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December 10, 2004
Last week’s Cast Party was an absolute hootenanny of fun. (Clearly, I’m running out of fun-sounding words.) We were delighted to meet the masses from BroadwayWorld.com,who were celebrating their fave site and each other. Many thanks to Rob Diamond and CraigBrockman for hosting all the online folks and being so supportive! The music was sublime, too. We are always happy to see Baby Jane Dexter, and she sang the blues like nobody else could. The cast of Singing Astaire (Hilary Kole, Eric Comstock &Christopher Gines) showed why the New York Times gave their Birdlandshow a rave! Straight from his opening night (Coup de Graae!) at Helen’s, the annoyingly brilliant and hilarious Jason Graae showed his stuff. Threeserious belting divas, Jenifer Kruskamp, Anne Steele and Stephanie Harwood, sang from their Christmas Radio Hour. Eddie Varley & Julie Garnye had a "Suddenly Seymour" moment. The Davenports sang the slowest, saddest and weirdest "Feliz Navidad" you’ve ever heard. Barbara Fasano sang Arlen like it should be sung. And there were beloved regulars like Natalie Douglas, Elli, Mardie Millet, Emily Mattheson, Kate Botello,Garth Kravits, and so many more! (Pictured above, L-R: our techie studJody Dobson, Rob, Eddie, Natalie and Kate.)
Broadway at Birdland!
Get your wassail on at Birdlandthis Monday as Broadway/cabaret superstarKaren Mason performs her annual holiday concert, shockingly entitled Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! The concert will be SRO, kid, all the way, so call the club now (212.581.3080) to make a reservation. Don’t miss one of the best singers on the planet Earth. And I’m not kidding this time. There’s a $30 cover and $10 food/drink minimum. Come see the show, eat dinner and stay for Cast Party! Consider us your one-stop holiday shopping!
On BroadwayWorld.com
IT’S A REPEAT! Once again, you can listen to Cast Party…the Radio Show this Friday and Tuesday at8pm for my one-on-one conversations with the lovely and talented Jason Graae, (appearing inCoup de Graae at Helen’s Cabaret), and Douglas Cohen (lyricist of Children’s Letters to God at The Lambs Theatre). We’ll chat, play some of their music and generally have a ball. Also, to celebrateKaren Mason’s upcoming Birdland concert onMonday, December 13th, I’ll play some cuts from her "Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!" CD. Merry Listening!
Click here for the Cast Party radio show onBroadwayWorld.com! Produced by Brian Wilson at SoHa Media. December 17, 2004
If Karen Mason’s Monday night Christmas concert didn’t get you in the mood for a swell holiday, nothing could! She is truly one of the all-time best singers in the world, and I’m so thrilled that we could kick off the fa la la with her show! Check out the photo (right) taken in our glamorous backstage area. I like to call it, "Karen’s Back." Get it? Later that night, Cast Party was packed with talent, including composers Lance Horn andGeorgia Stitt, singers NatalieDouglas, Julie Garnye, Steve Ross, Garth Kravits, Emily Mattheson,Lumiri Tubo, Emily Drennan, Erich Bergen, Hilary Kole, Brian Nash,Alexandra Haas, Bob Dolfin, Jill Anderson and her ukelele, and lots of newcomers! One visitor from Austria put it perfectly when she said, "Dis vas the most New Yorkiest ting ve ever did."
Broadway at Birdland!
I just had to add this photo (left). I co-hosted a round-up of all the current and upcoming Broadway shows for Group Sales Box Office at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. On the bill was the brilliant Bruce Vilanch, performing as Edna Turnblad inHairspray. He is rarely photographed in his slip. It’s a piece of history.
On Monday, December 27, Theatermania and I are proud to present composer/lyricist Georgia Stitt in concert at 7pm. To perform her songs, Georgia is bringing along a cast that any Broadway show would kill for! Julia Murney (The Wild Party), Lauren Kennedy (The Ten Commandments), Andrea Burns (Parade), Matthew Morrison (Hairspray), Keith Byron Kirk (Civil War), and Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Light in the Piazza) will all be lending their voices to the evening. The show, directed by Jen Bender, is selling well, so call Birdlandnow at 212.581.3080 to hear one of the hottest new Broadway composers around! This Friday, I’ll be taking part in a reading of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory at The Duplex, along with Phil Bond, Adam Feldman,Carol Hall, Brandon Cutrell, and Phillip Officer. Tickets are only $8 and the show is at 9:30. Call The Duplex at 212.255.5438. On BroadwayWorld.com
Tune in Friday or Tuesday night at 8pm to hear my conversations with cabaret superstar Michael Feinstein and composer/lyricist Georgia Stitt! Michael will tell us all about his show, "Holiday Heart Songs," currently playing at his gorgeous club, Feinstein’s At The Regency, and we’ll play his all-time favorite holiday song. Any guesses? Georgia Stitt chats about her upcoming show atBirdland, working onDisney/ABC-TV’s "Once Upon A Mattress," with Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and her life as Mrs. Jason Robert Brown! You’ll love all of her songs I’ll play for you, performed by Susan Egan,Sean McCourt, Randy Redd, Andrea Burns, Donna Lynne Champlin,Julia Murney, Jessica Molaskey and Jason Robert Brown. Click onBroadwayWorld.com and join the fun!
Click here for the Cast Party radio show on BroadwayWorld.com! Produced by Brian Wilson at SoHa Media. December 24, 2004
In the immortal words of the late, extremely great Kay Thompson, "Happy Everything!" Hope your holidays are happy, healthy, and bursting with love! Monday’s Cast Partywas, let’s say it, one for the books! Superstars Michael Feinstein and Ann Hampton Callaway showed up withRoslyn Kind, Hilary Kole rushed over after her duet with Tony DeSare at The Carlyle, and the legendary Christine Lavin sang and strummed her guitar. Natalie Douglas was seen excitedly showing off herbrand new live cd, Rene Ruiz and Garth Kravits from Toxic Audio both warbled, and Barry Levitt and Valentine Ryder kicked some tuchas!Jonathan Rayson (below with ukelele-lady Jill Anderson) sang and celebrated his upcoming gig starring as Seymour in the National Tour ofLittle Shop of Horrors. Kate Botello, straight from Judy’s Christmas Garland, sang an impromptu Garland/Tormé duet with Billy Stritch. The cast was cheered on by Michelle Phillips from The Mamas and The Papas, making it not just another ‘Monday, Monday!’ Of course, the afore-mentioned Stritch and bass-guy Steve Doyle brilliantly accompanied everyone on holiday ditties, special material and jazz standards, proving once and for all that the Great American Songbook, old and new, is alive and thriving! Another highlight was the first annual playing of this haunting recording of "O Holy Night." Enjoy.
Broadway at Birdland!
This coming Monday,December 27th at 7pm, the fabulous composer/lyricistGEORGIA STITT will be in concert, along with some amazing friends to sing her sings, including CELIAKEENAN-BOLGER (Summer of '42, and the upcoming 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), JENN COLELLA(Urban Cowboy, The Great American Trailer Park Musical), KEITH BYRON KIRK(Civil War, Parade), MATTHEW MORRISON (Hairspray, Footloose, and the TV movie "Once Upon A Mattress,") and JULIA MURNEY (The Wild Party, A Class Act). There is a $20 cover and $10 food/drink minimum.
On BroadwayWorld.com
Tune in Friday or Tuesday night at 8pm to hear my conversations with cabaret superstar Michael Feinstein and composer/lyricist Georgia Stitt!Michael will tell us all about his show, "Holiday Heart Songs," currently playing at his gorgeous club, Feinstein’s At The Regency, and we’ll play his all-time favorite holiday song. Any guesses? Georgia Stitt chats about her upcoming show atBirdland, working on Disney/ABC-TV’s "Once Upon A Mattress," withTracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and her life as Mrs. Jason Robert Brown! You’ll love all of her songs I’ll play for you, performed by Susan Egan, Sean McCourt, Randy Redd, Andrea Burns, Donna Lynne Champlin, Julia Murney, Jessica Molaskey and Jason Robert Brown.
Click on BroadwayWorld.com and join the fun! Click here for the Cast Party radio show on BroadwayWorld.com! Produced by Brian Wilson at SoHa Media. December 31, 2004
The Winter Season continued Monday with a fantastic concert starring composer/lyricistGeorgia Stitt and her extremely talented friends (pictured right, L-R: Julia Murney, Keith ByronKirk, Matt Morrison, Georgiaand Jen Bender). Birdland was packed to the gills with some of the hottest Broadway types, including Georgia's hubby Jason Robert Brown, Kate Shindle,Shoshana Bean, Aaron Ramey, composers Steve Marzullo, Amanda Green, Tom Kitt, David Kirshenbaum, Marcy Heisler, Sam Davis, and Scott Alan, cellist Peter Sachon, producer Joel Fram, hostess-with-the-mostess Jamie deRoy,BroadwayWorld’s Craig Brockman, TheaterMania’s Michael Portantiere, attorney to the stars Mark Sendroff, and casting guy Michael Cassara.
The music continued at Cast Party, with special guest performers likeSteve Ross, Erich Bergen, Toxic Audio's Rene Ruiz, Grammy-winnerVictoria Shaw, and Broadway's Beauty AND The Beast, Brooke Tansleyand Steve Blanchard (see photo below)! You can check out Photo Coverage: Georgia Stitt & Friends at Birdland (BroadwayWorld.com) and Theater News - Feature: Birds of a Feather - Birdland is Alive for more great photos, and to see what you missed if you weren’t there! This coming Monday, maestro Billy Stritch will be out of town doing a gig with Karen Mason. I’m happy to tell you, however, that Tedd Firth will be at the Bosendorfer, along with our own bass-guy, Steve Doyle! Come in and celebrate the New Year with us! You never know who will show up, and asWHERE Magazine says, "The stars shine bright at Cast Party…the shindig where celebs mingle with the hoi polloi and entertain each other at the baby grand." There’s never a cover…just that $10 food/drink minimum! And now, since it's New Year's Eve and all, let's send the holidays out onthis beautiful, heartfelt note. Broadway at Birdland!
TheaterMania and I are thrilled to present Amanda Green & Tom Kitt & Friends on Monday,January 24th and 31st at 7pm.Mandy and Tom will be performing their outrageous, sweet, smart and funny songs, along with Brooks Ashmanskas, Mario Cantone,Jenn Colella, Gavin Creel, Jerry Dixon, Matt McGrath, Julia Murney, Greg Naughton, Alice Ripley, Amy Spanger and theTom Kitt Band. The writing duo is currently adapting High Fidelity for the Broadway stage as a musical, and will premiere several songs from the musical during the concert. There will be a $20 cover and $10 food/drink minimum. Call Birdland (212.581.3080) now…this will be SRO! Don’t forget that Singing Astaire, the critically acclaimed review brought to you by the Our Sinatra folks, is running at Birdlandevery Saturday and Sunday through January 9th. Starring Hilary Kole,Eric Comstock and Christopher Gines, this show is a swinging tribute to my hero, Fred Astaire. See it!
On BroadwayWorld.com
On Cast Party - the Radio Show, watch for an entire showdedicated to the music ofAmanda Green and Tom Kitt(right)…just to whet your whistle for their Birdland extravaganza!
This week you can hear a repeat performance of our holiday show with special guests Michael Feinstein and Georgia Stitt! Michael will tell us all about his show, "Holiday Heart Songs," currently playing at his gorgeous club, Feinstein’s At The Regency, and we’ll play his all-time favorite holiday song. Any guesses? Georgia Stitt chats about her upcoming show at Birdland, working on Disney/ABC-TV’s "Once Upon A Mattress," with Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and her life as Mrs. Jason Robert Brown! You’ll love all of her songs I’ll play for you, performed by Susan Egan, Sean McCourt, Randy Redd, Andrea Burns,Donna Lynne Champlin, Julia Murney, Jessica Molaskey and Jason Robert Brown. Click on BroadwayWorld.com and join the fun! Click here for the Cast Party radio show on BroadwayWorld.com! Produced by Brian Wilson at SoHa Media. |
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