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Cabaret

The Glorious Corner

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G.H. Harding

 Marianne Faithful with Mick Jagger

JAMES’ SHINDIG — Weeks before the world fell apart, I was sitting with some friend’s at dinner when they mentioned they had just gotten tickets to see the legendary Tommy James –at Westbury Music Fair– in Long Island. Two lights went off in my head: I had never seen Tommy and have always been a huge fan, and, two: I happened to know his manager. So, I emailed her, and, I got two tickets.

Literally the Monday after this dinner, everything went dark. At first Tommy was going to do the show, but no backstage greetings. One day later … the show was officially postponed till July … although, now that show will probably be canceled too.

His book Me, The Mob and The Music (2011), IMO has always been one of the better reads for a look inside the then-swaggering music industry. Sure, it was a way different ballgame back then, but the book was a great tread and surprisingly, I knew most of the gunslingers: Morris Levy, Herbie Rosen, Ritchie Cordell, Juggy Gayles … it was almost like I was there when I read it and considering the times… I just might have been.

I started reading it again it loved it as much as that first read. Tommy’s first major label, Roulette, was Morris Levy’s label and he ran it pretty much like a mob-run enterprise. I’d prefer not to get to specifics, because still, to this day, some of those infamous faces (and, their families) are still around.

But, they were colorful characters and many of James’ descriptions are priceless.

Having been right smack-dab in the middle of all those antics described in the book, I can readily attest, it’s all true.

I have regularily advise  people getting into that crazy business today, to give it a read (also Fredric Dannen’s Hit Men). It’s not so much as how the business is run today, but if you get connected with the wrong people … antics like that can certainly occur.

It’s funny: my copy, which I guess was one of the original releases, says that’s it’s soon to be a major Broadway-musical … now, it’s been slated to be a movie. I can only imagine getting all the rights. It’s kind of like a Sopranos-Vinyl-mash up. I’ve love to see as movie of it. 

Who’d play Levy? DeNiro? Pesci? Liotta? Sorvino? Keitel?

MARIANNE FAITHFUL —  (Via DeadlineUPDATE: Marianne Faithfull has apparently beaten the coronavirus. The 73-year-old singer/actress has been discharged from a London hospital after a 22-day battle with the disease. Faithfull thanked fans for “kind messages of concern” and said she “is very grateful to all the NHS staff” who saved her life, according to a Twitter post.

“We are really happy to say that Marianne has been discharged from hospital today, 22 days after being admitted suffering from the symptoms of Covid-19. She will continue to recuperate in London,” the statement read.

EARLIER: Singer/actress Marianne Faithfull is in a London hospital being treated for coronavirus. The 74-year-old was said to be stable, her management said on Saturday.

“Marianne Faithfull’s manager Francois Ravard has confirmed that Marianne is being treated for COVID-19 in hospital in London,” the singer’s reps said in a statement to Deadline’s sister publication,  Rolling Stone, on Saturday. “She is stable and responding to treatment. We all wish her well and a full and speedy recovery.”

Faithfull friend Penny Arcade told Rolling Stone that Faithfull was sheltering in place, but caught a cold. Faithfull checked herself into the hospital on Monday, where she tested positive for COVID-19, and developed pneumonia, Arcade said.

The edgy Faithfull, a former heroin addict, has long been in shaky health, and has hepatitis C and a bout with breast cancer in 2016 on her charts. Faithfull has also been open about past drug abuse, self-scarring and anorexia.

The London-born Faithfull was first discovered at a Rolling Stones launch party she attended with John Dunbar in 1964. Later that year, she released her first song, “As Tears Go By,” written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the man who discovered her, Andrew Loog Oldham, the Stones manager at the time.

She has released 22 studio albums, the most recent being 2018’s Negative Capability.

 In addition to her music, Faithfull has a long acting resume. She has appeared in such television shows as The Sopranos, Cold Case and American Horror Story, as well as several documentaries and feature films.

SHORT TAKES — Gremlins got into our last column, and the Iron City Houserockers got mashed-up the wrong way. Apologies. We also tacked on the question of whether industry-honco Steve Leeds (now talent-macher atSiriusXM) had A&R’d the album. A little sleuthing showed that not only did he serve as A&R-mastermind, but he saved the band from being dropped by MCA and oversaw their second album (which included two cover tunes, one of which was “Hit The Road Jack”) produced by Kenny (Joan Jett) Laguna …

Christopher Meloni

I’m as happy as anyone that Christopher Meloni is returning to the Law & Order-world, but don’t think he’s not getting a boatload of greenbacks from creator/producer Dick Wolf. With the Law & Order-franchise and Chicago-franchise on NBC and the FBI-franchise on CBS, Wolff is literally printing out money. Team-Meloni wisely decided that this was the time. Turns out that the Meloni-character and his TV-wife were slated to make a guest appearance on the final Law & Order; SVU show this season… but, that taping was scuttled by the health crisis. Whatever, count me in for Law & Order; Stabler … This week, the Rolling Stones returned with a new song, and “Living In a Ghost Town” finds Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood feeling a little funky.“I’m a ghost, living in a ghost town,” sings Jagger in the song’s opening lines. “You can look for me/But I can’t be found,” he sings in the engaging track, the first bit of new music from the Stones in quite some time. Produced by Don (Fagenson) Was, “Living In A Ghost Town” is the Rolling Stones’ first new, original song in eight years — following “Doom & Gloom” and “One More Shot,” both taken from the band’s 2012 greatest hits compilation GRRR! And, it’s pretty perfect. Check it out here: 

Happy Bday Chuck Darrow and Jill Christiansen … Been listening to TUNE-IN’s 70’s channel and been loving what I’m hearing. Lots of Village People; Chicago; Gordon Lightfoot; CHIC; Sugarloaf; and “Him” by Rupert Holmes … terrific record, How’d I miss it in 1979? …

David Salidor and Rupert Holmes

Dennis Scott’s brilliant Thank You Mister Rogers album (Vanessa Williams, The Cowsills, Micky Dolenz, Sandy Patti, and more) is a Parent’s Choice 2020 Recommended Award winner. Check it out here: https://www.parentschoice.org/product/thank-you-mister-rogers-music-and-memories/

And, don’t forget Saturday’s All Together Now Telethon (2:00 PM PST) for the LA Emergency COVID 19 Crisis Fund; with Mary Wilson; Paul Rodgers; Tim Allen; Steve Lukather; Micky Dolenz; Jim Messina; Melissa Manchester; Jesse Colin Young; Alan Parsons; Denny Laine; Rick Springfield; Peter Asher; Jeff Bridges; Lisa Loeb and more. Alerttheglobe.com and AlltogethernowLA.org.

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Steve Walter; Alan Kaplan; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Hal Wilner; Lee Jeske; Mike Greenblatt; Mary Wilson; Markos Papadatos; Howard Bloom; Chip Rachlin; Tony King; Barry Zelman; Gene Friedman; Don Wardell; Mark Bego; Craig Fruin; and, CHIP!

G. H. Harding is a four decades insider to the entertainment world. He’s worked for record companies; movie companies; video-production He’s worked for record companies; movie companies; video-production companies and several cable outlets. His anonymity is essential in bringing an unbiased view to his writings on pop culture. He is based in NYC.

Cabaret

My View: The Only Thing Missing Was A Latte ( with extra foam) Marcy & Zina Party at 54 Below

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The only thing missing at last night’s party for Marcy and Zina was a Latte choice in the beverage section on the menu at 54 Below (with extra foam).  The show, titled  Make Your Own Party: The Songs of Goldrich and Heisler was conceived by Scott Coulter and performed by a cast of five. It celebrated over three decades of quirky, heartfelt and utterly contemporary romantic comedy songs written by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich.

From “Taylor the Latte Boy” to under appreciated altos we were introduced to the cast of characters that inspired these inseparable, irreverent friends to write over three hundred and counting musical love letters to the city, the theatre, and the people who make them sing.  The evening was filled with the heart felt stories that these two award winning women have created and was performed by a first rate cast of Broadway super singers.  The lyrics, the music, the luscious harmonies…it was the best party of music I’ve ever been invited to.

The Performers: Jill Abramowitz, Cole Burden, Alex Getlin, Joe Kinosian, Kelli Rabke, and Austin Rivers.

Joe Kinosian,piano, Matt Scharfglass, bass

Marcy & Zina have been performing and writing together since 1992.  Their critically acclaimed romantic comedy songs have been featured in venues across the world, recorded by artists across many genres, and appear in numerous folios and collected works.  Their Off-Broadway musical Dear Edwina earned them a Drama Desk nomination, and other works have been produced by regional powerhouses such as Paper Mill playhouse, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Goodspeed, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.  Their shows include Ever After, JUnie B Jones, and The Great American Musical, based on the bestselling book by auther/director Julie Andrews.

KELLI RABKE & JILL ABRAMOVITZ

MAKE YOUR OWN PARTY: THE SONGS OF GOLDRICH AND HEISLER

KELLI RABKE

KELLI RABKE & ALEX GETLIN

ALEX GETLIN

JILL ABRAMOVITZ

COLE BURDEN

AUSTIN RIVERS

KELLI REBKE & JILL ABRAMOVITZ

KELLI REBKE & ALEX GETLIN

JOE KINOSIAN

COLE BURDEN, KELLI RABKE, JILL ABRAMOVITZ, AUSTIN RIVERS

SCOTT COULTER, PRODUCER

MAKE YOUR OWN PARTY

54 BELOW

ZINA GOLDRICH & MARCY HEISLER

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Broadway

Reeve Carney: Singing The Divas

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After countless sellout performances, Reeve Carney returned to The Green Room 42 to play another solo concert while starring in Hadestown on Broadway. He is best known for his portrayal of Dorian Gray on Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful,” Riff Raff in Fox’s Rocky Horror Picture Show Reimagining, as well as originating the role of Peter Parker in Julie Taymor/U2’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. For one night only Reeve performed a collection of songs traditionally sung by Broadway and vocal divas. Starting out was the perfect song to make us take notice. “Ladies Who Lunch” from Company, never sounded so nuanced, poignant or jazzy.

Next up was “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, “Beauty School Dropout” from Grease and “Losing My Mind” from Follies. Reeve’s girlfriend Eva Noblezada talked him into doing the later song. Reeve has a style that combines rockabilly flare with jazz and rock. It is unique and this spin adds a new take on these familiar songs.

Having shared a dressing room with Patti LuPone “Anything Goes” was sung as a tribute. Not leaving out the great Ethel Merman “”I Got the Sun in the Mornin’ (and the Moon at Night)” from Annie Get Your Gun was delivered ala Reeve Carney.

Dame Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” was a tribute to the 007 genre and brought back memories of Jeff Buckley.

In high school Reeve was not in the schools plays but played “Whatever Lola Wants” for a production of Damn Yankees.

Judy Garland’s iconic “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” was done with pop excellence and a sweetness that made this song his own.

It was at this point that unfortunately I had to leave, as the concert started a half an hour late and if you take a bus out of the city on Sunday, the last one leaves at 11pm. I apologize profusely to Reeve, but was able to critique the rest of the show from a livestream.

Lena Horne’s jazzy, soulful version of “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess hit all the right notes. Liza Minnelli’s “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret was subtle and powerful.

On piano he brought Carol King’s,”Natural Woman” to life, but this version was inspired by Ms. Aretha Franklin.

Still on piano and singing one of his own songs “Up Above The Weather,” a hauntingly wonderful composiition. I look forward to when Reeve does write a Broadway musical.

Back on guitar a tribute to Angela Lansbury “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy. If you have never heard Reeve’s take on these classic songs, you will hear a fresh, new and really different, but oh so unique vibe.

Closing out the night “There’s A Place For Us” from West Side Story.

Reeve is a musical genius, whose prowess on the guitar, piano and vocals is otherworldly.

You can catch Reeve on April 23, 2023 at 9:30 at The Green Room 42 singing his own music. Ask for “Resurrection,” this is one fabulous song.

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Broadway

Eva Noblezada Shines As She Grows Into An Exquisite Performer

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Eva Noblezada at 26, is a two-time Tony-nominee and the star of Broadway’s Hadestown. She can be seen opposite Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga in the independent musical film Yellow Rose, Easter Sunday from Universal and she was in the Audible Theater’s Off-Broadway solo show Nostalgia: A Love Letter to NYC at Minetta Lane Theatre earlier this year. In her newest cabaret show “Let’s Go To The Movies” at The Green Room 42. Ms. Noblezada proves that she is a bonifided star, as she launched into Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” and “When Somebody Loved Me” from Toy Story.

Noblezada is now platinum blonde and is infectious, as she shares the most adorable stories mixed with powerhouse vocals. Case in point “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas.

Ghost’s “Unchained Melody”became a haunting emotionally connected theatre piece. That is one of the best things about Eva, is that not only are the vocals stellar, but she feels every ounce of the lyric and brings it across the stage lights.

In her song choices you can totally see Ms. Noblezada becoming Mulan as she shared the wonderfully written “Reflections,” “Holding Out For A Hero” from Footloose and “Kissing You” from Romeo and Juliet made you want to cherish these flicks again.


My favorite number of the night was one I did not know. I now need to see A Walk To Remember, so I can hear “Only Hope” again and again. Her musical director Rodney Bush was another asset to this not to be missed evening of song.

One of Ms. Noblezada’s vocal hero’s is Liz Callaway and she paid tribute to her with “Journey From The Past” from Anastasia. 

Showing off her dancing skills and sexual side “All That Jazz” from Chicago was a cheeky number with lots of sass.

Closing out the show was the classic “Moon River” from Breakfast At Tiffany’s done to perfection.

If you get a chance to see this talented songbird, do not miss the opportunity as Ms. Noblezada has not only grown as a person, but as a legitimate powerhouse performer.

Check The Green Room 42 and Chelsea Table & Stage for Eva Noblezada’s next performances. You will be glad you did.

 

 

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