented concert pianist. He writes his own music. I have two sons in their late 20s, Christopher and Brian. Neither is in music.

Where are you from?

Connecticut. I went to a boarding school called the Cambridge School in Massachusetts and then to college at Sarah Lawrence.

When did you start singing?

In high school. I used to sing at the proms. When I was 16 I began performing in summer stock. I sang in clubs for a couple of years. Then I got married and had my children, which stopped a career that could have taken off then.

What was it like growing up in such a musical household, connected to icons of great music?

It was very magical. I even met Arturo Toscanini when I was a little girl and Arthur Rubenstein. He and my grandfather were the two most gorgeous pianists in the world.

I met Toscanini in New York at Carnegie Hall on the night of one of his concerts. He came to our box and said hello because he knew my family very well. He had the bluest eyes and he was so great.

What was it like to grow up in that sort of environment?

It was unusual, but in a very positive way.

Was there any doubt about the direction your life would take?

I knew that singing was it for me. My father said I had the talent of my grandfather for the piano but he was so hard on me that I fled. I could have been a beautiful pianist. But I'm actually happy that I have my own instrument, my voice.

George died before you were born. Did you have a relationship with Ira?

I used to go to his house every week for dinner. I talk about that a little during the show. I tell the stories of things to do with my going there every week. I met Groucho Marx and people like that there.

Did Ira have an impact on you?

Ira was very ingrown. He was an introvert. I talk about that in my show, too. George was an extrovert, Ira an introvert. So he didn't play any role or part. I would just meet some interesting people over there.

How old are you?

I never tell anybody my age. That's a very private thing and ladies don't like to give their age. But I am young.

Did you ever go through a rebellious period when you sang rock 'n' roll?

Heavens no. My peers did rock 'n' roll , but I always gravitated toward the beautiful music, the romantic stuff, the classics. I don't like the word "standards." Romantic music can never die and I will certainly do everything I can to keep it alive. George and Ira wrote some of the most romantic music in America.

Some of today's music be giving you fits.

Oh! It's not music. Arthur Rubenstein said it in the '70s. Rock 'n' roll is not music. It's nails on the blackboard. Terrible stuff. Hip-hop. Rap. The world has gone beyond insane.

Tells us about your concert.

What I try to do when I'm entertaining is to take people away from the here and now and go on a musical journey back to a time when things were a lot slower and more innocent and beautiful and romantic. I'm like a time machine.