The Young Americans
| The Young Americans | |
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Official Logo
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| Background information | |
| Origin | California, United States |
| Genres | Broadway, Pop, Dance |
| Years active | 1962 – present |
| Website | The Young Americans website |
The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group is credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral singing. While experiencing national television exposure early on, The Young Americans now teach music to students in the United States and other parts of the world as advocates of music education in their International Music Outreach Tours. The group has approximately 200 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 from nearly every US state and several other countries.
The Young Americans first appeared on a Bing Crosby television special in the early 1960s. For the next several years, the group would appear on numerous variety shows, singing and dancing with entertainers such as Julie Andrews, Judy Garland, and Bob Hope.
In 1967, the group was featured in a film, Young Americans, which was awarded a 1968 Academy Award for best documentary. In May 1969, the film was disqualified because it had premiered in October 1967, and was therefore ineligible for the 1968 award.
Throughout the 1970s, along with television appearances with Julie Andrews, The Ed Sullivan Show, Kraft Music Hall, and their own television special with Lorne Greene, The Young Americans began concert tours in the United States and abroad at venues that included Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Madison Square Garden, the Hollywood Bowl, and with Liberace in Las Vegas. In 1976, the group performed in an outdoor theatre at the foot of the Washington Monument for the United States bicentennial celebration. In the 1980s, the group continued to tour internationally. The choir's performances for Liberace in the early eighties were featured in the HBO film Behind the Candelabra, based on the book by Liberace's lover Scott Thorson. The latter sections of the film highlight the relationship between Liberace and Young Americans alumnus Cary James, Liberace's lover who died of AIDS in 1995. The affair between Liberace and James is depicted as a major source of tension between Thorson and Liberace. During the film, The Young Americans sing "I Belong With You."
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