I've Got Rhythm and you will, too, if you go to Eckerd's OLLI program on Gershwin

The hits just keep on coming at the Eckerd's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Remember, we were telling you about Judy Garland the other day? Well, this next offering has a Judy Garland element to it, too, though it isn't the primary focus of the program. The title tells it: George Gershwin. The plan is to cover his life and music. There's a lot of material to work with on both subjects.

Now above, you're going to hear a medley of his numbers from Girl Crazy, a Broadway musical that opened in 1930. George wrote the music. His brother Ira wrote the lyrics, and Guy Bolton and John McGowan wrote the book. You'll hear I've Got Rhythm, the song that Ethel Merman sang in her stage debut. You'll also hear Bidin' My Time and Embraceable You. We took our cue from the Eckerd OLLI catalog, which specifically mentions I've Got Rhythm.

Below, is one of George Gershwin's most famous and most popular pieces. Nothing in the catalog mentions it but we can't imagine that it wouldn't be included. Just know that as we prepared this article for publication, Rhapsody in Blue was playing in our headphones. What a powerful piece! If you're old enough to be going to Eckerd's OLLI programs, then you're probably old enough to remember the spectacle of 84 pianists dressed in blue formal attire playing this beautiful work on grand pianos for the opening of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. You can enjoy George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue below but go to the OLLI class to learn more.

George Gershwin is offered from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.  on Friday, October 21 in the CEC Spoonbill Room at Eckerd College. Admission is $10 for members and $25 for non-members.