Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went Zoom Style. Live From The Edison Times Square Chronicles is a podcast extension of T2C.

Today owner Suzanna Bowling talked with Jim Brochu. Brochu wrote and starred Off-Broadway in Zero Hour, a one-person play about the life and career of actor and comedian Zero Mostel, from 2009–2010. For this performance, he won the Drama Desk award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

Brochu’s stage debut was in a production of William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. In 2005, he was nominated by the Los Angeles Ovation Awards as Best Actor in a Musical for The Big Voice, an honor he won from both the Palm Springs Desert Star Awards and the Valley Theatre League ADA Awards. In 2007 and 2008, he and Steve Schalchlin co-wrote the musical The Big Voice: God or Merman, which Brochu starred in Off-Broadway. The Big Voice: God or Merman? was also given the Ovation Award as Best Musical, presented to Brochu and Schalchlin by Jerry Herman.

Brochu was a friend of Lucille Ball and is the author of her unauthorized biography, titled Lucy in the Afternoon, and in this capacity, appeared on an episode of MythBusters.

Jim Brochu has written his first murder mystery, set in turn of the 20th century vaudeville. Like Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” everybody has a reason and an opportunity to murder Frank. The characters are all at the early part of their careers, which is why Jack Benny turns out to be the guy who figures out the real killer. The group are a mixture of fictional characters and real characters, perhaps with their original names, which will be changed as they become famous. Also there is a big Surprise at the end of the book but you have to be a real movie buff to recognize it.

I am so grateful to Jim Brochu for being with us and sharing his life and career with us.

Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went Zoom Style. Live From The Edison Times Square Chronicles is a podcast extension of T2C.

Today owner Suzanna Bowling talked with Eileen Bluestone Sherman Eileen Bluestone Sherman is an award-winning author, lyricist, playwright, educator and producer whose career has moved effortlessly between literature and musical theatre. She is best known for the children’s classic The Odd Potato, her National Jewish Book Award-winning young adult novel Monday in Odessa, and Perfect Picture, the musical inspired by the life and art of Norman Rockwell. Her writing also includes The Violin Players and Independence Avenue, while her work as a producer on The Odd Potato television special earned her a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award.

With her sister, composer Gail C. Bluestone, Sherman forms the musical-theatre songwriting team The Bluestone Sisters, with Eileen providing the lyrics. Their work has attracted an extraordinary roster of Broadway talent, including Lillias White, Judy Kaye, Beth Leavel, Andrea McArdle, Karen Ziemba, Sutton Foster, Elaine Stritch and Hal Prince. Their longtime creative relationship with Tony and Emmy winner Lillias White has extended across recordings and performances, while Perfect Picture has enjoyed productions and recordings featuring some of Broadway’s most celebrated artists.

Sherman is also co-founder and co-producer of The Indie Collaborative, created with musician Grant Maloy Smith to bring independent artists from across musical genres together to perform, exchange ideas and create new collaborations. Through the organization, she has produced events at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Drama League. A longtime educator as well, Sherman has taught theatre at Baker University’s School of Professional and Graduate Studies, where she was named Outstanding Professor of the Year in the Graduate Division—adding teacher and mentor to a career built around storytelling, music and bringing artists together.

I am so grateful to Eileen Bluestone Sherman for being with us and sharing his life and career with us.

Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went Zoom Style. Live From The Edison Times Square Chronicles is a podcast extension of T2C.

Today owner Suzanna Bowling talks with Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo on his new book Sanity Clause. Verlizzo is an American design artist and Drama Desk Award-winner. He is best known for creating the posters for many prominent Broadway productions, including the original productions of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Sunday in the Park with George. Prior to that Verlizzo worked for The Blaine Thompson Agency, which at the time was the largest advertising agency for Broadway shows. After five decades as one of Broadway’s most prolific designers—having created over 300 posters that defined the visual identity of the American theater—Verlizzo has channeled his deep insider knowledge into fiction. His debut novel, Scenery of the Crime, garnered acclaim for its “delicious verisimilitude” and authentic portrayal of the 1970s theater scene. His second Sanity Claus, was just released. Published by Camel Press, this latest installment in the Retro Broadway Mystery Series transports readers back to the gritty, glamorous theater world of the late 1970s for a Christmas-themed whodunit where the stakes are as high as the marquee lights.

“For most of my career, I’ve interpreted the ideas of others into two-dimensional graphic images,” shares Verlizzo. “In my second career as a cozy mystery author, I have an opportunity to create my own little ‘village’ populated by fictional characters I’ve come to hold dear.”

Suzanna had the honor of serving with Frank on the Drama Desk nominating committee and is grateful to Richard Hillman for having Frank join with us today.

Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went on location for a meet and greet of the new musical Brooklyn Bridge.

Live From The Hotel Edison Times Square Chronicles Presents, is normally filmed from the Hotel Edison, but today we went on location at The Bay Street Theatre for the opening of Cagney.