Two years ago, local Jewish composer Penny Corris sat at her piano, ready to write something new.
A classically trained musician whose work has been performed internationally, Corris surprised herself when she realized what was happening.
“Something jazzy came out,” she said, “So I went with it.”
The results can be heard on Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m., when 15 of the songs comprising “Penny Corris’ New American Songbook” will be performed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Helene Zelazo Performing Arts Center, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Corris’ previous compositions include “Mi Ha-Ish,” a song written for her youngest daughter’s bat mitzvah, which took first prize in an International Jewish Song Festival in Montreal.
Her cantata “Da Lifney” was performed at the dedication of Congregation Shalom’s sanctuary in 1992, and she has recently completed a choral setting of Psalm 23.
When Corris realized that she was writing songs, she knew she’d need to find a lyricist. As it turned out, she didn’t even have to leave her house.
After 43 years of marriage, Corris already knew that her husband, attorney Bob Corris, was the perfect life partner. She soon discovered he was also the perfect writing partner.
“He would write the words and then I would have to okay the words,” Corris said, adding that there was only one instance when she asked him to change a lyric.
“As soon as he gave me the words I would churn them around in my head a little bit and then I would go to the piano and I would see what kind of words fit in with the musical idea I was trying to express,” she said.
That process turned out to be easier than she had expected.
“After 43 years of living together, I guess I just felt like he picked the right words,” she said. “He’s really good with the words and he did a fabulous job, so it was not that difficult for me to put his words to music.”
The couple will be on hand, but not on stage for the performance. Pianist and arranger Dan Dance, saxophonist Bob Rebholz, drummer Jeno Somlai and bassist Michael Britz will be backing up locally based singer/actress Niffer Clarke.
“It took me 19 people to find her,” Corris said, “but she’s what I wanted. She’s got that Broadway voice.”
Clarke, whose acting career spans more than 25 years, is familiar to local theatergoers from her work with Skylight Music Theatre, First Stage and other Milwaukee-area companies. She has also toured nationally with Shirley Jones and has sung in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Finding a pianist was much easier. Corris and Dance have known each other for decades, and he was a natural choice to perform her compositions.
Dance, who teaches and performs, began his solo career locally at piano bars and cafes. In addition to performing on “A Prairie Home Companion,” he was musical director and actor with the Dakota Theater Caravan and toured as pianist with “Groucho: A Life in Review,” a portrayal of Groucho Marx that starred Bobby Hedges and the late Gabe Kaplan, who starred in “Welcome Back Kotter.”
While admission is free, the concert is a benefit for the Fisher House of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s newly-opened Fisher House will be the 65th in the U.S.
They are residences where veterans’ families can stay at no charge while their loved ones are in treatment at Veterans Administration centers. Milwaukee’s Fisher House is located on the grounds of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center and will provide separate housing units for up to 16 families.
Corris chose Fisher House because of her concern over reports about veterans, including higher rates of suicide and difficulties in obtaining treatment for service-related injuries.
“I don’t think they’re treated very fairly when they come home. They put their lives on the line for us and we don’t do very much for them,” she said.
“Their emotional issues have to be dealt with as well as their physical issues,” she said, “because being in combat changes people. They’ve done so much to protect us, so we need to do for them.”
Amy Waldman is a Milwaukee-based freelance writer, retention alert coordinator at Milwaukee Area Technical College and winner of a Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism.
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