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April 5 , 2007
Now I ask you, what says “Welcome to Las Vegas” better than a 150-pound stuffed white tiger compliments of Siegfried & Roy? Our gig singing and dancing with Liza Minnelli at the Egyptian-ish Luxor Hotel was a smash. That's Clarke Thorell, Johnny Rodgers, me and Cortes Alexander to the left. We're loving our time re-creating the amazing harmonies of the real Williams Brothers, who toured with Kay Thompson in her historic nightclub act in the late '40's. Liza's never been better and Las Vegas was surreal, especially when we found ourselves meeting Carrot Top AND the afore-mentioned Siegfried & Roy in the same night.
We sure loved catching up with friends like Max von Essen, Lisa Mordente, Julie Garnye, Lindy Robbins, Sean Haines, and Kay Thompson historian Sam Irvin! Of course, the highlight might have been playing the slots with noneother than Chita Rivera. She won. I lost. Click on Flickr! to see all the fun. We 'Williams Brothers' are looking forward to our next outing with amaZing LiZa at the Fallsview Casino in Niagra Falls on April 13 and 14.
This next Monday, Cast Party Returns! Tedd Firth and Steve Doyle will be at the piano and bass, and I'll regale you with more Vegas gossip…right after Georgia Stitt's 7pm Broadway at Birdland concert (see below)! You wanna bet some of the “Grease: You're The One That I Want” kids will stick around for the fun?
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The brilliant Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (left) will be rocking, rolling and rabble-rousing on the Birdland stage this coming Wednesday through Saturday nights with shows at 9 and 11pm. Joining Jason onstage will be his band, The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, as well as singers Lauren Kennedy on Wednesday, April 4, Laura Benanti April 5 & 6, and Jenn Colella on April 7. Jason has been hailed as “one of Broadway's smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and his “extraordinary, jubilant theater music “ (Chicago Tribune) has been heard all over the world, whether in one of his musicals or in his own concert performances. The New York Times refers to Jason as “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.” Jason is the composer and lyricist of the musical, The Last Five Years, which was cited as one of Time Magazine's 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. Jason won a 1999 Tony Award for his score to Parade, a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in December 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical. His first musical, Songs for a New World, a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, played Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in the fall of 1995, and has since been seen in more than two hundred productions around the world. There will be a $35 cover and $10 food/drink minimum.
Coming up at Broadway at Birdland on Monday, April 9 will be composer Georgia Stitt (left). She'll bring a cast of Broadway stars to sing her gorgeous songs, including Andrea Burns, Will Chase, Jenn Colella, Matthew Morrison, Tituss Burgess, Cheyenne Jackson & Lauren Kennedy! Georgia makes her living as a composer, lyricist, musical director, conductor, arranger, and pianist, but you might recognize her as the on-camera vocal coach on the NBC reality show “Grease: You're The One That I Want!” If you watched that show, you'll be thrilled to know that bunches of Danny/Sandy contestants will be joining her onstage, too! We won't tell you who…you just have to come see! Georgia has written several musicals for the theater, including The Water, written with Jeff Hylton and Tim Werenko, and Big Red Sun, written with John Jiler. She also worked as the Production Music Coordinator for the Disney/ABC TV musical “Once Upon A Mattress” starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett. On Broadway she was the assistant conductor of the 2003 Little Shop of Horrors revival and was the associate conductor of the Encores! production of Can-Can starring Patti LuPone. Also on Broadway: Avenue Q, Sweet Smell of Success, The Music Man, Titanic, Annie, and the national tour of Parade, as well as the upcoming Leap of Faith and The Little Mermaid. She has also served as musical director and arranger/orchestrator for The Broadway Divas in concerts in New York, California and Australia and was music consultant for the feature film “The Stepford Wives,” directed by Frank Oz. In 2005 she served as an arranger for the Boston Pops Orchestra (Keith Lockhart, conductor) in their 75th Anniversary Tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Tanglewood and Boston's Symphony Hall. Call Birdland for reservations at 212-581-3080 or click on www.InstantSeats.com/Birdland. There will be a $25 cover and $10 food/drink minimum! |
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 Cristina Fontanelli Debut. We are delighted that Cristina will make her debut appearance at New York's #1 Nightspot, Feinstein's at the Regency Hotel, Monday, April 9, 2007, Showtime: 8:30 p.m. 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street. Resv. 212-339-4095.
For more information, please visit Cristina's website www.CristinaFontanelli.com/events.html) |
 MINNELLI & CARUSO: TOGETHER AGAIN... I'm beyond excited to tell you that I'll be performing on the road with my amazing friend Liza Minnelli quite a bit this next year! We're re-creating Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers' historic nightclub act that took the world by storm in the late 40's and early 50's. Cortes Alexander, Johnny Rodgers, Clarke Thorell and I are working hard to approximate the blend and unique sound that Bob, Dick, Don, and Andy Williams brought to Kay's ingenious vocal arrangements, with Billy Stritch will be at the piano. Watch this space for details...hopefully we'll be coming to a theater near you!
- March 29-31 : Las Vegas, NV : Luxor Hotel
- April 13-14 : Niagra Falls : Fallsview Casino
- April 21 : Antwerp, Belgium
- April 24 : Copenhagen, Denmark
- April 27 : Stockholm, Sweden
- April 29 : Helsinki, Finland
- June 10 : Santiago, Chile
- June 13 : Buenos Aires
- June 15 : Uruguay
- July 19 : Cohasett, MA : South Shore Music Circus
- July 21 : Hyannis, MA : Cape Cod Melody Tent
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 PS CLASSICS, THE LABEL DEDICATED TO THE HERITAGE OF BROADWAY AND AMERICAN POPULAR SONG, has joined forces with prolific cabaret producer Jamie deRoy on a new CD celebrating songwriters from the worlds of Broadway, pop, country and cabaret. But this new album has a twist: the songwriters are also the performers. Entitled IF I SING, after the Maltby/Shire song from Closer Than Ever, the album features 16 songwriters taking on their own material, some of it familiar, some totally unknown, in new performances and new arrangements. The theatre composers include some of Broadway’s finest, including Stephen Schwartz, Maury Yeston, Richard Maltby & David Shire, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Andrew Lippa, Lucy Simon, and Gretchen Cryer & Nancy Ford, while the pop songwriters include such luminaries as Grammy Award-winners Julie Gold and Larry Gatlin. The album, produced by Paul Rolnick, with artistic direction by Barry Kleinbort, is in stores, or on the web at psclassics.com, amazon.com, footlight.com, For more info, click: jamiederoy.com.
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 ON THE CD, AT THE MOVIES , DAVE KOZ , A MULTI-GRAMMY NOMINATED SAX PLAYER with two gold albums and ten top 5 hits to his credit, takes center stage on eight instrumentals: "Over The Rainbow," "As Time Goes By," "The Pink Panther," "Summer of '42," "Cinema Paradiso," "Schindler's List," "It Might Be You" and "The Shadow of Your Smile." The 40-piece orchestra enlisted by Koz and producer Phil Ramone provides a majestic, sweeping soundscape for the saxophonist and his guest vocalists, including Vanessa Williams, who contributes an exquisite version of "The Way We Were," and Johnny Mathis, who perfectly captures the bittersweet quality of "The Shadow Of Your Smile," from The Sandpiper. Other highlights include Anita Baker's elegant rendering of "Somewhere," from West Side Story and Donna Summer's shimmering version of "A Whole New World," from Disney's Aladdin. Barry Manilow duets with Koz on a hip arrangement of Henry Mancini's "Moon River," and India.Aire delivers a deeply personal performance of "It Must Be You," from Tootsie. At The Movies is a must-have for music and film lovers everywhere. Disappear into another world and spend some time At The Movies.
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 SQUIGS DRAWS THE STARS. Justin 'Squigs' Robertson is well known in the
Los Angeles theatre community for capturing show biz folks in pen and
ink, and his acclaim is quickly spreading across the country. He loves
sushi. His favorite song is 'It's Only A Paper Moon'. And he
genuflects upon merely hearing the name of Al Hirschfeld. His
whimsical illustration and design is aided and abetted by his parallel
career as an actor and entertainer. You can visit www.squigsink.com
for a look at Squigs' take on such talented friends of Cast Party as
Jeff Blumenkrantz, Julia Murney, Christine Ebersole, Victoria Clark,
Kelli O'Hara, and Bob Martin.
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 CHARLIE
LAPSON'S SIGNATURE COLLECTION is the culmination of years of training, world travel, and professional
experience as one of Hollywood's top designers. His luxurious
handbags and men's wallets are produced by factories in Tuscany, Italy
made of fine Italian leather. Lapson's handbags and clutches have
been worn by the elite of Hollywood to numerous red carpet events
and on camera as well.
Celebrities such as Felicity Huffman, Eva
Longoria, and Debra Messing can be seen
at award shows adorned with Charlie
Lapson Jewelry. The collection is created by using the
most brilliant diamonds and precious gemstones mixed with 18 kt gold,
and molding them into works of art. Celebrities dazzle with glamorous
bold statement pieces. Look for large colored gemstones and mixes
of textures with unique shapes.
Style fit for a star!
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 “here! on Broadway," a podcast hosted by Jim Caruso, is a joyous celebration of the showbiz scene featuring songs and conversation with Broadway's most dazzling personalities. The listener will be privy to dishy conversations with their favorite stars about anything and everything they might have on their brilliant minds. Historic or hysterical..."here! on Broadway” is always entertaining! Click on http://heretv.com/news/podcast.php to hear rollicking conversations with show folk like Julie Halston, Julia Murney, Stephen Oremus, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, John Tartaglia, and this week, composer Adam Guettel (right). The here! website, where the “here! on Broadway” program is found, currently has 3 million unique visitors each month. here!'s podcast programs have 30,000 active subscribers, with an additional 10,000 downloads from non-subscribers each month. (A podcast is an audio file that can be downloaded to a computer and listened to on a variety of MP3 devices.) Click and enjoy!
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|  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 http://www.LizCaplan.com for more information, but tell Liz you heard about her at Cast Party!
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|  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 http://www.castpartynyc.com/Goods.htm. |
As always,
many thanks to our corporate and private sponsors:
Gianni Valente & Hilary Kole, Randy Swartz
& Stage Step, Jamie deRoy & friends, Michael Estwanik, Piper-Heidsieck
Champagne, Todd Forman, Steven Minichiello, Matthew Gilbert and Wild
Oats Productions, as well as our Birdland sound guru Sean Corcoran and
Brian Wilson at SoHa Media. We can't do it without you!
Click
here to advertise with us. It costs
less than the average banner ad, and you're guaranteed to be seen by
tons of fabulous people (look, you're reading this right now,
yes?).
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|  "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."
-THEATERMANIA
When:
Every
Monday at
9:30pm
!
Where:
BIRDLAND
315 West 44th
Street (between 8th & 9th), NYC
212.581.3080
Bookings for Jim Caruso's
Cast Party® for theaters, arts presenters,
corporations and private events:
Ligeti Artists LLC
Peter Ligeti
mrligeti@aol.com
212.396.1111
For online booking information, click: The
Show Store
This newsletter brought to you each week by Jim Caruso and Traverse City Web Design.
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