White Plains Performing Arts Center is presenting the tristate premiere of "Disney's On the Record," a jukebox musical featuring mashups and medleys of 64 Disney songs from the past 75 years.
Set in a contemporary recording studio, “On the Record” is the story of a recording
session that changed the lives of a young unknown who is about to get her big
break, a pop diva who is about to meet her match, and a matinee idol who is
about to meet the “new kid” who could take his place. Songs are featured from “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “Beauty and the
Beast,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Lion King,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book,”
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Toy Story,” “Pocahontas,”
“Tarzan,” “Pinocchio,” “Aladdin” and more.
Remaining performances are June 27, 28,
29, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. The cast includes Álvaro
Francisco, Chelsey Lynn Alfredo, Eric Pagan, Devin Lewis, Gina Noto, Triona
O’Callaghan, Paulette Oliva and Joseph C. Bellino. The show is directed by Frank Portanova with musical direction by Stephen Ferri.
Tickets: $30, $25 for students 22 and
younger. To purchase tickets: visit the theater box office in City Center in downtown White Plains. Purchase tickets online at www.wppac.com or call 328-1600.
Check it out at http://vimeo.com/98540314.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Marilyn Maye - Here's to Life
When my friend told me she bought us tickets to Marilyn Maye at the 92nd St. Y June 17, I said "Marilyn who?" I didn't remember the singer who was discovered by Steve Allen and performed on the Tonight Show 76 times. She clearly has her fans and a following. She played to a packed house in her return engagement at the Y.
The 86-year-old rocked a gold sequined jacket over a pants suit. Her voice strong, her set list brimming with songs of optimism, romance, joie de vivre, the tireless Maye sang for an hour and a half, medleys on rainbows and being happy and my favorite, "Here's to Life." She delivers the whole package — Broadway, nightclub, jazz, cabaret. She was backed by the best — conductor and pianist Ted Firth, bassist Tom Hubbard, and Bryan Carter on drums.
Maye said she was a "commitment singer" back in the day for RCA Records. That meant she recorded tunes written for Broadway before a show opened, giving the show a boost at the box office. She made a hit of the song "Cabaret" in 1966. She also made big bucks recording a version of her hit "Step to the Rear" for Ford Motors.
I went on YouTube and saw some early performances. She was a powerhouse.
Forever classy and a classic, Maye will sing a tribute to her early champion in "A Tribute to Johnny Carson" at 54 Below June 26-28.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
'Mothers and Sons' closing
What a Tony Award can do. Just two days after the Tony Awards comes the announcement that Terrence McNally's play "Mothers and Sons" with Tyne Daly is closing June 22 at the John Golden Theatre. The play was nominated for a Tony for best play and Daly was nominated for a Tony for leading actress in a play. They lost out to "All the Way" and Audra McDonald (who could win against her?), respectively.
I was riveted by Daly's poignant performance and gripped by the power of McNally's words. McNally skillfully wove the story of a mother making peace with her ghosts and the rapidly changing society in which gays and their families find themselves.
Discussions are underway to have the show our.
After the performance I saw there was a conversation on stage with the playwright; his partner, Thomas Kirdahy; Daly; and (bonus!) Nathan Lane, for whom McNally wrote several parts.
I'm sorry to see the show close, but there's more McNally in the fall. In the 2014-15 Broadway season, a revival of McNally's "It's Only A Play," will star F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and Micah Stock. The limited 17-week engagement begins Sept. 4 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, with opening night Oct. 9.
I was riveted by Daly's poignant performance and gripped by the power of McNally's words. McNally skillfully wove the story of a mother making peace with her ghosts and the rapidly changing society in which gays and their families find themselves.
Discussions are underway to have the show our.
After the performance I saw there was a conversation on stage with the playwright; his partner, Thomas Kirdahy; Daly; and (bonus!) Nathan Lane, for whom McNally wrote several parts.
I'm sorry to see the show close, but there's more McNally in the fall. In the 2014-15 Broadway season, a revival of McNally's "It's Only A Play," will star F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and Micah Stock. The limited 17-week engagement begins Sept. 4 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, with opening night Oct. 9.
Museum Mile Festival
Put on your walking shoes and get your culture on today. The Museum Mile Festival http://museummilefestival.org takes place Tuesday, June 10, from 6-9 p.m. along Fifth Avenue from 82nd Street to 105th Street in Manhattan. The event includes free admission to nine museums, music and art projects along the way.
I, for one, have never visited the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street. (Shocking, I know!) http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/current. I'm looking forward to seeing "City as Canvas," Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection.
I, for one, have never visited the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street. (Shocking, I know!) http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/current. I'm looking forward to seeing "City as Canvas," Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection.
Monday, June 9, 2014
A shout out for indie bookstores
My Connecticut College roommate Ellen Richmond won a $5,000 James Patterson grant at the Book Expo in New York recently for her bookstore, The Children's Book Cellar in Waterville, Maine. http://www.childrensbookcellar.com. Ellen will use the grant to make improvements to the store and maybe offer a community reading program. How wonderful that Patterson is giving away $1 million to independent book sellers like my friend.
Ellen was featured today in an article in the Bangor Daily News.
http://cultureshock.bangordailynews.com/2014/06/09/out-and-about/waterville-book-store-receives-5000-grant-from-writer-james-patterson/.
What better labor of love for an English major and avid reader than a book store? Ellen is the only person I know who doesn't own a TV. She's spends a lot of her free time reading. She really knows her stuff.
Ellen began working at the chain Mr. Paperback in Skowhegan, working her way up in management. She bought the Children's Book Cellar in 2002. I enjoy Ellen's posts on Facebook about all the events and author appearances at the store. I wish I lived closer — or at least had a grandchild or two to buy for! Ellen recently added a selection of books for adults, so if I were heading up to Maine this summer I'd stop there for my summer reading.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Maya Angelou and my bad
Everyone's got their Maya Angelou story, and I have mine.
I'm probably the only person in the world who thinks of Maya Angelou and has a negative thought. Dr. Angelou was the cause of a rift between one of my oldest friends and me. Let me explain.
As a reporter for The Scarsdale Inquirer, I was invited to her lecture at Pace University in Pleasantville on Feb. 9, 2005. I was a fan and had loved "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," so I was eager to go. But tickets to the event were much sought after, and it wasn't certain that there would be enough tickets to meet press requests until the last minute. When I told my friend, who like Angelou, is a poet, artist and writer, that I would possibly be there, she begged me to try to get her a ticket. I told her I would, but that it would be very last minute. It looked like a no go, and I told my friend to forget about it. She had another avenue for tickets and was going to try that. But, I got lucky and the p.r. person came through with two tickets at the 11th hour and a half. By then, it was complicated and I didn't ask my friend, I invited someone else. I don't know why, it was just easier. I got lazy.
Well, who do I meet at the event, but my friend, who confronted me. She was surprised, upset and very hurt that I didn't call her. I hadn't realized how very important it was to her to hear Dr. Angelou. I never think of myself as the bad guy in any relationship, but that day, I really was.
I had the privilege of meeting Maya Angelou at a small press conference after her speech, where she was as eloquent and inspiring as she had been in the packed gym where she talked about "being the rainbow in somebody else's cloud."
That day, I was definitely the cloud in somebody's rainbow.
My friend and I have long since repaired our relationship, although it took a while, and whenever I think of that day and Maya Angelou, a flood of shame comes over me.
Since that day I don't take my friendships for granted. I'm trying to be the rainbow. It's not always easy, but the refracted light shines back on me.
I think Maya would approve.
I'm probably the only person in the world who thinks of Maya Angelou and has a negative thought. Dr. Angelou was the cause of a rift between one of my oldest friends and me. Let me explain.
As a reporter for The Scarsdale Inquirer, I was invited to her lecture at Pace University in Pleasantville on Feb. 9, 2005. I was a fan and had loved "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," so I was eager to go. But tickets to the event were much sought after, and it wasn't certain that there would be enough tickets to meet press requests until the last minute. When I told my friend, who like Angelou, is a poet, artist and writer, that I would possibly be there, she begged me to try to get her a ticket. I told her I would, but that it would be very last minute. It looked like a no go, and I told my friend to forget about it. She had another avenue for tickets and was going to try that. But, I got lucky and the p.r. person came through with two tickets at the 11th hour and a half. By then, it was complicated and I didn't ask my friend, I invited someone else. I don't know why, it was just easier. I got lazy.
Well, who do I meet at the event, but my friend, who confronted me. She was surprised, upset and very hurt that I didn't call her. I hadn't realized how very important it was to her to hear Dr. Angelou. I never think of myself as the bad guy in any relationship, but that day, I really was.
I had the privilege of meeting Maya Angelou at a small press conference after her speech, where she was as eloquent and inspiring as she had been in the packed gym where she talked about "being the rainbow in somebody else's cloud."
That day, I was definitely the cloud in somebody's rainbow.
My friend and I have long since repaired our relationship, although it took a while, and whenever I think of that day and Maya Angelou, a flood of shame comes over me.
Since that day I don't take my friendships for granted. I'm trying to be the rainbow. It's not always easy, but the refracted light shines back on me.
I think Maya would approve.
Friday, October 31, 2008
"Frost/Nixon"
Director Ron Howard in the mix of celebrity and politics
Director Ron Howard discussed his endorsement of Barack Obama during a Q&A with Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers following a screening of "Frost/Nixon" Friday, Oct. 24 at a fundraiser for Pelham Picture House in Pelham, N.Y. Howard endorsed Obama in Internet ads as his Opie character from "The Andy Griffith Show" with Griffith and as Richie from "Happy Days" with Henry Winkler as the Fonz.
Howard told Travers a bit sheepishly that he always thought celebrities should stay out of politics, but it was the first time in his "50 years in show business," he said, that "I felt strongly that an endorsement was worth doing."
The 1977 post-Watergate interviews between TV host David Frost and the disgraced president Richard Nixon "changed the relationship between politics and journalism forever, says "Frost/Nixon" p.r. The film, adapted for the screen from Peter Morgan's Broadway play, is a dramatic retelling of the story of how the lightweight British talk show host was able to elicit an apology from president for his abuse of power. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen reprise their roles as Nixon and Frost in the film.
Howard said he was "riveted" by the original interviews. "I was looking for clarity," he said. Seeing the play with his wife in London, he knew immediately that he wanted to make the film. Luckily for him, he said, Universal agreed with Howard and his "indie model" for "Frost/Nixon."
Howard said that after the Watergate scandal, people thought the abuse of executive power would never happen again. "It resonates today," he said. "That's the dramatic link."
Both Frost and Nixon's reputations were on the line with the interviews. Each thought he could manipulate the medium of TV for his own benefit. Frost, who put up his own money for the interviews, hoped the “get” would result in “a cascade of candor” from the president and would lend him journalistic legitimacy.
Nixon hoped a soft interview could help rehabilitate his image as a statesman and gain sympathy from the American people.
Howard's challenge was to make the material visual, he said. He did this by letting secondary characters get their viewpoints across, enabling viewers to “connect emotionally” with the film. He also wanted spontaneity, which he achieved by letting the actors improvise, which "liberated" them and "broke up what they were used to.”
Langella caused a fuss when he asked to be called “Mr. President” on the set. The resulting tension created an unease which carried over into filming and shows on screen in the Nixon character. Langella was not doing an impersonation, Howard said, but he masterfully incorporates Nixon’s physical and vocal mannerisms which helped him develop the character.
Sheen, who played Tony Blair in Morgan's film “The Queen,” plays the ingratiating jet-setting playboy Frost with the right blend of insecurity and bravado.
Frost recognized “the reductive power of the closeup,” Howard said. A defeated Nixon’s facial expressions captured on camera in the last interview were more eloquent than anything Americans had heard.
“Frost utilized the medium to its greatest effect in a democracy,” Howard said.
For more about the movie, see www.frost/nixon.net.
Director Ron Howard discussed his endorsement of Barack Obama during a Q&A with Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers following a screening of "Frost/Nixon" Friday, Oct. 24 at a fundraiser for Pelham Picture House in Pelham, N.Y. Howard endorsed Obama in Internet ads as his Opie character from "The Andy Griffith Show" with Griffith and as Richie from "Happy Days" with Henry Winkler as the Fonz.
Howard told Travers a bit sheepishly that he always thought celebrities should stay out of politics, but it was the first time in his "50 years in show business," he said, that "I felt strongly that an endorsement was worth doing."
The 1977 post-Watergate interviews between TV host David Frost and the disgraced president Richard Nixon "changed the relationship between politics and journalism forever, says "Frost/Nixon" p.r. The film, adapted for the screen from Peter Morgan's Broadway play, is a dramatic retelling of the story of how the lightweight British talk show host was able to elicit an apology from president for his abuse of power. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen reprise their roles as Nixon and Frost in the film.
Howard said he was "riveted" by the original interviews. "I was looking for clarity," he said. Seeing the play with his wife in London, he knew immediately that he wanted to make the film. Luckily for him, he said, Universal agreed with Howard and his "indie model" for "Frost/Nixon."
Howard said that after the Watergate scandal, people thought the abuse of executive power would never happen again. "It resonates today," he said. "That's the dramatic link."
Both Frost and Nixon's reputations were on the line with the interviews. Each thought he could manipulate the medium of TV for his own benefit. Frost, who put up his own money for the interviews, hoped the “get” would result in “a cascade of candor” from the president and would lend him journalistic legitimacy.
Nixon hoped a soft interview could help rehabilitate his image as a statesman and gain sympathy from the American people.
Howard's challenge was to make the material visual, he said. He did this by letting secondary characters get their viewpoints across, enabling viewers to “connect emotionally” with the film. He also wanted spontaneity, which he achieved by letting the actors improvise, which "liberated" them and "broke up what they were used to.”
Langella caused a fuss when he asked to be called “Mr. President” on the set. The resulting tension created an unease which carried over into filming and shows on screen in the Nixon character. Langella was not doing an impersonation, Howard said, but he masterfully incorporates Nixon’s physical and vocal mannerisms which helped him develop the character.
Sheen, who played Tony Blair in Morgan's film “The Queen,” plays the ingratiating jet-setting playboy Frost with the right blend of insecurity and bravado.
Frost recognized “the reductive power of the closeup,” Howard said. A defeated Nixon’s facial expressions captured on camera in the last interview were more eloquent than anything Americans had heard.
“Frost utilized the medium to its greatest effect in a democracy,” Howard said.
For more about the movie, see www.frost/nixon.net.
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