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July 21, 2006 Monday
night's "Lucie Arnaz Birthday Bash at Birdland"
was absolutely spectacular, engaging and charming. Lucie sounded and
looked gorgeous, and her band kicked major ass. Since it was her party,
she invited a few friends to help her celebrate...so Valarie
Pettiford, Michele Lee, Phoebe Snow,
(all pictured at left with Lucie) Billy Stritch
and Julie Budd all sang some of their favorite songs
with her. Then, to help with a medley of Latin tunes, including "El
Cumbanchero," Lucie's son, Simon Luckinbill,
came to the stage. Like his grandfather Desi, he plays
a mean conga drum, and the crowd went wild! There was no way to witness
the scene without feeling a massive sense of showbiz history, and folks
like Marion Seldes, Lari White, David
Zippel, Eduardo Machado, Rex Reed,
Steven Brinberg, Christine Pedi, Jonathan
Pryce and Lucie's hubby Larry Luckinbill were
all there to cheer this loving Lucie show. The following Cast
Party was destined for greatness, since all the above talent
stuck around, to say nothing of the hoardes of new performers eager
to take the mic. Janis Ian sang “Jesse,”
Victoria Shaw
and her beautiful daughters charmed the crowd, Christine Pedi
did Bette Davis, Christine Lavin killed
with a new original, Chris DiCristo wailed Foreigner,
and Rene Smith belted Sting. Wicked's
Marty Thomas
had the opportunity to sing his favorite Lari White
tune...with Lari on backup! Phoebe Snow thrilled everyone
with her 37-octaves. Jenna Esposito brought a song
written by Ron Abel, who was in the house (as Lucie's
conductor!), Liana Stamper and our own Erich
Bergen sang and told about their upcoming concert to benefit
the Youth Programs of the NYCLU.
Janet Fanale did some great special material. Mardie
Millet sang a Billy Stritch tune with...um...Billy
Stritch. Tony DeSare and Maude Maggart
duetted. Lucie took the stage again. Lodi Carr sang
her heart out. There were amazing newcomers and beloved regulars. I'm
exhausted just thinking about it. And we'll all do it all over again
next week! See more pix at Flickr:
photos from castpartynyc. |
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-THEATERMANIA When: BIRDLAND
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Copyright Jim Caruso's Cast Party®, All Rights Reserved, 2006. Newsletter by: Traverse City Web Design
Psst - after you've read all of the Cast Party scoop, be sure to spend
a moment with our fabulous 
This
coming Monday, July 24, 
WHEN
BILL WESTMORELAND WAS CALLED TO PHOTOGRAPH WYNTON MARSALIS, the
voice on the other end of the line was Lisa Schiff, who is currently
the Chairman of the board of directors of Jazz at Lincoln
Center. "Lisa was producing SIGNATURE,
Ann Hampton Callaway's CD which was released in 2002.
She called me and said that Wynton would be recording the next day for
Ann's CD and asked if I would be available to photograph him. Of course
I jumped at that and the next day I went down early to the studio and
set up lights before he arrived. I was in the control room shooting
Wynton through the glass while he was doing the actual recording. It
was a magnificent experience--hearing him play, knowing that it was
the actual recording and photographing him all at the same time. Lucky
me!" Wynton Marsalis is the music director of Jazz
at Lincoln Center. Bill Westmoreland can be reached at
WHAT
DO MICHAEL C. HALL,
KERRY BUTLER, CHEYENNE JACKSON, ESTELLE PARSONS, JULIA MURNEY, DEVEN
MAY, HUNTER FOSTER, MICHAEL ARDEN, JAMES BLUNT and the GOO GOO DOLLS
all have in common? Their
secret weapon -- voice teacher Liz Caplan! Her student ANA GASTEYER
(upcoming Threepenny Opera) says, “Studying with Liz has changed my
approach to singing on every level. In the two years we have worked
together, she has combined phenomenal technique with tailor-made specifications
to meet a huge variety of professional demands. Her tireless enthusiasm
and expertise have empowered me physiologically and emotionally to become
a better singer than I had ever imagined. It's like physical therapy
and good, old-fashioned psycho-therapy for your vocal chords!” Visit
OUR
UPDATED T-SHIRT is now available in Tootsie-Roll brown
with safety-cone orange trim, as seen at left, where Jim reveals his
secret identity as -- Superhost! Show
your love for a certain Monday night Open Mic extravaganza by wearing
this 100% cotton, Peruvian-made, American-printed piece of art! The
wry "Got Mic?" logo is on the front, and our logo is on the
back. They're only $20 and available if you click 
"The
Party simply glows with New York nightlife ambiance. It feels like a
throwback to another era but it has this era's top-notch entertainers
dropping in to schmooze, sing, eat, and drink. Caruso
consistently provides a flow of exciting singers, and he's definitely
hip, cool and classy all by himself."