Ailey comes to Times Square for a series of free outdoor dance classes led by Ailey Extension instructors and NYC dance artists. Classes are open to people of all ages and all levels of dance experience!. These dance workshops are presented by Ailey Extension and one will happen today June 2 at 5pm, Broadway & 46th St. The class is Broadway Jazz with Judine Somerville to register click here.

On Wednesday, June 7 at 6pm, at Broadway & 46th St LiveDance /Time: Study III with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company co-presented with New York Live Arts

Culminating its 40th Anniversary celebration, the world renowned Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company makes its Times Square debut with /Time: Study III. This piéce d’occasion, featuring the outstanding performers of the company and guest musicians, marks the third annual New York Live Arts presentation in Times Square.

From June 1–30, 2023 | Nightly 11:57pm – 12am metallic crystal-ridged lizards prowl and skitter across the screens of Times Square in The Doors: Lizard Kings by Zach Blas. Featuring five fantastical computer-generated creatures choreographed across 63 distinct channels, June’s Midnight Moment stems from Blas’s 2019 immersive media installation The Doors, a work exploring psychedelia, drug use, artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley’s connections to California counterculture from the 1960s.

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly “well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire” Horace Vandergelder. The show, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick, moved to Broadway in 1964, winning 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. These awards set a record which the play held for 37 years. The show album Hello, Dolly! An Original Cast Recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. There is no denying that Jerry Herman never wrote a bad song and that you will go home singing at least one if not several of these wonderfully tuneful songs.

In this neck of the woods, Stephen Casey is well-known for his high- stepping choreography and in the Act II production of Hello, Dolly!, he does not disappoint. Everyone in this show dances. The dance numbers are many and lengthy. And The Waiters Gallop number at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant is especially applause worthy.  The pared down chorus is just as proficient at singing as they are at dancing. And the small stage at Act II is ingeniously used to give an appearance of a much bigger space. Jenny Eisehower is a very lively and likeable Dolly Levi, in contrast to Scott Langdon’s delightfully cantankerous Mr. Vandergelder. Ms. Eisenhower’s statuesque height plays well off the shorter Mr. Langdon.We know she is a woman who is always in control. Elyse Langley displays a mature soprano rendering of “Ribbons Down my Back” as Irene Malloy. Lee Slobotkin is quite endearing as Barnaby Tucker and Jeremy Konopka is a young Tommy Tune with his longer than you can believe it legs.

The costumes by Millie Hiibel were bright and playful and worked in tandem with the simple set design by Dirk Durossette. The score is fully orchestrated though, unfortunately it’s in the “can” which for me takes away from the excitement you get from a live musical.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the show as much as I would have had the minor characters not been instructed or simply encouraged to mug to the audience. Every time this happened it brought me right out of the show. In 1812’s producton of The Play That Goes Wrong many of the actors were mugging their pants off and playing it over the top — but they were forgiven because they were supposed to be a terrible community theatre company.

And yet, if you like Jerry Herman and a lot of dancing you will enjoy this show and understand why it’s been revived so many times.

Tickets are available online at act2.org, by calling the Act II Box Office at 215-654-0200, or in-person at the Box Office at 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, PA. The Box Office is open Mon-Sat, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Student tickets are $15 and group discounts are available.

Hello, Dolly! Directed and Choreographed by Stephen Casey. Running now through June 18, 2023 at Act II Playhouse                                                                     56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, PA 19002

Ramon Hervey has earned global recognition as a highly regarded entertainment manager, brand consultant & publicist who has represented Richard Pryor, Bette Midler, Paul McCartney, the Bee Gees, Muhammad Ali, Caitlyn Jenner, Quincy Jones, Vanessa Williams, The Commodores with Lionel Richie, the Jacksons with Michael Jackson and a whole lot more A Listers. He is the author of the book…The Fame Game: An Insider’s Playbook for Earning Your 15 minutes.

After having invested 4 decades in playing the fame game, Ramon and I sat down to talk on The Motivation Show podcast.

Ramon, why do you call fame a “game” and why did you choose that word for your book title?    “Fame is unpredictable, just as are the results in a game.   Everyone has failures.  You hope to win, but it is not guaranteed. Only .0065% of over 7 billion people in the world are famous.  There are a lot of successful people in the world that never become famous.  Fame and success don’t come with a warranty.”

What does Ramon feel about luck playing a role in success and fame?  “I think there is a certain amount of luck in what I do.  A lot of it is timing.  Timing is a form of luck.”  One example Ramon gives is when Starbucks started to introduce music in it’s cafes.  The first one was Ray Charles, who died shortly thereafter, which skyrocketed sales of his music.   That sales surge is what Ramon attributed to luck.

The pursuit of fame…is it mostly a positive goal?   “Most people don’t know what fame is til they already become famous.  A lot of stars change their mind about what they thought fame was going to be.  A lot of people don’t like all the baggage that comes with being famous. The lack of privacy.  In my time on the planet, it has definitely changed dramatically over the past ten years.”   Ramon points to Social Media and it’s impact on more people having an opportunity to become famous in different ways than were available previously.

Why did Richard Pryor, at the height of his fame, attempt suicide & what was the famous incident which almost killed him that he later confessed to as a suicide attempt? “I managed all of Richard’s missteps.  He was probably the #1 black entertainer in the world at that time.  It’s not my fame. It’s their fame. I think Richard always felt guilty about his fame.  He didn’t think he could live up to the level of fame that he achieved. That created an albatross around his neck.  It made him rely on more substances to sedate him and calm himself.  He reached the point that he did not want to become that person anymore.  For the longest time he said that he didn’t (try to commit suicide), he said it was an accident. Richard always found a way to market his vulnerability.  All of his comedy focused on all of his missteps.  He had shot all four tires on his Mercedes and told his wife during a fight that you are not going to leave in that car.  He put that into his comedy.  He did it the exact opposite way of what we would advise which would be to put the incidences behind you. I don’t know anyone else that was as successful as him in marketing all of the things he did wrong.”

When asking Ramon about what type of confident personality one has to have to become famous he says, “I do believe you have to have a big ego and a certain amount of self confidence to be successful.  Every famous person I met took a different path to get it and they all loss some level of fame at some point.”

Can you give us an example of someone you managed very well?   “I am very proud of my relationship with Bette Midler.  She helped to blossom my career.    I was never her manager, but I was her publicist.  I did work in a management capacity…she didn’t have a manager.  I have a great appreciation and fondness for her.  Also, working with my ex-wife Vanessa Williams on her crisis management.  I did not know her at the time she was embroiled in the Miss America controversy.  She resigned here title and I am glad she did.  We got married and had three kids together and I managed her career.   It took ten years for her to get her life back after she resigned from the Miss America pageant where she was just called Vanessa Williams without alluding to any prior controversy.”

In discussing his earlier years, Ramon shares two musical giants that helped shape his career.  “In my book, I try to enlighten people about the trajectory of my own fame.  My first client I got to work with was Paul McCartney.  My initial task was to put together a press kit. That shaped my next 4 or 5 years when I got an opportunity to work with Quincy Jones who is the first client I brought to Rogers & Cowan who I was working with at the time.  He was someone I treasured to be in his presence because he had so many great stories and so much great insight.”

Ramon muses in his book about fame, that the more you get, the harder it is to manage.  I asked him if there are any other examples like that. “Probably the worst case scenario was Rick James.  He had a very troubled childhood.  For him, fame meant he put himself above people.  He created a lot of bad blood.  The way that he treated people. A lot of people did not want him to win.   He always had a great fan base, but I think his fame was toxic for him.  He self-destructed.    He was obsessed with fame and all the hoopla and perks.  He loved being the king of everything.  He was very demanding.  He did not know how to manage his fame.”

In closing, I ask Ramon, what he is most proud of.  “I am proud of my reputation.  I have never been sued. I’ve always approached business with a great deal of integrity.  I’ve always worked really hard.  I’ve always tried to be honest with my clients.  Authentic and transparent. I think that is much better than being a yes man.”

So when I think of fame, I think of getting the best table in the best restaurants.  I think about people idolizing me.  I also think about people interrupting my conversation and my meal for photos and autographs.   Do I really want that…or do I just want a nice, quiet, peaceful meal.  Hmmm…some food for thought.  How about you?  Do you want to be part of the Fame Game?

You can listen to Eli’s podcast The Motivation Show on any podcast listening app or use this Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NVmTDAvGbzooN8TCW7tuN.    To contact Eli or to have him speak at your event, email motivatea2z@gmail.com.