Remembering Papermill Playhouse's FOLLIES...13 years later!

Happy Wednesday! Anyone who knows me knows that I always have music surrounding me. I can't imagine not having that sense to be able to hear music. I get up each morning, start my coffee, and grab a CD. I don't even know how many CDs I own. I do have over 5000 songs on my Ipod always on shuffle.
This morning, I got up and grabbed FOLLIES, the original cast recording. I am listening to it as I write my morning blog. The picture you see here is me and Danny backstage with Ann Miller (she said call me Annie!) at The Papermill Playhouse which we saw in 1998.
Wow, has it really been that long!?!?! Dick Kelly, a very dear friend (who introduced me to Dody Goodman) was a friend of Ann Miller's.
I was dying to see the show. He called Ann and told her about me and that I wanted to meet after the show. She said, "Of course!". It was incredible to see her on stage. I, unfortunately, never saw her in Sugar Babies, and I envy everyone who saw her in MAME.
I also have a playbill of her in HELLO, DOLLY! Can you imagine? I bet that was a tour de force! Anyway, back to Ann. We went to a Saturday matinee in May of 1998. It was a gorgeous day. The entire cast was superb! It was equally exciting to see my friends Donna McKechnie and Meredith Patterson (who I had done summer stock at Theatre By The Sea with). When Ann sang"I'm Still Here", electricity went through that theatre and beyond.

It still is strong in my mind.
There was talk at one time that that production was going to go to Broadway.
A huge shame that it did not.
After the show, we went backstage to see Ann. Anyone who has ever been backstage at The Papermill Playhouse knows that the dressing rooms are slightly larger than shoe boxes. Ann was sharing a dressing room with Phyllis Newman (ask her to tell you sometime about Ann Miller's wigs!).
Ann popped her head out and asked if we wouldn't mind waiting while she took off her make-up. 45 minutes later she emerged wearing more make-up than she wore in the show: her street make-up! (See photo!)

But we had about a 45 minute visit with Ann and her dogs. We talked mostly about her doing THE LOVE BOAT with Carol Channing. Carol has some great stories about working with Ann Miller.

It was a day and a memory that I will always cherish! I'M STILL HERE! Opened April 15, 1998 at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Milburn NJ
Closed May 31, 1998
Produced by the Paper Mill Playhouse
[Angelo Del Rossi, Executive Producer] Angelo and I eventually became good friends. Robert Johanson, Artistic Director]
Associate Producer: Roy Miller
Produced in association with Gene R. Korf
Directed by Robert Johanson
Choreography by Jerry Mitchell. Jerry, of course, produces BROADWAY BARES every year. (Pictured) Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is the theatre community’s response to the AIDS crisis. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the theatre community, on Broadway, Off-Broadway and across the country, BC/EFA raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States. Since its founding in 1988, BC/EFA has raised over $175 million for critically needed services for people with AIDS, HIV, or HIV-related illnesses.

Jerry Mitchell is a Facebook friend. And, of course, he is represented on Broadway right now in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, which I saw a few weeks ago and loved!
Catch Me If You Can, the new Broadway musical from the hit-makers behind Hairspray, began at the Neil Simon Theatre March 7, 2011.(DanceOn presents the fifth episode of DIARY OF A CHORUS GIRL! It's the final week in the rehearsal studio before the cast and crew move to the Neil Simon Theater.

DIARY OF A CHORUS GIRL is an original webseries that follows the making of Broadway's CATCH ME IF YOU CAN through the eyes of Alex Ellis, a cast member making her Broadway debut!)

The ORIGINAL production of FOLLIES:

Tryouts ran February 20 - March 20, 1971 at the Colonial Theatre, Boston



Previews began March 24, 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre, NYC
Ran for 12 preview performances
Opened April 4, 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre
Closed July 1, 1972; Ran for 522 performances
Produced by Harold Prince
in association with Ruth Mitchell
Directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett
Choreography by Michael Bennett(This video is an excerpt from the highly recommended 1992 concert DVD "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall".)
Scenic Production Designed by Boris Aronson
Costumes by Florence Klotz
Lighting by Tharon Musser
Dance Music Arranged by John Berkman
Musical Direction by Harold Hastings
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Cast included

Major-Domo - Dick Latessa [replaced by Joseph Nelson]
Sally Durant Plummer - Dorothy Collins
Young Sally - Marti Rolph
Christine Donovan * - Ethel Barrymore Colt [replaced by Terry Saunders on 7/7/71, then by Jan Clayton on 2/27/72]
Willy Wheeler - Fred Kelly [replaced by Donald Weissmuller]
Stella Deems - Mary McCarty
Max Deems - John J. Martin

Back to Papermill's Follies: (Original Choreography by Michael Bennett and Bob Avian for "Who's That Woman")
Scenic Design by Michael Anania
Costumes by Gregg Barnes
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley
Sound Design by Craig Cassidy
Co-Musical Direction by Jim Coleman & Tom Helm
Cast

Dmitri Weismann - Eddie Bracken

"The Weissman Girls"
Sally Durant Plummer - Donna McKechnieDonna McKechnie certainly has had a life worth writing about: She left her dysfunctional Detroit home at age 16, made her Broadway debut at age 19 in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, became one of the Great White Way's premier dancers in the landmark musicals Promises, Promises and Company -- in signature pieces choreographed by her friend and future husband, Michael Bennett -- and helped to create the autobiographically inspired role of Cassie in Bennett's A Chorus Line, which earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress. But life hasn't been all statuettes and glitter for McKechnie; there was her painful divorce from Bennett in 1977 and his untimely death in 1983, coupled with a career that saw more downs and up for almost two decades until her return to Broadway in the revival of State Fair and her spectacular performance as Sally in the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production of Follies. (Source Brian Scott Lipton, Theatremania.com)
Young Sally - Danette Holden
Phyllis Rogers Stone - Dee Hoty
Young Phyllis - Meredith Patterson
Carlotta Campion - Ann Miller
Young Carlotta - Jillana Urbina
Hattie Walker - Kaye Ballard
Young Hattie - Krista Lepore
Stella Deems - Phyllis Newman(An original song written for her by her late husband Adolph Green, from her 1968 LP "Those Were The Days").
Young Stella - Pamela Jordan
Solange La Fitte - Liliane MontevecchiYoung Solange - Jean Marie
Heidi Schiller - Carol Skarimbas
Young Heidi - Ingrid Ladendorf
Emily Whitman - Natalie Mosco
Young Emily - Pascale Faye
Christine Donovan - Ann Cunningham
Young Christine - Temple Kane
Sandra Crane - Laura Kenyon
Young Sandra - Julie Connors
Dee Dee West - Billie Thrash
In 2007, Encores did a critically acclaimed production of FOLLIES that included Victoria Clark, Donna Murphy, Victor Garber and Christine Baranski.It still kills me that I missed that! Follies
Encores at NY City Center - NYC
February 2007
Review by John Kenrick

"As the audience roared through the tumultuous curtain calls on the final night of the triumphant Encores series staging of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, a friend asked why I looked so damned sad. I told him it was simple -- I have no reason to believe that anything else I see this season will be nearly as glorious.

Few musicals are so suited to an all-star concert treatment -- Chicago being one of the obvious contenders. Like that Kander & Ebb treasure (which sprang from an Encores weekend into a still-thriving ten year Broadway run), Sondheim's Follies score is chock full of showstoppers, giving magical moments to all the lead players and several supporting characters. James Goldman's book does much of its work brilliantly, evoking the emotions that pour forth when old cast members of a long-gone series of Broadway revues reunite to celebrate the imminent demolition of their old theatre. True, the soap opera-like romantic tangles of the four leads get painfully smushed in the second act, leading up to a climactic nervous breakdown that no production has ever quite made believable."
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies), that played in that theatre between the World Wars. It focuses on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Benjamin and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who are attending the reunion. Sally and Phyllis were showgirls in the Follies. Both couples are deeply unhappy with their marriages. Buddy, a traveling salesman, is having an affair with a girl on the road; Sally is still as much in love with Ben as she was years ago; and Ben is so self-absorbed that Phyllis feels emotionally abandoned. Several of the former showgirls perform their old numbers, sometimes accompanied by the ghosts of their former selves.
Here are a few of my favorite BROADWAY BABIES!
Bernadette Peters!The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's FOLLIES began previews May 7. The cast will feature two-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer,four-time Tony nominee Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, two-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer, Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone and Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige as Carlotta Campion.

The production will also star Terrence Currier as Theodore Whitman, Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee West, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, Michael Hayes as Roscoe, Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Linda Lavin as Hattie Walker, Régine as Solange LaFitte, David Sabin as Dimitri Weismann, Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis, Frederick Strother as Max Deems, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Susan Watson as Emily Whitman and Terri White as Stella Deems.

Rounding out the ensemble will be Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Sara Edwards, Leslie Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Leah Horowitz, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan, Joe Kolinski, Amanda Larsen, Brittany Marcin, Edrie Means, Erin Moore, Pamela Otterson, Clifton Samuels, Kiira Schmidt, Brian Shepard, Sam Strasfeld, Amos Wolff and Ashley Yeater.

Follies will run May 7 to June 19, 2011 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. The production features a book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and will be directed by Eric Schaeffer with choreography by Warren Carlyle. James Moore will serve as music director and will conduct the 28-piece Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

When former members of the -Weismann Follies reunite on the eve of their theater's demolition, two couples remember their past and face the harsher realities of the present. In the crumbling glamour of the theater, The Shadows of their younger selves remind them of the complicated steps they've danced - both on the stage and throughout their lives. Containing such well-known songs as -Broadway Baby, -I'm Still Here, -Too Many Mornings, -Could I Leave You? and -Losing My Mind, Follies echoes the songs, exuberance and romance of the vaudeville days between the two World Wars.

Originally produced on Broadway by Harold Prince with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, Follies opened on April 4, 1971 starring Dorothy Collins, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Alexis Smith. It ran for 522 performances in the Winter Garden Theatre and received seven Tony Awards®, including Best Original Score.

The Kennedy Center production of Follies will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, and sound design by Kai Harada. The musical will feature Jonathan Tunick's original orchestrations.

FOLLIES will play at the Kennedy Center May 7 through June 19.

(Source: BROADWAY WORLD.COM)


DOROTHY LOUDEN who created one of the more indelible portraits in musical comedy history with her portrayal of the slatternly, orphan-hating Miss Hannigan in the orignal Annie, was 70 when she died (I STILL GRIEVE OVER THIS!). The cause was cancer.

Loudon won a 1977 Tony Award for Annie. As Miss Hannigan, the tippling mistress of a dank city orphanage, she first abused Little Orphan Annie, then tried to steal her away from the loving and rich Daddy Warbucks in hopes of a reward. She delighted audiences nightly with her comic-sour ode to "Little Girls." She shared a second rousing number, "Easy Street," with the characters of Rooster, Hannigan's conniving brother, and Lily St. Regis, Rooster's dim floozy girlfriend.

A blowsy, big-voiced, big-haired, big-eyed presence, Loudon did not shy from generous performances. She was in many ways a creature of the stage, where, despite appearing in a high number of flops, she found her greatest success.

Loudon landed the role of Hannigan only by chance, after a chance encounter Mike Nichols, who was Annie's producer. The two had known each other from their early cabaret days in Manhattan, and Nichols had directed her in her stage debut, an Off-Broadway production of World of Jules Feiffer. Nichols suggested the then-out-of-work actress audition. She did, and won the job.


Annie proved the culmination of a long, hit-and-miss career. Though she went on to a few more noteworthy parts—she played opposite Katharine Hepburn in West Side Waltz in 1981 and starred in the original Broadway production of Noises Off in 1983—she never again found a vehicle as good or successful as Annie. In recent years, she was seldom seen on the New York stage. Loudon was announced to act in Dinner at Eight last season at Lincoln Center Theater, but bowed out during previews. Marian Seldes took over.

A few other projects did not completely flower. In 1998, Varese Sarabande Records released a concept recording of a musical based on the film The Night of the Hunter, on which Loudon sang a role. No production resulted in the actress' lifetime. The next year, she acted at Signature Theatre of Virginia's world premiere of Over & Over, the John Kander and Fred Ebb musicalization of The Skin of Our Teeth. The show did not go beyond that staging and remains in development.

Dorothy Loudon was born Sept. 17, 1933, in Boston, MA, and went to school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her first love was dancing. "I used to walk around with a turban and tap shoes, and I took tap-dancing lessons," she told Playbill's Harry Haun in one of her last interviews. "Then, for some reason, when I went to college, I thought 'Dancers are very disciplined, and I don't want to live that hard life,' so I got a drama scholarship to Syracuse and did a lot of acting there. That's really all I wanted to do from that point on."

She first attracted national attention on television's "Gary Moore Show," where she replaced Carol Burnett (who would later get the Miss Hannigan role in the movie of Annie).

The actress made her Broadway debut in the revue Nowhere to Go But Up. The 1962 show lasted only a week, but Ms. Loudon won good notices and a Theatre World Award. Also short-lived were 1968's Noel Coward's Sweet Potato, 1969's The Fig Leaves Are Falling (for which she nonetheless received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award) and 1969's revival of Three Men on a Horse (another Drama Desk Award).

She won a third Tony nomination for 1978's Ballroom, the Michael Bennett musical which lasted only a few months.

Her success in Annie led to a short-lived 1979 television series called "Dorothy," in which she played a former Broadway star who teaches at an all-girl school in Connecticut.

Touring engagements included a stint in the Harold Prince-directed Show Boat.

Ms. Loudon was married to Norman Paris, a musician and composer, in 1971. He died in 1977, during her run in Annie; she left the show shortly thereafter. She is survived by two stepchildren.

The comedienne displayed her ability to seize a comic moment with the best of them on opening night of the New York run of West Side Waltz. "Opening night we were doing a scene and the phone rang and it wasn't supposed to ring," Loudon recalled. "[Katharine Hepburn and I] both just sort of stared at it. Katharine was closest to it so she went over and picked it up and she say in that marvelous voice, 'Hello?' And then she held it out to me and said, 'It's for you.' I went over and took the phone and put the receiver to my ear and said, 'Well, whoever it was hung up.'" I was lucky enough to see her in JERRY'S GIRLS six times!


ELAINE STRITCH
(Photo by Barry Gordin last year's Bistro Awards)
Elaine Bawson Stritch (born February 2, 1925) is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs. She is known for her performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" in Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company, her 2001 one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty, and recently for her role as Jack Donaghy's mother Colleen on NBC's 30 Rock. She has been nominated for the Tony Award four times in various categories, and won for Elaine Stritch at Liberty.

Have a GREAT Wednesday!

All you have to do today is bask in the LOVE and talent that surrounds you!
(Buy FOLLIES from Papermill Playhouse
http://www.fye.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=146935&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=146935)Available at FYE Music

Tomorrow's blog will be YOU TELL ME...the first three suggestions I receive!

Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: http://www.carolchanning.org/foundation.htm
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

BEING ALIVE

Sondheim takes the stage

Edward Guthmann, Special to The Chronicle


We know Stephen Sondheim as the pre-eminent musical-theater composer of the past half century. We know him as the lyricist for "Gypsy" and "West Side Story," the winner of eight Tony awards and the composer-lyricist of such musically intricate, mold-breaking shows as "Sweeney Todd," "A Little Night Music," "Company," "Follies" and "Assassins."
But until last year, we didn't know Sondheim the raconteur. In March 2008, he was interviewed by New York Times columnist Frank Rich at the Herbst Theatre.

It was a dazzling evening: Sondheim was droll, generous and endlessly engaging as he shared anecdotes of Ethel Merman and Elaine Stritch, recalled collaborations with Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, and praised Tim Burton's substantially re conceived film version of "Sweeney Todd."



The evening was part of a four-city West Coast tour assembled by Steven Barclay, a Petaluma lecture agent who represents such literary stars as David Sedaris and Michael Pollan, and was so well received that Sondheim continues to make similar appearances. This year he's been to New York; Richmond, Va.; Philadelphia; Akron, Ohio; and Dallas - sometimes with Rich, sometimes not - and will appear in Houston; Seattle; Vancouver, British Columbia; Austin, Texas; and Boston in coming weeks.
Sondheim returns to Northern California on Saturday for "Stephen Sondheim: A Life in the Theater" at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa.
Instead of Rich, the host will be Peter Stein, a former KQED documentary producer and currently executive director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.



Stein doesn't have the advantage, like Rich, of a pre-existing friendship with Sondheim. He's an avid fan and charter subscriber to the Sondheim Review, a quarterly journal that was first published in 1994, but has never met the master of musical theater.
"The prospect is daunting," Stein said in an e-mail, "only if you feel that you have to squeeze every question you and your audience want to pose into a short period of time, or if you dwell on the fact that you're talking to a giant of the theater."
In a phone interview from New York, Sondheim said the onstage conversations were the result of a casual dinner conversation with Rich. The two men met in the early 1970s, when Rich reviewed a pre-Broadway tryout of "Follies" for the Harvard Crimson - and built a friendship after Rich stopped reviewing theater for the New York Times in 1994.
"Frank and I were having dinner and he mentioned talking to colleges and arts communities. I said, 'That sounds really interesting.'

I don't know which of us suggested we do it together.

But it just came up that evening. Frank called Steven Barclay and said, 'What would you think of our doing this?' "


He and Rich approached the evenings as "two friends having a conversation that's being overheard," Sondheim said.
"The audiences surprise you. I certainly don't want to mention the cities that surprised us by having really hip audiences. But we've never had what I would call a dull audience, meaning one that seems either uninterested or uncomprehending."


It's been 15 years since a new Sondheim musical opened on Broadway, and yet his work is constantly in circulation. "Gypsy", "Sweeney Todd", "Company", "Sunday in the Park With George", "Assassins," "The Frogs" and "Pacific Overtures" all had Broadway revivals in the past five years. His work barely ages:
"Road Show," Sondheim's most recent musical about real-life brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner, ill-fated land speculators in 1920s Florida, ran last fall at the Public Theater in New York. It's never played on Broadway.

- "Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far," a four-CD box set that features familiar work along with obscure Sondheim compositions - for film and television as well as stage - was released in September 2008.
"Saturday Night," a little-seen Depression-era musical that Sondheim wrote when he was 23, played early this year at the Jermyn Street Theatre and the Arts Theatre in London.
- A revival of "West Side Story," which introduced new Spanish-language lyrics by "In the Heights" composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, opened on Broadway in March and is still playing. It will tour to San Francisco in fall 2010, said Shorenstein Hays Nederlander spokeswoman Anne Abrams.

-- "A Little Night Music," the meditation on desire that generated Sondheim's most famous song, "Send In the Clowns," will return to Broadway in December.
English director Trevor Nunn's production, which Sondheim describes as "Chekhovian" and "more of a chamber piece" than the 1973 Broadway original, will star Catherine Zeta-Jones as aging actress Desiree Armfeldt and Angela Lansbury as her mother, Madame Armfeldt.

Sondheim will turn 80 next year - a birthday tribute is planned at the Ravinia Festival near Chicago - but the composer isn't idle.

He's working on a two-volume annotated edition of his complete lyrics, the first of which, "Finishing the Hat: Volume One," is due for publication in late 2010.

"It's just surprising," Sondheim said. "When you're young, 80 is very old. When you're old, it's not so old."
www.wellsfargocenterarts.org.

E-mail Edward Guthmann at pinkletters@sfchronicle.com.

Actress Carol Channing promotes arts to students, parents in Corona




By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

The arts are like fertilizer for the brain, entertainer Carol Channing told students, parents and teachers Friday evening at Susan B. Anthony Elementary School in Corona.
Channing, 88, won a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995, and has now committed her life to encouraging arts education in California public schools.
She made her Broadway debut in 1948 and won a Tony in 1964 for her portrayal of Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!" She also was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for the role of Muzzy in "Thoroughly Modern Millie," released in 1967 and also won a Golden Globe Award.


Susan B. Anthony Elementary School third-grader Danielle Soria, center, and her sister Natalie Soria, a first-grader, get their paintings autographed by actress Carol Channing as she talks to students and parents in the school library during the school's ArtsWalk.

Principal Jo Melillo said the school's ArtsWalk event was intended to sustain the school's arts programs and encourage parents to donate by purchasing their children's "masterpieces" created in class and by Channing's presence.

"I'm thrilled to be here because you're studying the arts," Channing said. "You're not aware of it, but you're getting way ahead of the other pupils."

She said she was able to skip half of first grade and half of second grade because she was busy singing with her father.


Channing recalled that as a child, she learned to imitate her principal, whom she adored, on stage at her grammar school, and made the whole school laugh, including the principal, who was flattered.
"Ugly and comedy are not synonymous at all," she said.

She made a career out of making other people laugh and making them happy.


"We're trying to get the arts back into the public schools," Channing said.



Her husband, Harry Kullijian, said it's a message they plan to take to the nation's capital.
"This is one of the most fortunate schools in the United States of America," he said, because the arts are supported by teachers and parents and students succeed.


Local artists at the school event included musicians, a novelist and gallery from the Corona Art Association.

"If we can't duplicate this across the nation, our nation will not any longer be a leader of democracy in the world," Kullijian said.

Reach Dayna Straehley at 951-368- 9455 or dstraehley@PE.com

This article appeared on page Q - 35 of the San Francisco Chronicle
from TIMES SQUARE GOSSIP ~




The Cabaret Chronicles: Angela Shultz, Barry Lloyd and More!


Saturday, October 17, 2009; Posted: 11:10 PM - by Jenna Esposito

Hello and happy weekend! Evidently, Mother Nature has opted to skip fall here in New York and get straight to winter. Despite the chill in the air, though, the clubs have been as hot as ever and I was able to catch some great entertainment this week!
On Sunday afternoon, I headed over to Don't Tell Mama to see Angela Shultz in her show, Kiss Me Like You Mean It. Having heard Angela sing one or two songs at a time on a number of occasions before, I was really looking forward to this show! She is graced with a beautiful voice and a nice, easy onstage manner, both of which were showcased very nicely in this show.
With direction by Hector Coris and musical direction by her longtime best friend and collaborator, Brett Kristofferson, Angela wound her way through a varied set list, which included songs from contemporary songwriters such as Jill Sobule, John Bucchino, and songwriting duo Zin a Goldrich & Marcy Heisler, as well as bastions of the Great American Songbook like Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg. Her easygoing, upbeat personality makes her instantly likeable onstage, and she has a great knack for making songs seem conversational, so that it seems as if she's not putting on a performance, but simply sharing her experiences and feelings with a room full of friends. She does a great job with all of the material, but my personal favorites were Arlen and Harburg's "I Don't Think I'll End It All Today," which she delivered with perfectly pitched humor; Mr. Kristofferson's poignant "Things That Haunt Me," which speaks of simple, everyday things that "haunt" the singer after the end of a relationship; and Mr. Coris' hilarious spoof of American Idol, "My Moment," with which Ms. Shultz brought the house down! The show was a terrific way to spend a Sunday afternoon and will be returning to Don't Tell Mama on Sunday, November 22nd for another 3:30 p.m. matinee.


On Monday evening, it was off to the Metropolitan Room to catch Bay-Area singer/pianist Barry Lloyd in his show Slumming On Park Avenue: A Celebration of Bobby Short. Accompanying himself on piano and supported by Saadi Zain on bass and David Silliman on drums, Mr. Lloyd exuded charm and style from the moment he entered the room and continued to enchant the audience throughout the course of the evening as he wound his way through a number of Bobby Short hits, weaving in stories about what each of the songs meant to him. He discovered Bobby Short at the age of fourteen, when (for reasons he can't recall), he was in a record store looking for an album of Noel Coward songs.
Well, the album he found was of Bobby Short singing Noel Coward, and he instantly became a fan of Mr. Short's!
So, this show was made up of Mr. Lloyd's favorite Bobby Short songs, some of them, of course, being some of Bobby Short's biggest hits; others that were perhaps more obscure, but had more personal meaning. The beautiful Vernon Duke tune, "Autumn In New York" was beautifully delivered, as was the Noel Coward classic "If Love Were All," which Mr. Lloyd sang with a kind of wistful resignation that really breathed new life into it for me.
From top-to-bottom, it was a classy, enjoyable show that kept the audience bopping, grinning, and eagerly awaiting a return visit from Mr. Lloyd!

After Mr. Lloyd's show, I grabbed a cab and headed up to Birdland to catch the last half of Cast Party, which was, as always, wonderfully entertaining! I walked in while the fabulous Marilyn Maye was singing, and was also treated to performances by Ray Jessel, Maureen Taylor, violinist Aaron Weinstein, and more! Host Jim Caruso did his usual terrific job of keeping things movin' and groovin' and Tedd Firth & Paul Gill (on piano and bass, respectively) provided excellent accompaniment for all!
Wednesday evening found me at The Iguana on 54th Street for the appropriately named Wednesday Night At The Iguana. Hosted by Richard Skipper and Dana Lorge, this weekly showcase has really become a hot destination for performers in the city. Each week features five special guests, each of whom perform a short set, and "surprise" performers, who are mixed in among the special guests and each perform one song. The special guests this past week were Barbara Gurskey, Andrea Mezinsky-Kolb, Jonathan Long, Martin Vidnovic, and my sister, Kelly Esposito Broelmann! One of the special surprises for the night was Richard Skipper himself, who wasn't able to be at the first half of the evening, as he was performing elsewhere, but who opened up the second half of the show doing his renowned Carol Channing impersonation - in full Carol Channing dress, hair and makeup!
The audience just adored it, and it was a very fun surprise! It was a great evening from top to bottom with some truly outstanding performances. I'm looking forward to going again soon!
That's all for my showgoing this past week, but be sure to check back next week for a new article!

Where I'm going this week:




Tuesday, October 20th: Liz Callaway at the Metropolitan Room. One of my absolute favorite singers, Ms. Callaway will be at the Metropolitan Room to celebrate the release of her new CD, Passage of Time, which is being released on the P.S Classics label. I can't wait to get my copy (or to see the performance)!
****
LESLIE OROFINO
SINGS
THE BROADWAY BLUES




If you haven't caught Singer and Actress, Leslie Orofino in her brand new show, RED HOT AND BLUES, the songs of vamps, tramps, heartbreakers, mantakers and the girl next door, you can catch her singing the songs of Alberta Hunter, Eartha Kitt, Peggy Lee, Carolyn Leigh, Sophie Tucker and many more. Ms. Orofino will be accompanied by legendary musicians Daryl Kojak on piano and Boots Maleson on bass. Louis Pietig is the director. "Head on over to The Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe, 407 W. 42nd Street, NYC. 10036 on Friday Oct . 2 at 8:00pm or Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:00pm. Reservations are recommended because tickets never last for Leslie's shows. Call 212-695-6909 or zip over to her website www.Leslieorofino.com. Tell them Times Square Gossip sent you !
Source: Leslie Orofino In Nyc's Red Hot And Blues

MORE LIZA NEWS!
LIZA Minnelli received her first standing ovation before she'd even sung a note.
On the opening night of her Australian tour, Minnelli performed to a full house at the Sydney Opera House concert hall.

As she made her entrance, dressed all in white, to several minutes of thunderous applause and calls of ``we love you Liza!'' it was clear she was playing to the faithful.

It has been 20 years since Minnelli last performed in Australia, and at 63 she was the first to admit that time has taken its toll in some ways.

``If any of you ever saw me before, then you will remember I used to sit down in the second act,'' Minnelli said.

``Now I sit down in the first act.''

While not without its slight wavers, her voice was still powerful and resonant, and her energy amazing.
Liza Minnelli has given away the Sex & The City movie sequel's biggest secret - she'll be performing with Barbra Streisand in the film.

The actress/singer plays a marriage celebrant at the gay wedding of characters Stanford and Anthony, and now she's revealing all about her hilarious scenes.
She belted out some of her best-loved hits, including Cabaret, Liza With a Z and Maybe This Time.

``As you know, over the years I have been particularly drawn to songs about falling in love.

However, at this time in my life I find I'm particularly drawn to songs about falling out of love,'' she laughed, introducing If You Hadn't, But You Did.

When she launched into New York, New York she brought the house down.

Over the course of the evening, Minnelli was the ultimate showbiz professional - funny and entertaining. She didn't miss a beat.





CABARET: Matthew Westwood | October 19, 2009
Article from: The Australian

Liza Minnelli
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, October 17. Riverside Theatre, Perth, Wednesday; Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Friday; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, October 25; Brisbane Entertainment Centre, October 30; Sydney Entertainment Centre, November 2.
THERE was a lot of love in the room on Saturday night, the second of Liza Minnelli's concerts at the Sydney Opera House. It was Minnelli's return to Australia after a gap of 20 years -- her last concerts were billed as The Ultimate Event with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr -- and her fans let forth something like two decades' worth of adulation when their idol stepped on to the stage.

"I love you, Liza," a lone voice would cry from the auditorium.

"Oh, I love you too," Minnelli would reply, emphasizing every word.

The pitch of mutual admiration continued through the evening, but the love was well earned. Minnelli put everything into opening numbers Teach Me Tonight, If You Hadn't, But You Did and My Own Best Friend.
God knows where Minnelli -- the survivor of four marriages, encephalitis, hip and knee replacements and battles with addiction -- gets her energy from.

And one may have a certain admiration for the singer-as-survivor, emerging triumphant and sequined from private and public travails.

In truth, though, the noise of victory becomes a little wearying. Some songs were belted into shape, the diction unclear and the vibrato wide enough to walk through.

The stage act, too, verges on self-parody, with all that arm-flinging and hands raised in salute. This reached an apogee in the show's climax, the Theme from New York, New York.
Part of the show (with a terrific 12-piece band led by drummer Michael Berkowitz and Billy Stritch at the piano) is based on Minnelli's Tony Award-winning season Liza's at the Palace, at the Palace Theatre in New York. But much of the evening was given over to songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb that were written for Minnelli, or which she made famous: Cabaret, Liza with a Z, and anthems But the World Goes Round and the New York, New York theme.

One longed for quieter numbers that would display another side of Minnelli's gifts. This came in the Charles Aznavour song What Makes a Man a Man and Cole Porter's Every Time We Say Goodbye, but even this tender ballad had to be brought to a show-stopping conclusion.

The show ended in un-diva-like fashion, with Minnelli in a baggy T-shirt and wiping her face with a towel, singing Peter Allen's All the Lives of Me. Even stripped of make-up and false eyelashes, she revealed herself as the supreme entertainer she is.
Minnelli made the expansive concert hall feel intimate, and when she revealed she was having slight wardrobe difficulties - ``my knickers keep riding up!'' - she received cries of ``take it off!''

The concert ended on an emotional note, with an encore tribute to Minnelli's first husband, Boy from Oz Peter Allen.

Returning to the stage in an oversized Chet Baker t-shirt with a towel draped around her neck, Minnelli dramatically pulled off her fake eyelashes, rubbed the make-up from her face, and messed up her hair.
She then closed the show with the moving All The Lives of Me and a special ``thank you Peter'', and received yet another standing ovation.
That's Liza with an eye for young Idol James
BY THE WORD'S AMY EDWARDS
17/10/2009 4:00:00 AM
NEWCASTLE Australian Idol contestant James Johnston found himself staring into the large of eyes of Liza Minnelli while preparing for tomorrow night's show.

The Cooks Hill lad, who is down to the final seven contestants on the show, has worked with music greats such as Suzi Quatro and Harry Connick jnr during this season.

But it was Minnelli who really got Johnston shaking in his trademark skinny black jeans.

"Being mentored by Liza was one of the most intense things I've ever done," 18-year-old Johnston said.

"She has these massive eyes and she stares really intently at you.


"I found it a bit intimidating. But she gave me some great advice.

"She sees music from a different angle and that's a new experience for me."

The theme for tomorrow's Australian Idol, featuring Minnelli, is a stage and screen night.

It was a new genre for Johnston, who has been singing since he was four and cut his teeth in Star Struck.

"I've never really experienced musical theatre before, so to have someone from that background giving me constructive criticism was great," Johnston said.

Born in Wingham, Johnston has entertained Star Struck audiences since 2002, performing in front of more than 100,000 people.

Cabaret queen Minnelli has been performing in Sydney and is taking part in her first Australian tour in 20 years.

Minnelli is the daughter of two Hollywood legends, Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli.

Don't forget to contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: http://www.carolchanning.org/Foundation.htm

With grateful XOXOXs for your support!

Richard Skipper

Follow me on Twitter @RichardSkipper





HERE IS WHAT AUDIENCES ARE SAYING ABOUT MY WORK:


RICHARD! ~ It was so great to see you perform at the Iguana last WEDs night (Oct 7) ... My date and I agreed it was the best night we had spent in NYC this trip and plan on making it our regular routine henceforth ~ Truly the BEST bargain in town!! The venue, the talent, AMAZING ~ we couldn't have seen that much talent had we spent two weeks hitting the shows ... please give my kudos to EVERYONE. As for you, you stole the show that night with your singing of "I Am What I Am" ... never have I heard it sung with more clarity; and by that I don't mean just gorgeous sound, but a clarity of understanding and COMMUNICATING that to your audience ... BRAVO!!
Ron Runyon, Indianapolis


Dear Richard Skipper, and other personalities! You are in a position few can hold a candle to. You were the supreme example of what a generous star talent can contribute to an evening..
At my book signing, after the one at Barnes and Noble which you were at.. I was stumped for what to do to top that glorious evening..and I thought at this next event, who? how? can it be equaled? and zoom! shazam! I had it ...Could I ask RICHARD SKIPPER to just appear as Carol Channing and just do what he does? I called and asked a favor, and you blessed me with YES! But I never dreamed what a sensation and delight you would create this night.. Richard I owe you big time!
Thank you is not enough!! You are a great artist! And a most generous friend...the guests were enchanted and believed you WERE ...ARE Miss Channing or whoever you want to be... I am grateful forever to you..you made my evening brilliant! and.. and I sold out!!!! thank you, thank you,...... thank you....SONDRA LEE, HELLO, DOLLY!'s original Minnie Fay

I want to let you know that every time I see you
my heart skips a beat. I think you're so beautiful
strong and talented.
I love you!
xooxoxox!
Sunny Leigh







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THIS WEEK, October 21st: Jack Donahue, Stearns Matthews, Leslie Orofino, George Stella, Susan Winter

October 28th: Jenna Esposito returns!, Laurie Krauz & Wicked’s very own Walter ONeil, Angela Schultz, Mauricio Villa-Lobos!

November 4th: Arianna, Moira Danis, Elaine St. George, Daryl Glenn, Lynn DiMenna

December 2nd: Cynthia Crane, The debut of The Marquee 5 (Mick Bleyer, Adam Hemming, Vanessa Parvin, Sierra Rein, Julie Reyburn) singing selections from their upcoming revue, "We Can Make It...The Songs of Kander & Ebb" and Hector Coris!

December 9th: Richard Holbrook, Josh Zuckerman, Helena Grenot, Jillian Laurain

November 25th: OUR THANKSGIVING SHOW! James Alexander joins us!

December 30th: Linda Fields, Ritt Henn, Annie Hughes, Yvette Malavets-Blum, David Nathan Scott

Keep checking http://www.richardskipper.com/schedule.html