Song of the Day turns 3 this week!  Here’s a look back at our first week of songs (beginning June 15, 2015) from NYFOS’s artistic director Steven Blier. 

It takes a lot of courage to give your first performance of a song in front of the New York audience and critics—but that’s what we have done for decades at NYFOS. Of course, every singer lives in fear of forgetting his lyrics. Therefore it is comforting to know that legendary artists also go up on their words. In honor of summer, here’s the iconic Leslie Uggams singing “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” for live television on a day when there was a disaster with the cue-cards: the man holding them, running in front of her, slipped in the wet grass where both he and the cards suddenly lay sopping as she ran forward to follow the camera. She did know the title of the song by heart, but that’s about all. Frankly, I don’t know how anyone remembers these lyrics—Stephanie Blythe nailed it when she sang Carousel with the NY Phil, but my heart was in my mouth the entire time.