Lesley Uggams beautifully sang THE BEST PART OF THE DAY, written by me and my theater collaborator, award winning writer, Deborah Brevoort for Deb’s wedding to Tony award winning actor and singer, Chuck Cooper. Chuck is currently starring in Finian’s Rainbow as well as doing guest stints on Gossip Girl, the Mon’que Show, etc.. Deborah (who just left for Alaska) asked me to set music to her beautiful lyric and we secretly rehearsed the song and performed it at the wedding as a surprise to Chuck. I was also honored to play a part in their being the Video Featured Wedding of the Week the New York Times on-line where they described how they met, etc. The wedding ceremony counts as one of my all-time favorite weddings: It was personal, funny, touching and gorgeous with the bride and bridegroom dressed in Chinese garb from their recent musical and tourist tour of Shang-Hai. The guest list included a wonderful collection of friends, family and musical souls. In addition to Lesley Uggams, those in attendance included Chuck’s very talented daughter, Lili Cooper, the star of Spring’s Awakening. There was also TV star, Dawnn Lewis (my friend from high school days at the High School of Music and Art) and many other music and theater personalities.