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Posted 07.12.10

Harry Connick, Jr. brings his concert tour to Broadway for an 'unscripted evening' of music

BY Joe Dziemianowicz DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, July 10th 2010, 4:00 AM Old-school crooner Harry Connick Jr. brings his concert tour to Broadway for two weeks beginning on Thursday, following stops throughout the West Coast, the Middle East and Down Under. It's an "unscripted evening," he says, but you can expect tunes from his hometown of New Orleans, plus pop standards, some covered on his CD "Your Songs," released last fall when the tour began. Connick says he's especially jazzed about performing in New York. "I'm addicted to Broadway." He has become a regular presence there, thanks to "The Pajama Game" in 2006 and "Thou Shalt Not" four years earlier. The Connecticut-based, married father of three girls has plans for the Great White Way. He's working on a new musical — a screwball romantic comedy set in New York after the stockmarket crash of '29. Your tour went all over the map, including Morocco. Retracing the steps of the "Sex and the City 2" girls? That's right. Actually, I was retracing the steps of my parents. They actually met there and got married there back in the '50s. They met in Tangiers. That was really cool. I got to go to the church where they got married. Does your family travel with you? Sometimes. If I can make it line up with a spring break, then I'll try to bring one or all of my daughters with me. I brought one of my kids, Kate, who's 12, to Morocco. We were there for 10 days and that was really fun. The people were really, really cool. How do they compare to Broadway audiences? You know what, man, if you put on a good show, the audience will be great. If you suck, the audience is gonna suck. I've been doing this a long time and experienced both sides of that. Describe your concert. I wish I could. It changes every night; we play different songs. It's not scripted. I've got 14 players, the same great band I'm touring with. I come up with a song we start with and go from there. I'm sure I'll throw in some new things just because it's a special event, because it's Broadway. Will we see any special guests onstage — say, "Pajama Game" co-star Kelli O'Hara? She's welcome to get up there with us. I saw her the other night, and she said she wants to see the show. If she comes, man, she's obviously welcome to come onstage. Tell us about the musical you'reworking on. I can't really talk about it because it's in such an early stage. I'm writing words and music. George C. Wolfe is directing. It's a new show based on an original concept. There's one draft of an untitled script by David Grimm — and no, it's not a fairy tale. Broadway is the goal. It could be a year or three years before it gets there. You always seem cucumber-cool onstage — your secret? I take it a day at a time, and I work really hard at what I do. And when it comes down to performing, if you're having a good time, that's what matters. I take it light, man. "Harry Connick Jr. in Concert on Broadway" runs Thursday through July 29 at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 W. 52nd St.) Tickets: $51.50-$136.50, ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000.