Oh Kay!

As Katharine Weber reveals in this interview, her novel Triangle drew from many deep sources in the author's life, and paid tribute to both of her grandmothers.  One was a garment worker in New York City, and the other was Kay Swift, a songwriter and jazz-age celebrity who was loved by George Gershwin (not for nothing did he write a musical called "Oh Kay!") and whose compositions were eventually recorded by the likes of Charlie Parker, Barbra Streisand, Art Tatum, Peggy Lee, Linda Rondstadt, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.  Not too shabby!

Fine and Dandy was her most successful musical, and with song titles like "Machine Shop Opening", "Can't We Be Friends", "Let's Go Eat Worms in the Garden", "Up Among the Chimney Pots" and "Whistling in the Dark", it seems like a real corker.  There are whispers of future major productions of this show, and we can only happen that these rumors come true.  Till then, there's the Kay Swift website to enjoy.