Straight from Stony Brook L.I., MTV, VH-1, PBS, ABC and so many more, singer songwriter Marci Geller presented “Driving in Manhattan,” “A Day Without the Kids” and “Thank-You.” Her new CD comes out June 5^th and was available for an early release. Taking on a contemporary feel like Tori Amos or Alanis Morisette, Marci brought a fresh feel to the afternoon.

A first preview of a new musical “The Suicide: A Musical Comedy” was unique, clever, and musically interesting. Loved “Hold the Pity Pudding” as well as the lyricist and singer Raymond Bokhour. Joining him was his wife Christine (she has played every female role in “Chicago”) singing “Life is Beautiful.” Drew McVety (Billy Elliot, Spamalot and more) sang “New Life as a Hero.” Very reminiscent of Sondheim’s “Assassins.”

BMI’s Patrick Cook and Fredrick Freyer presented their musical “The Séance” based on the Fox sisters. Mothers gathered on the stage after contacting their dead children in “My Child Has Come Back to Me.” Singer/songwriter Johnny Rodgers sang “One More Moment With You“ and the Fred Astaire classic “Cheek to Cheek with the fabulous Jon Weber accompanying and then playing side by side with Johnny. Rodgers is the Burt Bacharach of today, with songs that you expect to be on the radio tomorrow and lasting for a decade. Johnny Rodger’s birthday is June 5^th so he sang “The Best of You and Me,” a song he wrote as a tribute to his parents. What a perfect Mother’s Day song!

David Gaines and Michele Foor presented their new musical “The Station Agent.” “You Da Man, (wonderfully sung by Jonathan Todd Ross)” “You Have a Nice Chin”(Brittney Lee Hamilton) and “Step Right Up” (Harris Doran) a small tidbit of music and lyrics of which we look forward to hearing more.

Writing for Andrea Marcovicci, Tom Toce presented “The Night I Fell in Love With Paris” and “At the End of the Day” sung by Jennifer Sheehan who segued from Julliard to Feinstein’s in no time. Ending the program, Cabaret royalty’s KT Sullivan, Stacy and Heather Sullivan’s mom, Elizabeth (Betty) Sullivan, accompanied by Jon Weber, sang her original songs – - perfect for Mother’s Day.

This was an afternoon of connection and a chance to gather new material. Here’s to the 12^th year!

The Broadway premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher opened to rave reviews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47 Street) on April 15, 2012.  The production has garnered nine Tony Award® nominations, including Best New Play, Best Original Score, Best Director of a Play and many more.

In this innovative and imaginative new play, based on The New York Times best selling Disney-Hyperion novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, a company of twelve actors plays more than a hundred unforgettable characters, all on a journey to answer the century-old question: How did Peter Pan become The Boy Who Never Grew Up?  This epic origin story of one of popular culture’s most enduring and beloved characters proves that an audience’s imagination can be the most captivating place in the world.

The Road Company is a theatrical booking agency that has been distributing world-class musicals, plays and attractions throughout North America for over 14 years. Principles Stephen Lindsay and Brett Sirota exclusively represent the tours of Wicked, Billy Elliot, Bring It On, Sister Act, and Rock of Ages, and the upcoming tours of Broadway’s Once and Evita, in addition to Peter and the Starcatcher.

Peter and the Starcatcher began its journey to the stage in 2003 when Disney Theatrical Productions president Thomas Schumacher discovered the first Barry and Pearson book while it was still in galleys, and its development has been shepherded by DTP ever since.  With just a few scenes outlined, the project received its first lab in 2007 at Williamstown Theatre Festival under the direction of Rees and Timbers.  A full length version of the play was then written by Elice and developed in a Page to Stage production at La Jolla Playhouse in the winter of 2009.  Following further revisions, the play received its first fully staged production with the spring 2011 run at New York Theatre Workshop.

The show opened to rave reviews in March 2011 in its premiere Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop and quickly became the theatrical event of the season.  In The New York Times, Ben Brantley enthused: “I truly felt I was floating. Peter and the Starcatcher sustains a breathless air of adventure and a cocky confidence in its powers to enchant. With grown-up theatrical savvy and a child’s wonder, Peter and the Starcatcher floats right through the ceiling of the physical limits imposed by a three-dimensional stage. While there’s not a body harness in sight, this show never stops flying.”

The sold-out run was extended by popular demand and set a record for the highest grossing single day in NYTW’s history. The production went on to receive five Drama Desk nominations (and a win for Outstanding Music in a Play); two Obie Awards (for Direction and Design), two Lucille Lortel Awards (for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Choreography) and a Henry Hewes Design Award for Best Lighting.
 

Another Look at Steve Tyrell!

“My View” by Stephen Sorokoff

Remember the good feeling you had watching and listening to Dean Martin.  His singing was devoid of American Idol belting, no impassioned or powerful message, no boring biographical psychotherapy; just a warm romantic voice, packaged in the persona of a cool, handsome, easygoing and fun entertainer.  You have him in Steve Tyrell.  Steve creates a great mood and knows his music!  The song list for “I’ll Take Romance” at the Café Carlyle, and the soft swing style for which he is so masterful, had most couples holding hands during his performance.  “The Look Of Love,” This Guy’s In Love With You,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” Taking A Chance On Love,” “Isn’t It Romantic” and, of course, everyone’s Father Of The Bride Tyrell track (including my two daughters), “The Way You Look Tonight,” tell his story.

No skimping on the back up at this show.  Steve brought 6 great musicians with him. Quinn Johnson Piano/music director, Bob Mann Guitar, Kevin Winard drums, David Finck bass, Jon Allen, keyboards/percussion and Lew Soloff trumpet.   I think I spotted a few couples trying to check into the hotel when the show was over.  Everyone was thinking Romance last night!

The gangs all there on opening nite

*Photos: Stephen Sorokoff

by: Sandi Durell

The sexy, raspy jazz crooner, Steve Tyrell, continues to make love and romance very stylish – the old fashioned way. His recipe for romantic diversity is all contained in the Great American Songbook, a basketful of gems that warm our hearts and all those other little fibers of our being.

Tyrell never disappoints with his little boy smile and twinkle in his eye that says “I know just want you want and I’m here to give it to you.” His technique is so personalized; it’s as if he’s singing only to you.

After admonishing a female fan as he opened with “The Look of Love,” adding a lyric, don’t ever text (“don’t ever go”) – - he continued to pay tribute to Burt Bacharach and Hal David with “This Guy’s in Love With You” and “I Say a Little Prayer” on the occasion of their receiving the 3^rd ever Gershwin Award.

This show coincides with his latest CD “I’ll Take Romance,” his 9^th offering. His easy going style is supported by some unique arrangements on the tried and true, like the bossa styling on Cole Porter’s “All of You” or the swingin’ Rodgers and Hart “Isn’t It Romantic,” thanks to Bob Mann (guitar).

In between there are a few old jokes preceding songs like “Come Rain or Come Shine” (the gangster whose boss wants to hear the song and his henchman who eventually says sing both of them), and the nostalgia of hearing Mom and Dad’s favorite “(I Love You For) Sentimental Reasons” (William Best and Deek Watson).

There were a few surprises, or as Tyrell puts it “a gift to all” – a never recorded Sammy Cahn/Artie Butler song, the last one Cahn wrote “You Must Be Crazy.”  He included “I Wonder” (Cecil Gant) a song that Louis Armstrong recorded when he was 19.

The Sinatra big band stylings were ever present with “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered,” Fly Me to the Moon” and Sinatra’s most recorded song, “Night and Day,” all preceded by some great old stories about Sinatra when he was a singing waiter just over the bridge at the Rustic Cabin in New Jersey.

As the ultimate ‘wedding singer,’ Tyrell encored with the iconic “At Last” – the promise of tomorrow always.

His top-notch musicians shine individually, especially Lew Soloff on trumpet, along with Kevin Winard on drums, David Finck on bass, Jon Allen, keyboards/percussion and the incomparable Quinn Johnson, piano and musical director.

Steve Tyrell appears at the Café Carlyle www.cafecarlyle.com thru May 26^th

212 744-1600

*Photos: Stephen Sorokoff

By: Denis McKeown

Sheera Ben-David, hailed by The New York Times as “a fully developed dramatic singer who delivers the goods on several counts,” lived up to that praise Opening Night at her return engagement at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency, entitled “After The Rain.”

The buxom beauty engaged the audience immediately by starting off in the dark Ballroom amidst the crowd with “Hot in Here?” by Amanda McBroom and Michele Brourman. When Sheera rose to the stage, the audience could appreciate the full-skirted black silk tissue ruffles on her floor-length gown as she continued her dramatic song-scape with Boz Scaggs’ “Hard Times,” a lamentation of sorts, tinged with regrets.

The theatrical singer boasted that she was “King of the World,” with Jason Robert Brown’s anthem, then took a sad turn with John David Souther’s “Prisoner in Disguise.”  The audience joined Sheera as she searched for ‘who she is or who she used to be,’ hardening into “Another Hundred People” (Stephen Sondheim), with her Judy Garland profile and Operatic presence.

The “rain” theme continued with Leonard Bernstein / Comden and Green’s “Some Other Time,” bespeaking the ‘city of strangers’ that New York City can sometimes seem to be.  Regrets continued as a theme with Christine Lavin’s “Regretting What I Said” and Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Tonight.”

Sheera became surprisingly sweet with the Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster song, “Secret Love,” made famous by Doris Day in the 1950′s film, “Calamity Jane.” However, the caramel-coated version turned into a tribute to Carmen McCrae with an upbeat arrangement attributed to Sheera’s brother, Adam Ben-David, “Book of Mormon” associate conductor, joined by Matt Fieldes on bass, Ray Marchica on drums and Jake Ezra Schwartz on guitar.

The show runs one week only, May 15 – 19 at 8 pm with additional 10:30 pm shows on Friday and Saturday evenings, and is directed by Eric Michael Gillett.

In 1994 Anthony Rapp was working at a New York Starbucks and about to audition for a new musical by a young guy named Jonathan Larson.  This is where Without You begins. Rapp shares his audition for Rent, getting cast, rehearsals, and his view from the stage during the tribute performance on the night after Jonathan’s tragic death.  Without You also details Anthony’s achingly beautiful relationship with his mother during this turbulent time. Featuring Anthony’s own lyrics and melodies, stories adapted from his memoir, and the landmark songs of Rent, Without You is a valentine to the groundbreaking musical and celebrates all of our seasons of love.

Without You had its world premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in 2008. Christopher Rawson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote, “A joyful, emotionally raw account.  I wasn’t exactly bawling at Without You, but I was certainly choking up, brushing back a tear, then doing it again a few minutes later.  You don’t need to know Rent to respond to the human story Without You embodies. Its music is appealing and poignant on its own.  But to the extent that you do know Rent, the story widens into operatic impact.”

Rapp’s memoir Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent (Simon & Schuster, 2006)—about his struggle to balance the demands of life in the theatre with his responsibility to his family during his mother’s battle with cancer—was a New York Times bestseller and is currently in its sixth paperback printing (and had nine hardcover printings).  Upon its publication it received
rave reviews:

“

Featured in the cast, directed by Jerry Ruiz, will be Heidi Armbruster, Rob Breckenridge, Peter Cormican, Bradford Cover, Curzon Dobell, David Graham Jones, Thomas Matthew Kelley, Ned Noyes, Jay Patterson, Angela Pierce, and Margot White.

Love Goes To Press is a sharp-tongued comedy about women war correspondents that had them rolling in the aisles in London in 1946.  The play paints a delicious portrait of two smart, funny, brave, ambitious and complex women—working just miles from the front lines (as Cowles and Gellhorn did), surrounded by less competent, less adventurous men.

Martha Gellhorn was a trailblazing journalist, filing dispatches over the course of five decades from some of the most dramatic hot spots across the globe.  Her career as a war correspondent began in 1937 when she reported on the Spanish Civil War for Colliers magazine.  She was a resident of the famed Hotel Florida in Madrid, along with many other foreign correspondents, including Virginia Cowles—and Ernest Hemingway with whom she was having an affair.  They married in 1940-and divorced in 1945.  The HBO film Hemingway and Gellhorn directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman will premiere on May 28th, 2012.

In 1946, Gellhorn and Virginia Cowles decided on a lark to write a comedy about two female war correspondents covering WWII.  Their comedy, Love Goes to Press, is a frothy concoction, a romantic comedy set in a press camp in Italy in 1944.  The cast of characters includes a tough American newspaperman, recently divorced from one of the heroines: “You can’t tell from the outside that he’s got the character of a cobra,” the Gellhorn character says of her ex “From the outside he’s a beautiful, funny, fascinating man.”

Love Goes To Press premiered to great success in June 1946 at the Embassy Theatre in London, where Cowles and Gellhorn, though American, were then living. “At times the humor rises to brilliance,” observed The Stage. “The kind of comedy which lavishly mingles public relations, private lives, lines of communication, tough dames, and tender passages,” opined The Observer.  The play quickly transferred from the “fringe” to a healthy run in the West End.

Given its glowing reception in London, success in America seemed assured.  Try-outs in Washington and Pittsburgh in December 1946 were greeted positively, but on the Great White Way, everything changed. Love Goes To Press lasted just four days.  Its very strengths — particularly its comedy — were the very reasons it was dismissed. New Yorkers were not yet ready to laugh about the war. When the play was finally published, in 1995, Gellhorn wrote an introduction: “I must advise you at once, that this play bears no resemblance whatever, of any kind at all, to war or war correspondents. It is a joke. It was intended to make people laugh.”

A distinct current of sexism pervaded some of the reviews. Wolcott Gibbs sneered in The New Yorker: “It is quite possible that Miss Gellhorn and Miss Cowles were indeed able to commandeer ambulances and even airplanes to take them behind enemy lines practically at will, I can only say it seemed a little silly to me.”  Ironically, Gellhorn and Cowles had done precisely that—driven ambulances, flown in combat missions, and in Gellhorn’s case, stowed away in a hospital ship on D-Day—all in a day’s work.

Love Goes To Press faded from memory until 1995 when Professor Sandra Spanier of Penn State University rescued the play from the ash-heap and arranged for its long overdue publication with Gellhorn’s blessing.  Spanier is the General Editor of the Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway, projected to run to a dozen volumes, at minimum.

Under the direction of Mr. Maltby, and with music direction by Andrew Gerle, the cast will feature Broadway veterans Jenn Colella (Urban Cowboy, High Fidelity), George Dvorsky (The Scarlet Pimpernel), 2011 Tony nominee Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Jekyll & Hyde) and Sal Viviano (The Full Monty).

Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire’s musical treasure Closer Than Ever is back Off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company with an exciting new cast and fresh additions to the timeless score.  When it premiered in 1989, the show spoke to a generation of theater-goers and featured “one of the half-dozen finest American theater scores of the last decade” (New York Times).   An intimate musical about love, friendship, security, happiness – and holding onto those essentials in a world that pulls us in a hundred directions at once – Closer Than Ever at the York isn’t merely a revival, it’s the homecoming of an Off-Broadway classic.

The musical promises to be a refreshing treat for audiences, old and new, filled with insights you’ve never heard expressed, except in your own heart.  Critic Marc Miller calls the show “impeccably crafted, with music and lyrics that are melodic, intelligent, humorous, and reflective.”  Stephen Holden says it’s “not just devilishly clever … Closer Than Ever is one from the heart.”

Closer Than Ever will play the following performance schedule:  Mondays & Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

York Theatre Company is currently celebrating the legendary librettist and lyricist Tom Jones with Musicals in Mufti: The Tom Jones Festival.  The fourth musical in the spring series is the musical Colette Collage with Book & Lyrics by Tom Jones and Music by Harvey Schmidt.  Under the direction of Michael Montel, the cast will feature Tony nominee Christine Andreas (La Cage aux Folles) in the title role,  Jo Ann Cunningham (Anna Karenina) as Sido, Peter Land (York’s Oh, Coward) as Jacques, Patrick Lane (Tales of the City) as De Jouvenal, Anne Markt (Hair) as Colette De Jouvenal, Bill Nolte (York’s The Road to Qatar)as Willy, Vanessa Reseland (Sunset Boulevard) as Missy, Nicholas Rodriguez (Tarzan) as Maurice, Carrington Vilmont (The Phantom of the Opera) as German Officer, Sasha Weiss (York’s The Grand Tour) as Pauline,  and Scott Willis (State Fair) as Captain Colette. The limited 5-performance engagement runs from April 27-29, 2012.  The final musical in the series will be The Game of Love (May 11-13).

This event honored several individuals with various awards.  The Health Achievement Award was presented to Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group.  The Moms on Meningitis Award was presented to Jeri Acosta and Jeri Greenwell.  The Nancy Ford Springer Inspiration Awards was presented to Sara Herbert-Galloway and Barry J. Klarberg, Monarch Wealth & Business Management.

Chairs for the event were Lenore Cooney and Gary Springer.  Honorary chairs  Ambassador and Mrs. John L. Loeb, Jr. and Nick Springer.  Master of Ceremonies, Emmy Award Winner Richard Thomas and the Auction Chairs were Matt Klarberg and Errol Rappaport.

Ulrika “Red” Nilsson attended the event.

Errol Rappaport / Carol Alt / Franco Salhi

Daisi Polland Sepulveda

Katharina Suhi & Thomas Kleber

Richard Thomas / James Naughton

James Lipton / Kedaka

Rod Gilbert / Barry Klarberg / Dr. Ruth / Carol Alt / Errol Rappaport

Gabi Garzoni / David Hryck / Errol Rappaport / Carol Alt / Rod Gilbert

Sara Herbert Gall0way and Matt Sandy from Medea Vodka

Sara Herbert Galloway and Barry J. Klarberg

Errol Rappaport, Sara Herbert Gall0way and Matt Sandy  from Medea Vodka

Gary Springer and Elizabeth Cier

Sara Herbert Galloway and Gary Springer

Queen of the Mist features music and lyrics by five-time Tony nominee Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party, Marie Christine, Hello Again). The show, originally commissioned and produced by Transport Group, recently received seven Drama Desk nominations (including Outstanding Music, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Orchestrations), three Outer Critics Circle nominations (including Outstanding New Score), two Drama League Award nominations, and two Lucille Lortel Award nominations.

Queen of the Mist’s cast recording features performances by original cast members D.C. Anderson, Stanley Bahorek, Theresa McCarthy, Julia Murney, Andrew Samonsky, Tally Sessions and Mary Testa. The album was produced by Joel Moss, Kurt Deutsch and Michael John LaChiusa. This release marks the fourth collaboration between Sh-K-Boom & Ghostlight Records and LaChiusa. Previous releases include the cast recordings of See What I Wanna See, Little Fish and Bernarda Alba.

Based on an astounding and outrageous true story, two-time Tony nominee Mary Testa stars in D.C. Anderson, Stanley Bahorek, Theresa McCarthy, Julia Murney, Andrew Samonsky, Tally Sessions and Mary Testa. The album was produced by Joel Moss, Kurt Deutsch and Michael John LaChiusa. This release marks the fourth collaboration between Sh-K-Boom

Mary Testa as Anna Edson Taylor, in 1901 at the age of 63, set out to be the first woman to shoot Niagara Falls in a barrel of her own design. Navigating both the treacherous Falls and a fickle public with a ravenous appetite for sensationalism, this unconventional heroine vies for her legacy in a world clamoring with swindling managers, assassins, revolutionaries, moralizing family, anarchists and activists. Convinced that there is greatness in her and determined not to live as ordinary, she sets out to battle her fear and tempt her fate.

This was one of the best shows of the 2011/2012 season.