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Save The Date: Santino Fontana, Clint Holmes, Karen Mason, Luba Mason and More Join Jamie deRoy & friends

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Show business tour de force and 10-time Tony® Award-winning producer Jamie deRoy brings her acclaimed Jamie deRoy & friends cabaret show back to New York’s famed Birdland, Monday, October 3rd, at 7:00 p.m.  

Performers who light up the marquees of cabaret, theatre, music and comedy will join Ms. deRoy. The one-night only show is part of the club’s Broadway at Birdland Concert Series. Birdland is at 315 West 44th Street in New York’s theatre district.

Proceeds from the event, produced by Ms. deRoy, will benefit The Entertainment Community Fund which assists those in the cabaret industry who have medical needs and concerns. The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs honored her with a MAC Award for her many shows that have benefited her signature initiative. The Jamie deRoy & friends cabaret series has been attracting New York audiences for over 30 years.

Ms. deRoy will host the show and welcome special guests: 

Santino Fontana, one of the brightest stars on stage in the US and abroad, is a charismatic soprano that has been hailed by audiences and critics alike as a “model of agility, spunk, charm and silvery tone.”  Recognized for her expressive and exuberant performances, as well as for her radiant voice, she has a wide and varied career on opera, concert and recital stages of the world. She has performed with many of the most distinguished orchestras across the world, on stage, screen and on recordings including, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires, San Francisco Opera, Netherlands Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra de Nice, Miami Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Opera Orchestra of New York, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Ravinia Festival, among others. At the Metropolitan Opera, she has appeared in several productions, including La Fille du Régiment, Un Ballo in Maschera, Le Nozze di Figaro, Manon, Die Fledermaus, and Werther. Additional roles performed to date on other stages have included Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Lakmé (Lakmé), Gilda (Rigoletto), Nannetta (Falstaff), Norina (Don Pasquale), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Zdenka (Arabella), and Constance (Les Dialogues des Carmélites).  Miss Blackwell also starred in the Broadway Revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide as Cunégonde. 

Clint Holmes is a 40+ year veteran of the stage, screen and TV. His big break came in 1972 when he released his chart toping song, “Playground In My Mind”. Throughout his career, he has received a GRAMMY nomination for his album, Rendezvous, hosted his own Emmy Award winning talk/variety show, served as Joan Rivers’ sidekick and announcer, and headlined his own Las Vegas theater, the Clint Holmes Theater. As an accomplished musician, lyricist, and author, Clint wrote the book and lyrics to Comfortable Shoes, which was produced at the Paper Mill Playhouse (New Jersey) in 1996 and The Royal George Theater (Chicago) in 2002. He also wrote the book and lyrics for Just Another Man (JAM) produced at The Judy Bailey Theater (UNLV) and My Own Song produced at Flat Rock Theater (North Carolina). In New York City, he won two Broadway World Awards with Billy Stritch and Christian Tamburr for a show he co-wrote and co-starred in, Straighten Up and Fly Right… A Nat King Cole Tribute. He won the 2013 Bistro Award (NYC) for “Best Male Singer” for his performance in Stop this Train (a show which he also co-wrote) and was directed by Larry Moss. He continues to tour with the Georgia On My Mind Tour, along with Take 6, Nnenna Freelon, Kirk Whalum, and Tom Scott featuring the music of Ray Charles. Currently, Clint is working on a one-man theater piece called, If Not Now When, and as a lyricist on Frank Wildhorn’s new musical, La Ronde.

Jason Kravits began his career at 13 years old in Washington, DC playing Lolo in the highly acclaimed PBS series, Powerhouse. Several years later, after graduating from the University of Maryland, he found a home in the Washington, DC, theater community, where he became a well-known presence in theaters such as the Round House Theater, the Shakespeare Theater, and the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company (of which he is still a member). Alongside fellow writer-performer Joel Jones, he developed the material for Making Faces, which would eventually go on to win Best Sketch Show at 1999’s U.S. Comedy Festival in Aspen, Co. Shortly after, he landed a guest-starring role on David Kelley’s The Practice. In addition to TV credits, he has appeared on Broadway in Relatively Speaking, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Sly Fox.

Karen Mason has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and recording and is the recipient of the 2019 MAC Lifetime Achievement Award, a 12-time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years.  She has also won the 2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and has three Bistro Awards. Her theatrical career includes:  the North American premier tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, playing Madame Giry; Tanya in the original Mamma Mia! (Drama Desk Nom); Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard; Queen of Hearts in Wonderland; Velma in Hairspray; Jerome Robbin’s Broadway, Torch Song Trilogy Karen won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in And The World Goes ‘Round. Karen has headlined Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Feinstein’s 54 Below, Birdland, The Fairmont Hotel (San Fran), and The Park West (Chi). Her seven highly acclaimed recordings include her newest single, “It’s About Time” an anthem for Marriage Equality, and single “Hold Me’, which won the 1998 Emmy Award for Best Song. 

Luba Masonthe classically trained singer, actor, dancer and pianist has starred in nine Broadway shows: Girl from the North Country (Lucille Lortel nomination), Jekyll & Hyde, Chicago, How to Succeed…, The Capeman, Sid Caesar & Company, Sunset Blvd., The Will Rogers Follies and Late Nite Comic. Off Broadway: Pretty Filthy (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations), Unexpected Joy. Film : Tonya Pinkins’ Red Pill. TV guest starring roles: Person of Interest, Forever and Law & Order. 2019 Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist, Luba has released four critically-acclaimed solo albums : Triangle (2020) Mixtura (2016) Krazy Love (2009), and Collage (2006.) Graduate of NYU’s Tisch SOA (drama)/ Circle in the Square.

Multi-award winning Composer, Book Writer and Lyricist Barry Kleinbort directs Ms. deRoy’s October 3rd show with musical direction by award-winning arranger, orchestrator and conductor, Ron Abel and Ritt Henn on Bass. 

Ms. deRoy is an acclaimed producer; cabaret, stage, film and TV performer; recording artist and humanitarian. In addition to Tony Awards, she has won nine MAC Awards, four Back Stage Bistro Awards and 11 Telly Awards for her extensive work on stage and screen. She has appeared on stage with such luminaries as Joan Rivers and has headlined at many New York nightclubs. Ms. deRoy has produced nine CDs in the Jamie deRoy & friends series, all of which are available on Harbinger and PS Classics labels. Her cabaret shows serve as the basis for her award-winning cable television show which spotlights well-known entertainers and newcomers. 

For tickets please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jamie-deroy-friends-tickets-414735473967

Suzanna, co-owns and publishes the newspaper Times Square Chronicles or T2C. At one point a working actress, she has performed in numerous productions in film, TV, cabaret, opera and theatre. She has performed at The New Orleans Jazz festival, The United Nations and Carnegie Hall. She has a screenplay and a TV show in the works, which she developed with her mentor and friend the late Arthur Herzog. She is a proud member of the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle and was a nominator. Email: suzanna@t2conline.com

Broadway

Ken Fallin’s Broadway: Spamalot

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Here is the amazing cast of Spamalot. Christopher Fitzgerald as Patsy, James Monroe Iglehart as King Arthur, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer as The Lady of the Lake, Ethan Slater as The Historian/Prince Herbert, Jimmy Smagula as Sir Bedevere, Michael Urie as Sir Robin, Nik Walker as Sir Galahad andTaran Killam as Lancelot.

I was so inspired I drew the whole cast.

To read T2C’s review click here.

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Art

Ahead of the Broadway Opening of Lempicka The Longacre Theatre Is Showcasing Art Work By Tamara de Lempicka

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The Longacre Theatre (220 W 48th St.), soon-to-be home of the sweeping new musical, Lempicka, is showcasing a curated selection of renowned artist Tamara de Lempicka’s most famous works. Eschewing traditional theatrical front-of-house advertising, the Longacre’s façade now boasts prints, creating a museum-quality exhibition right in the heart of Times Square. The musical opens on Broadway on April 14, 2024 at the same venue.

The Longacre’s outdoor exhibition includes works of Self Portrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti) (1929), Young Girl in Green (1927), Nu Adossé I (1925), The Red Tunic (1927), The Blue Scarf (1930), The Green Turban (1930), Portrait of Marjorie Ferry (1932), Portrait of Ira P. (1930), Portrait of Romana de la Salle (1928), and Adam and Eve (1932).

Starring Eden Espinosa and directed by Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin, Lempicka features book, lyrics, and original concept by Carson Kreitzer, book and music by Matt Gould, and choreography by Raja Feather Kelly.

Spanning decades of political and personal turmoil and told through a thrilling, pop-infused score, Lempicka boldly explores the contradictions of a world in crisis, a woman ahead of her era, and an artist whose time has finally come.

Young Girl in Green painted by Tamara de Lempicka (1927). Oil on plywood.