Partners Night at the Pops 2009

Newton-Wellesley's Erica Johnson, MD, Performs at the Pops

The 12th annual Partners Night at the Pops: A Celebration in Honor of Our Physicians was held on Thursday, June 18, 2009, at Symphony Hall thanks to the ongoing support of John Hancock Financial. Conductor Keith Lockhart led the Boston Pops Orchestra in “A Richard Rodgers Celebration,” honoring the prolific American composer who wrote 40 musicals in his lifetime, including Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Carousel and The King and I. The Boston Pops performed many selections from these musicals and others to entertain the nearly 1,000 Partners physicians and their guests in attendance.

Not to be outdone by the Tony Award winning guest singer Victoria Clark, Partners own “Physician Talent” performed live on stage with the Pops at Symphony Hall. The eight physicians who comprised this year’s Talent, including Erica Johnson, MD, General Internal Medicine, here at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, were set up as two teams – one led by Andrew Warshaw, MD, Chief of Surgery at MGH, and the other led by Michael Zinner, MD, Chief of Surgery at BWH.

After Keith Lockhart introduced the physicians to the audience, he asked Drs. Warshaw and Zinner what song they were going to sing; both replied, “It’s a surprise”. At that moment, the overhead screen displayed: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better along with pictures of Drs. Warshaw and Zinner. This sparked appreciative laughter from the audience.

Clever and witty custom lyrics were written for the song to make it health care related and Partners-specific. In the end, the two teams were united as one as the lyrics honored Partners President and CEO James Mongan, MD, who will be retiring at the end of the year, and referenced Partners system-wide commitment to High Performance Medicine (try rhyming that!).

Dr. Johnson was on Dr. Warshaw’s team, along with Everett Lyn, MD, Emergency Medicine, from North Shore Medical Center, and Britain Nicholson, MD, Internal Medicine, from MGH. Dr. Johnson sang, “Any hands you may wash, we wash more often; we sterilize often, and soften ‘em, too!” to her counterpart, Surgeon Pardon Kenney, MD, from Faulkner Hospital, on Dr. Zinner’s team.

Along with Dr. Kenney, Dr. Zinner’s team consisted of George Clairmont, MD, Internal Medicine, from PCHI, and Jessica Dudley, MD, Internal Medicine, from BWH.

The “Physician Talent” performance was brilliantly delivered and highly entertaining, and the physicians seemed to truly enjoy their moment in the spotlight on stage at Symphony Hall.

The evening’s entertainment started with a moving performance by the Boston Children’s Chorus, a multi-racial, multi-cultural arts organization bringing together children in grades 2 to 12 from Boston’s diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic communities.

Partners would like to thank Keith Lockhart, the Boston Pops and our own Physician Talent for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We also thank John Hancock for its ongoing commitment and generous sponsorship of our annual Partners Night at the Pops: A Celebration in Honor of Our Physicians.

Thomas P. Glynn, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer, Partners Healthcare