Happy Birthday, Donna McKechnie!

"There are two reasons why I am in show business and I am standing on both of them."
-Betty Grable


Happy Wednesday!
Today is Donna McKechnie's birthday. I'm confessing to the world my love for her. In 1975, I heard Donna for the first time. We had summer neighbors. Mike and Marian Cocchiaro. They were from Maryland. When Miss Marion (as we called her)'s Uncle Floyd died, she bought the house next door as a summer get away for her family and friends.
She always showed up sometime after Memorial Day and stayed till after Labor Day.
I used to count the days till she arrived.
I could talk openly with her about most subjects.
And she shared the same passion I did with show business. It is 1975 and I am 14 years old. Miss Marion arrived and said, "Ricky, I just got the album for A Chorus Line. After I unpack, come over, I'll make some ice tea and we'll listen to it." I couldn't wait! When she called me and asked me to come over. I flew there! We sat down to listen. The opening starts. It captured the excitement of what I imagined a New York audition to be. During the opening montage, one of the characters sings the "S" word. Miss Marion, sipping her ice tea, does a perfect spit take. By the time, "T" and "A" came on, i thought she was going to have a heart attack! She said we can't listen to this! I begged her. She said "Never tell your parents!" Boy how times have changed.
She allowed me to listen to the rest!
From that time on, every time I went over, I wanted to listen to two tracks.
The "One" finale and "The Music And The Mirror".
Who is this Donna McKechnie anyway? WOW!



Move ahead to 2001.
I am now 40, I have been in New York 22 years by this point. 9/11 had happened and in November, Margot Astrachan and The St. George Society produced a benefit for the families of the British victims. It was hosted by Tony Roberts and a cast that consisted of Hayley Mills, John Wallowitch, myself...and Donna McKechnie!

John Wallowitch, Hayley Mills, Donna McKechnie
"FROM PICCADILLY TO TIMES SQUARE" November 19th, 2001

It was a sad occasion, obviously, and the wounds were still very recent. But we were there to TRY and make people forget their pain for a couple of hours. It was a thrill to meet Donna McKechnie! This woman that I listened to over and over from A Chorus Line!
We laughed about the fact that our photos in the program were very similar!

Several years later, she was performing her one woman show, MY MUSICAL COMEDY LIFE, which received unanimous raves from New York theater critics, won a MAC AWARD NOMINATION for Best Female Singer and the BACKSTAGE BISTRO AWARD for Outstanding Major Engagement. Donna's full-length auto-biographical theatrical show, INSIDE THE MUSIC (with text by Christopher Durang) captives audiences wherever it is performed. I have had the pleasure of seeing both several times. Donna enjoyed one of her greatest triumphs as Sally in the acclaimed revival of FOLLIES in the spring of 1998.

Which I saw and loved at The Papermill Playhouse. I saw her perform as Joann in Company at The Helen Hayes Theatre in Nyack. And I saw her at Goodspeed Opera House East Haddam in Mack and Mabel in 2004. I produced the Bistro Awards last year and I was thrilled when she agreed to present to Elaine Stritch (for Continuing Excellence in Cabaret). They had appeared together in the original production iof Broadway. Again, I love you, Donna, and this is for you!

A little trivia: Donna has appeared in Welch's Grape Juice commercials, as well as first L'eggs stocking commercial.

Tony Award-winning star of A CHORUS LINE, Ms. McKechnie is regarded internationally as one of Broadway's foremost dancing and singing stars.

A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch.
 With nineteen main characters, it is set on the bare stage of a Broadway Theatre during an audition for a musical. The show provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
 The original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Buffalo, NY native Michael Bennett, was an unprecedented box office and critical hit, receiving 12 Tony Award nominations and winning nine of them, in addition to the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

It ran for 6,137 performances, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history until surpassed by Cats in 1997, and the longest-running Broadway musical originally produced in the United States, until surpassed in 2011 by Chicago. It remains the fifth longest- running Broadway show ever. The show has enjoyed many successful productions worldwide and was revived on Broadway in 2006.
 The musical was formed from several taped workshop sessions with Broadway dancers, known as "gypsies," including eight who eventually appeared in the original cast.

The sessions were originally hosted by dancers Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens. The first taped session occurred at the Nickolaus Exercise Center on January 26, 1974. They hoped that they would form a professional dance company to make workshops for Broadway dancers.
Michael Bennett was invited to join the group primarily as an observer, but quickly took control of the proceedings.
Although Bennett’s involvement has been challenged, there has been no question about Kirkwood and Dante’s authorship. In later years, his claim that A Chorus Line had been his brainchild resulted in not only hard feelings but a number of lawsuits as well.
During the workshop sessions, random characters would be chosen at the end for the chorus jobs, resulting in genuine surprise among the cast.
Subsequent productions, however, have the same set of characters winning the slots.
Marvin Hamlisch, who co-wrote "A Chorus Line's" winning score, recalls how in its first previews, audiences seemed put off by something in the story. Actress Marsha Mason told Bennett that Cassie (Donna McKechnie), because she did everything right, should win the part and not lose. Bennett changed it so that Cassie would win the part.
A Chorus Line opened Off Broadway at The Public Theater on April 15, 1975.
At the time, the Public did not have enough money to finance the production.
They borrowed $1.6 million in order to produce the show.
The show was directed and co-choreographed (with Bob Avian) by Bennett.
Advance word had created such a demand for tickets that the entire run sold out immediately. Producer Joseph Papp moved the production to Broadway, and on July 25, 1975 it opened at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 6,137 performances until April 28, 1990.
In 1976, many of the original cast went on to perform in the Los Angeles production. Open roles were recast and the play was again reviewed as the "New" New York Company which included Ann Reinking, Sandahl Bergman, Christopher Chadman, Justin Ross (who would go on to appear in the film), and Barbara Luna.
When it closed, A Chorus Line was the longest running show in Broadway history until its record was surpassed by Cats in 1997 and Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera in 2002.
On September 29, 1983, Bennett and 330 A Chorus Line veterans came together to produce a show to celebrate the musical becoming the longest-running show in Broadway history.
A Chorus Line generated $277 million USD in revenue and had 6.5 million Broadway attendees.
Since its inception, the show's many worldwide productions, both professional and amateur, have been a major source of income for The Public Theater.
By 1991, four of the five original creators had died; Bennett, Kirkwood, and Dante from complications of AIDS-related diseases, and Kleban from cancer.

Some of Donna's other Broadway credits include: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING; A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (national tour); THE EDUCATION OF HYMAN KAPLAN; SONDHEIM - A MUSICAL TRIBUTE (which she also choreographed); ON THE TOWN; PROMISES, PROMISES; COMPANY and STATE FAIR for which she received the Fred Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer for the 1995-1996 season.

Jerry Orbach and Jill O'Hara in Promises, Promises

  
She also starred in dozens of regional theatre productions including Cole Porter's YOU NEVER KNOW at the Pasadena Playhouse, I DO! I DO!, MISALLIANCE, THE GOODBYE GIRL and GYPSY. Ms. McKechnie played the lead in Bob Fosse's last production, a national tour of SWEET CHARITY, for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. 
 In 2001, Donna received a nomination for an OVATION AWARD for Best Featured Actress (MACK and MABEL) from the LA Theater Alliance League.

 At the age of six, Donna saw the movie The Red Shoes. It was then that she decided she was going to be a ballerina.

Donna started taking dance classes at the age of five. When she was seventeen she moved to New York City, against her parent's wishes.

 Donna played the title character in the Sweet Charity revival, which was Bob Fosse's last successful musical venture, since he died shortly before it opened.

She met her future husband Michael Bennett while they were dancing together on the television show Hullabaloo.

I received the following from Bart Greenberg:

My late husband, James "Jimmy" Rilley and Donna were very good friends dating back to the COMPANY days. One night, at a party, to Donna's great delight, Jimmy got up at a party (all 275 pounds of his Irish bear body) and to the accompaniment of the original cast recording, performed "Tick, Tock", Donna's showstopping dance solo from the show. When A CHORUS LINE opened, Donna sent him a photo of herself mid-step for "Music and the Mirror". Written on her leg was the message, "I can't wait to see what you do with this one."

More importantly, when Jimmy suffered a massive stroke and was in the hospital being told by the doctors that he would never walk again, Donna called to encourage him and remind him of her own battle to walk again. "If I can do it, you can do it!" she told him. That meant so much to his recovery. 
Bart

Happy Birthday, Donna! I LOVE YOU!





WIKIPEDIA and my interview with Sam Irvin are THE MAIN SOURCES OF THIS  BLOG. NO COPY WRITE INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.  FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!

Thank you, to all the mentioned in this blog! 

I love you ALL!! 

 
Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!

Now, GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TONIGHT!

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Donna McKechnie, Carol Channing, and Kitty Carlisle Hart
with Glen Roven
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

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TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEKEND!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

Are you on my team?

"For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair."
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American writer (1906-2001)

It's Memorial Day. A day of remembrance. It always seems odd to me to say "Happy Memorial Day".
I think most people forget about what this day is all about. It's about beach openings, barbeques, and the impending summer! At least that is what it is for MANY. For others, it is something completely different. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).
While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.
For me, it is also our anniversary. I met Danny on this date in 1990. We've been together ever since! 21 years! It's been great! I'm looking forward to what the next 21 years will bring!
I'll be 71.
Danny will be 78!
God willing!!

After a blog last week, in which I mentioned a friend who began every meeting with, "Either you're on my team or not?", I received the following e-mail. I will post my responses in bold type.

How do you (we-I-any of us) process feedback?
I have a rule about criticism. If it's going to HELP me, I want to hear it. If it's not going to help me, it will go in one ear and out the other!If it's going to HURT me, please keep it to yourself. Who is “on our team”? Those who are supporting my dream on ANY level!
After all these years I can say that honestly I don’t know this answer. It is a constant struggle.

For instance, I watch American Idol, and I don’t get it. I don’t get the audience responses, I don’t get the judges responses….but I do get that some of those folk will end up rich.
Rich and famous.I don't watch American Idol. I am not a fan of competition shows. Where judges and audiences seek out cruelty for entertainment sake. But when I see a clip such as this one, I have to think their must be something POSITIVE about this show!

If you ever saw Charles Nelson Reilly’s magnificent one man show, you realize that if had listened to “people that knew” he never would have had a career. And yet we know of times when someone gave advice to a performer that was life changing.There are "experts" all over this business. Judy Garland, Susan Boyle, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand would not have had careers IF they had listened to those "experts"!


Not long ago I worked with someone on a song. I tried as hard as possible to trust this person (a good guy, by the way). By the time I finished doing everything I was told, there was no more ME in the song. It was a song that, when I sang it before, made everyone cry. I sang from my heart. When I was done with all my "coachings", no one reacted. Again, Listen to your heart. Here are three versions of my favorite song. Is anyone better than the other two?You and I could go see a show together and come out with two completely different reactions to what we just experienced. That is the magic of entertainmentDo you believe your "coaches" were trying to sabotage you OR do you think they were bringing to the table where they are emotionally with the material you were performing? Did they say you were WRONG in your interpretation OR were there other ways of looking at the material. IF you have a very strong sense of who you are and they are trying to strip that away, you need to walk away from them IF you don't have a strong sense of who you are, perhaps they can help you on THAT path.

Then, on the other hand, we know that many great stars were inventions. We know that in Motown, the singers were trained how to walk, move, dance, sing and answer questions. We know that Hollywood starlets were coached to death on how to act, talk, etc. We know that eyebrows were plucked, and make up men came in, and diets were imposed…whatever. And we know that for some stars, it worked like crazy.

So, my dear Richard, how do we know whom to trust? My answer? You have to trust YOU! YOU know what works for YOU! What hasn't worked for YOU. What turns you on. What turns you off. Go with those instincts. The right people will gravitate to you. Trust me, the wrong ones will to. Carol Channing once told me that for every person who likes you, there are an equal number who don't. Hang on to your TRUTH!
If you were to open up the subject again one day, and could inspire people to respond, that would be very helpful. I posted this question yesterday. NO ONE responded!

After all, I know we have all had our share of terrible advice and we have all had people that tried to tell us to stop performing….and we all have had angels who kept us going.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my blog. I hope I helped. If not, I hope I will!

I am posting the following review because I think it captures where MAC has been, where it is, and possible clues to where it needs to go. I feel like an outsider as far as where "MAC" is concerned. I hope to one day feel what I used to feel about MAC. There are those who get upset when you voice an OPINION on MAC. An opinion is not necessarily a slam on MAC. My actions prove over and over how much I support this cabaret community". My blogs, my posts, and my frequent cabaret going prove and will continue to do that. But as far as MAC is concerned, I feel like the kid with his nose pressed against the window.

25th anniversary of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs Awards (MAC.)
By: John Hoglund






It was not exactly Paris. It was not a starry, starry night. However, New York cabaret was blasted out of its lull like a bubbly bottle of Dom Perignon as the cabaret community honored its own. It all took place on Tuesday, May 10 at B. B. King's Blues Club where the Times Square nitery hosted the 25th anniversary of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs Awards (MAC.)
One naturally expected a celebrity lineup of past winners and supporters.
Not so.
Instead, a few hundred performers , friends of cabaret and past winners – among them beloved staples like Baby Jane Dexter, Sharon McNight, Julie Wilson and Jane Monheit who presented a lifetime achievement award to jazz legend Annie Ross, were on hand for the event which honored musical, jazz and comedy performers as well as directors and technicians in about 30 categories. The biggest star of the show was film clips from past shows provided by Applause Video's Bradshaw Smith (who won the first male vocalist award.)
Those nostalgia-laced clips stole the show which was directed by Lennie Watts.
The benign party-flavored evening was hosted with zeal by musical comedienne Christine Pedi, and produced by MAC veep Julie Miller.

Former officers and presidents were on hand to give speeches or present awards. Current president Lennie Watts

recalling his earliest impressions of cabaret, cited being blown away by the likes of Karen Mason, Sally Mayes and the Jenny Burton Experience

for starters.
Speaking about the ups and downs and naysayers of this ever delicate art form, he also noted that, in spite of what anybody says, “... Cabaret ain't going nowhere.”

One might say it was the best of times meets the worst of times (depending on who you ask.) It's cabaret. And, through the years, it has presented the best, and sometimes the worst.
A cliché ?
Maybe.
But cabaret is like a messy sundae dripping with nutty clichés in words and music – with a dollop of drama. Besides, all performers need a jumping off place. Too, cabaret has always been a close cousin to Broadway and inflated with more confusion and chaos than Spider Man; Turn Off the Dark. Like that show, which soared to instant infamy, few idioms in entertainment have gone through as many reinventions, transitions and panic attacks as cabaret. So, these awards, star-filled or not, mean a lot to the aspirations and dreams of a plethora of hopefuls who are serious about a future and fighting for recognition. The evening was a mixed bag of banality and greatness being rewarded for what they love most with one thing in common; dreams. Picking up an award about a decade ago, perhaps Baby Jane Dexter said it best, “ … we all have the same dream.” It may not be the golden days of the Blue Angel, the old Versailles or Reno Sweeney, but cabaret is thriving. Expensive, upscale rooms and mid-level clubs like The Duplex, Don't Tell Mama, Laurie Beechman Theatre and Metropolitan Room host numerous sold out shows.
Mr. Watts' point is well noted.
Willkommen!
The MAC Awards started in a basement at the Village Vanguard

Now, twenty five years later, it's still in a basement (after all, that's basically what B.B. King's is!) Along the way, award galas were held at renowned venues like Symphony Space and The Town Hall as well as The Copacabana and Lincoln Center. The idea of having night club awards in a real nightclub jump-started a few years ago and it has worked well since (food and drink are mandatory when an evening runs three to four hours.)
It was a cause to celebrate.
However, one expected a tad more of a pizzazz to celebrate a milestone like a quarter of a century of an organization that has previously honored so many and had many now established stars emerge.
This year's awards were noticeably lower key in comparison to past years.
And, the dearth of celebrities not taking part in the festivities was conspicuous. For instance, past performers and presenters have included stars and industry high rollers like Betty Buckley, Barbara Cook, Kathie Lee Gifford, Ahmet Ehrtegun, Joan Rivers, Rosemary Clooney, Chita Rivera, Barry Manilow, Michael Feinstein, Liza Minnelli and Brian Stokes Mitchell who presented the lifetime achievement award to Leslie Uggams last year.

Christine Pedi recalled that when these awards began in 1987, gasoline was eighty nine cents, a subway token was a dollar, the laptop was invented, The Mystery of Edwin Drood was a smash on Broadway, Cagney & Lacey was a hit on television, Irving Berlin turned ninety eight, Harold Arlen and Benny Goodman died, greed was good, Lindsay Lohan and the Olsen twins were born, 42nd Street was a cacophony of hookers and pimps, and half the people in the audience were in grammar school.

The emphasis was on clubs and the creatures who inhabit them. Thanks to Applause Video's Bradshaw Smith (who won the first male vocalist award,) the night paid film homage to a litany of late, great performers. What the evening lacked in boffo celebrity artists on hand was made up for with zealous gaiety and a lot of heart from many friends.

Borrowing a note from the television hit Glee, a chorus of singers opened the show warbling Barry Manilow's One Voice sung in scattered harmonies in a sweet arrangement by musical director Steven Ray Watkins. Sounding as if it had been written just for the evening, it was sung by Ben Cherry, Natalie Douglas, Daryl Glenn, Danielle Grabianowski, Lorinda Lisitza, Karen Mack, Sue Matsuki and Miles Phillips. A collage of highlights from past shows followed showing clips of winners and performers that included the likes of: Betty Buckley, Barbara Cook, Jeff Harnar, Maureen McGovern

Barry Manilow, Phillip Officer and Liza Minnelli.

Scott Coulter, Lennie Watts and Watkins performed a campy medley paying silly tribute to the disco ball (1987) including eighties club hits one might have heard at Danceteria or The Roxy like: Turn The Beat Around, Lady Marmalade, I Will Survive and Enough Is Enough. Someone switched on a disco ball but, like the evening, it didn't glitter. Respected jazz singer and former MAC president Judy Barnett offered no apologies for suggesting that cabaret replace reality TV in her pithy remarks.

There was a friendly dichotomy between the first and current presidents' comments regarding MAC and cabaret in general. Erv Raible is the organization's co-founder along with late NY Post critic Curt Davis. He guided the group through endless milestones and was an integral part of nurturing performers and keeping MAC afloat in those early years. Lennie Watts is the current popular singer/director/performer who directs many newer artists today and is at the helm over the few years carrying this candle in the wind that often gets slammed by unknowledgeable journalists.

When the New York Times, which could do boundless wonders to support cabaret and a dangling nightlife, writes about the idiom, the focus is invariably on upscale rooms and well established artists. On these rare occasions, cabaret is thrown a bone. How are new and gifted talents supposed to get noticed today? Another reason MAC and these awards count for so much in a passive-aggressive age of Internet frauds who become overnight stars. But that's another column.


Watts optimistically addressed today's “new breed” of performers “... who inhabit clubs like flies at a picnic ... I got involved with cabaret in the late 80s and “they” were saying that cabaret was dying - then. I could never figure out what people were talking about. As far as I could see, things were thriving. I saw some of the most amazing shows! Does everybody remember their first cabaret show? I do. It was Karen Mason at Rainbow & Stars. I had never seen anything like it and I was hooked. I remember thinking that if this is what dying feels like, put me in the body bag and zip that sucker up!”



Raible's remarks about the beginnings in 1987 were a mix of humorous remembrance and cautious cynicism. He quoted encouraging words to beginners by a beloved, much-missed, late saloon singer at those first awards in a speech that made it into the mainstream press, “... That night, Sylvia Syms compared performing in cabaret to “being kissed by the greatest lover you will ever have – and that from there on there would be no turning back!”

Raible, who has owned The Duplex, opened Don't Tell Mama, Brandy's Piano and co-owned the fabled Eighty Eight's (with Karen Miller and Rochelle Seldin,) joked about the eighties era in his introduction to film clips of the first awards, recalling, “ … everyone had big hair then, and, it was their natural color! Everything from big curls, and spikes to curly mullets, and two-tone dye jobs emulating '57 Chevy's! And it’s amazing how many of them actually had hair!” He added sardonically, “And, you will be given valuable information on how to avoid homosexuals.” On a more serious note, he paid tribute to Curt Davis and his verbose successor, the late Bob Harrington, “who got cabaret on the front page of The Post.” In more didactic commentary, he also noted, “ … Awards are funny things. Over the years some have managed to manipulate categories in order to win, some have pulled strings, some started slanderous hate mail campaigns, some bought votes outright. And then, there are those who did deservedly win awards - because they are really good! After all, these awards were not designed to celebrate mediocrity and scorn quality!” Hopefully, the crowd was listening.

Watts wound up his comments assuring everyone “ … It keeps getting better . We make people feel something ... I don't think that will go out of style.”

Uniquely, the ceremony was peppered with award winners accepting and then performing. Julie Reyburn, who won in the major engagement category, sang a heartfelt There Is Love with Mark Janas on piano. Director Scott Barnes presented the annual Hanson Award to Marianne Challis whom he first spotted in 1987 when she was playing Nellie Forbish in South Pacific at the New York State Theater. He told of her being Broadway bound and then not being able to sing for ten years (due to throat problems) before deciding to return with a club act. She sang Julie Gold's What A Journey. Her beautifully nuanced performance created one of those intimate cabaret moments. More clips were shown that included Broadway's Karen Mason singing with the late Brian Lasser at the piano. Impersonator Ruby Rims, in full drag, remembered seeing musical comedienne Helen Baldassare at the long gone Mr. Chips. After her acceptance, newcomer Liz Lark Brown brought the house down singing a rousing “Kyrie” by eighties rock group Mr.Mister.

In a fun twist, the cleaning lady from Don't Tell Mama was on hand to help with the next award in broken English. Then, former president, Ricky Ritzel, presented veteran piano bar mainstay entertainer George Sanders with a special board of directors award as clips were shown of why he is such a popular crowd pleaser known for his off-color antics at the old Duplex and Don't Tell Mama replete with feathers – and a penchant for taking his pants down while serving drinks.
Song of the Year winners Marcus Simeone/Tracy Stark

Previous award winners Marcus Simeone and musical director/performer Tracy Stark won the song of the year award for Haunted. Both thanked the right people. Simeone dedicated his win to his longtime partner Gregory Kennell who was seated in a wheelchair after surviving a paralyzing coma last year. His personal note that was emotional earning a strong ovation. Over the past few months, the cabaret community lost three of its brightest lights. And they were respectfully remembered. In one of the evening's highlights, Johnny Rodgers sang a tender version of legendary Margaret Whiting's signature song, Moonlight In Vermont that was as good as the original. Klea Blackhurst offered a sincere reading of This Funny world honoring Mary Cleere Haran. And vocal group Uptown Express sang a moving Seasons Of Love in honor of their late colleague David Gurland.
With Rick Jensen

at the piano playing his original In Passing Years, clips showed other favorites who had passed including: Bobby Short, Claiborne Cary, Rosemary Clooney, Anne Fancine, Sylvia Syms, Portia Nelson, Leola Harlow, Howard Crabtree, Hildegarde, Buddy Barnes, John Wallowitch & Bertram Ross, Eartha Kitt, Judy Kreston, Marcia Lewis, Phoebe Snow, Mary Cleere Haran, Dorothy Loudon, David Gurland and Nancy LaMott among others.

Presenter and longtime board member Jamie deRoy told of starting in cabaret when they were still called nightclubs. She remembered The Living Room, Upstairs At the Downstairs and recalled seeing Lenny Bruce in a basement in Greenwich Village. More performers performed and talked about themselves. In the end, it was an evening of pastiche, memories and opening doors to that new breed that has taken over cabaret. While the awards were going on, KT Sullivan was starring at The Algonquin Tom Postilio was about to open at Feinstein's and Broadway's Marin Mazzie and Jason Daniely were having their opening night at Cafe' Carlyle. Their shows were mostly sold out. That's something to sing about.

So, 25 years later, in spite of some pros and cons, in the face of criticism, and a bag of dreams, MAC trudges on – and on. Good times and bad times; it's still here and, to reiterate Lennie Watts, “... it ain't going nowhere.”

Bobbie Horowitz writes in her book, "FINDING YOUR mini-Qs", "If we think we should be more muscular, we can't paint muscles on our reflection in the mirror and expect to walk outside into the street with more muscular arms!"

In NY tonight? Looking for something to do?SHAKESPEARE SOIREE

IDO SUSHI 29 7TH AVE SOUTH
MEMORIAL DAY SPECIAL

SHAKESPEARE SOIREE
OPEN MIKE FOR ALL PERFORMERS

RELATE YOUR SONG TO A SHAKESPEAREAN CHARACTER



WELCOME TO TAKE THE SHAKESPEARE CHALLENGE!

SHAKESPEARE VERSE FOR ALL IN THE WILLYTHESHAKEANDSPEAK BOX
(KING JOHN -OUR HIDDEN THEME)
DIRECTED BY BRONWYN RUCKER
CO-HOST : BARBARA MUNDY
JERRY SCOTT AT THE PIANO
FOR FURTHER INFO: WWW.BRONWYNRUCKER.COM


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Tomorrow's blog will be about YOU TELL ME!! I'm open to suggestions

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TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED SUMMER!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

Happy Memorial Day! Life IS a cabaret...

Tickets are now available for the 19th Birthday Party of CABARET HOTLINE
ONLINE that will be held on Thursday, July 9th at 7:00 pm at THE WEST BANK
CAFE/LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATER (407 West 42nd Street, NYC - 212-695-6909 -
http://www.westbankcafe.com/ ).
Sales are limited to 75 seats. They've already
lined up some great performers for the show: Tom Andersen, Terrell Baker, Raisa Katona Bennett, Ryan Greer and Jim Speake to start. Two more performers have been invited - they are waiting to hear back - and they're still
checking out 3 or 4 more to ask.


The cost per ticket is just $15 to 2009-2010 members and $25 for those who
have not renewed their memberships yet or haven't joined yet. SILVER
memberships are just $20 so you can join/renew as a member for $20 then get
your ticket for $15 and receive a full year of benefits. Tickets and memberships are not refundable. NO RESERVATIONS WILL BE
TAKEN BY THE CLUB - no tickets sold the day of the event.
Program Booklet ads are available as well - in just three sizes: 1/4 page
(square), 1/2 page (horizontal) and full page.
Pricing is $75 full page, $50
for 1/2 page and $30 for 1/4 page.

Those of you who know me personally and/or if you have been following my blogs, you know that ARTS IN EDUCATION is my main cause. Here are a few news items And facts I have discovered since my last blog last Thursday. ...Research has shown that the arts have a positive effect on students not just for their own sake but that also improve academically. Leading figures from the cultural sector are being urged to work more closely with teachers, so that between them they can produce a national strategy for educating young people in the arts.
A spectacular new arts high school in downtown Los Angeles cost an equally spectacular $232 million.
Now that the campus is complete, with its state-of-the-art theater, ceramics studios and other eye-popping amenities, the critical next step for school leaders is to avoid wrecking it. My prescription: Don't rush the school into a September curtain-raising, and don't diminish what could become a national beacon of arts education by turning it into a neighborhood school.
In other arts related news, President Obama picked the Broadway producer Rocco Landesman to lead the National Endowment for the Arts.







For years, school systems across the nation dropped the arts to concentrate on getting struggling students to pass tests in reading and math.
Yet now, a growing body of brain research suggests that teaching the arts may be good for students across all disciplines. The U.S. Department of Education reports that when comparing the amount of arts education received by first-graders to third-graders, first-graders were much more likely to receive education in art, music, dance and theater than third graders. This means that the educational process is not being carried out even to the third year of many children's schooling.
In Pennsylanaia, Wilkes County high school and middle school performing arts programs received a major boost Tuesday with a $115,526 donation from Lowe's Companies Inc.
Dr. Steve Laws, Wilkes school superintendent, said the North Wilkes, East Wilkes, Wilkes Central and West Wilkes high school band directors have access to $25,000 apiece to buy musical instruments for their high school and middle school bands starting next week.
In addition to $100,000 for the band programs, said Laws, the four high school choral programs are getting $2,500 each to buy rights to sheet music and fund other performance-related expenses.
He said $5,000 will go for the drama program, with drama instructor Wes Martin teaching for one period apiece in each Wilkes high school in the 2009-10 school year.
Laws said that with funding cuts for performing arts programs likely due to the local school system's major budget challenges, this latest major donation from Lowe's is particularly timely.

Due to the likelihood of cuts in operational funds, said Laws, members of booster organizations for bands, choral groups, athletic teams and certain other Wilkes school programs can expect to be faced with the challenge of raising additional money. "Fundraising will be even more difficult in the coming year," he added.
The West Wilkes, East Wilkes, North Wilkes and Wilkes Central band programs normally get $3,000 each from the Wilkes Board of Education, plus two of the three get an additional $3,000 on a rotational basis. The choral programs normally get $500 each annually, while drama has no set budget.
He said the $115,526 donation again illustrated the important partnership role of Lowe's in public education initiatives in Wilkes, which have included technology, facilities, career education, athletics and more.
"Over the past three years, the Wilkes Board of Education has focused on upgrading the arts program in the schools as one of its goals," he said, with a particular emphasis on building stronger band programs.
The number of band students, particularly in the four Wilkes middle schools, continues to increase following the hiring of new band directors at Wilkes Central, East Wilkes, North Wilkes and West Wilkes.
"Thankfully, the middle school band program has grown so fast that many of the instruments purchased (with the $100,000 from Lowe's) will go for it," said Laws.

"One of the joys I have had is watching our young people perform and seeing that they get better every year. The talent and ability of our young people to excel is there. It's the adults working with them that makes the difference," he added.
Laws said all research shows that arts education contributes greatly to the overall development of young people, including students who perceive that they have little artistic talent.
"It costs money to provide opportunities for these young people and Lowe's recognizes the importance of making this investment."
Laws said that largely through Lowe's and people associated with the company, the Stone Family Center for Performing Arts opened in 2008 to improve opportunities for Wilkes students to perform and showcase their talents.
He said this includes providing a venue for visual arts, with student artwork regularly featured in the Stone Center and elsewhere in a portion of the 65,000-square-foot former Lowe's store on Cherry Street, North Wilkesboro.
School administrative offices fill most of the building.
Over half of the $800,000 needed to create the Stone Center came as donations from Lowe's President and Chief Operating Officer Larry Stone, and his wife, Diane; the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation "Hometown Grants" program and five retired Lowe's executives and their spouses: Leonard and Rose Herring, Pete Kulynych, Arnold and Becky Lakey, Dwight and Ann Pardue and Phil and Scotti Stevens.
All of these people live in Wilkes and Stone is chairman of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation.
Laws noted that two years ago, the Lakeys donated $50,000, or $12,500 each, for high school band directors to purchase instruments.
The $115,526 donated this week by Lowe's came from the company's planogram facility, which is where Lowe's evaluates products for possible sale in its stores.
Laws had requested $100,000, based on $25,000 for additional instruments for each high school band program.
Before submitting the request, he asked each band director to prepare a list of instruments they would purchase with $25,000 each.


MY FEATURED PERFORMER FOR THE WEEK IS SHARON MCKNIGHT!On Tuesday, June 2 7:30pm - Sharon McKnight performs her acclaimed SONGS TO OFFEND ALMOST EVERYONE at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre 3656 N Halsted, 3rd floor Chicago.
www.centeronhealsted.org



REMEMBERING SCOTT SCHECHTER
Scott Schechter, expert fan
By Sally A. Downey



Scott Schechter, 48, formerly of Philadelphia, an authority on the careers of Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minnelli, died of an apparent heart attack May 14 while traveling by train from a business dinner in New York to his home in Asbury Park, N.J.
In 1998, Mr. Schechter coproduced what critics considered the definitive audio overview of Garland's career. The four-CD box set, Judy, spans the singer's career from her earliest known recordings in 1929, when she was 7, to her final appearances in 1969.
Mr. Schechter also co-produced the set's 32-minute video and co-wrote its 100-page book.


He also wrote Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend, a 2002 book that describes the "alternately astonishing, trivial, revelatory, mordantly funny act of possible madness known as Judy Garland," according to reviewer David Patrick Stearns, an Inquirer music critic.

The book lists the contents of Garland's address book, tells when she had teeth pulled and migraine headaches, and gives details of a day of filming of The Wizard of Oz that was wasted when a raven flew off the Scarecrow's shoulder and did not return.

In 2004, Mr. Schechter compiled The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook, a pictorial biography of the singer.
He had good people skills and was able to gather unique images from photographers who shared his vision, said Mr. Schechter's life partner, Russell Klein.

Mr. Schechter befriended Minnelli, who chose him to run her official Web site. His expertise as a Garland-Minnelli historian was acknowledged on his TV and radio appearances, and he was a consulting producer to companies that continue to release Garland and Minnelli material.

Mr. Schechter grew up in the Melrose Park Gardens neighborhood of Philadelphia.
He told Stearns that he had found metaphysical irony in having grown up in the town where Garland began her U.S. concert career in 1943 (at Robin Hood Dell) and concluded it in 1968 (JFK Stadium).


Mr. Schechter told Stearns that he had discovered Garland when That's Entertainment, a 1974 anthology of MGM musicals, opened at the old Fern Rock Theater.

"Then Channel 48 purchased a package of MGM musicals that were shown on weekdays at 1 p.m.," he told Stearns. "I had a pact with my mom that if I kept my grades up, I could come home for lunch on those days when they showed Judy's movies and not go back to school in the afternoon. I was 13."

After graduating from Northeast High School in 1979, Mr. Schechter worked for insurance companies in Philadelphia and New York before making Garland and Minnelli a career.

An animal-rights activist, Mr. Schechter doted on his rescue dog, Tigger, Klein said.

Mr. Schechter and Klein were involved in neighborhood revitalization efforts in Asbury Park, where they had lived since 2003.
In addition to his partner, Mr. Schechter is survived by a brother, Herman; a sister, Rene Schechter Klein; and two nieces.



A byword for Broadway, a synonym for ‘star’, Liza Minnelli is Hollywood royalty. An Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy – all hers. Throw in three Tonys and two Golden Globes.


Her personal life is no less compelling. From disastrous marriages to successful affairs, from booze to pills to health problems – she’s always been her mother’s daughter. Judy Garland’s daughter. Dorothy’s daughter.


How surreal to be speaking to the woman herself. I tell her as much when she calls Queensland Pride from New York.

“But don’t be silly!” she replies in her distinctive voice. “I’m just a person like everyone else.
I’ve had two hip replacements, honey!”

The response is pure Liza. Like her mother, she’s always seemed very human and vulnerable.
Another example: the nerves she exhibits. The morning of our chat coincides with the ticket release for her tour – and Liza is nothing if not nervous.
“Well, of course I’m nervous!” she says, when I express my surprise. “I get very nervous before tickets go on sale because I want people to come and see the show!
Every time is like putting myself on the line.”

She has nothing to worry about, of course. Tales subsequently emerge of ticketing sites going into meltdown. In Sydney, demand is so great that her two Opera House shows are supplemented with an extra date at the much larger Sydney Entertainment Centre.



The show itself is based on her recent New York engagement, Liza’s At The Palace – the Broadway run of which provoked ecstatic reviews from The New York Times (“Liza is a pure entertainer”) and The New York Post (“A triumph of which show business mythology is made”).
“I’ve got the best show I’ve ever done in store for you!” she promises. “I’m gonna work my butt off and give you everything I’ve got!”

And I, for one, believe her.
This is a woman who was told she’d never walk again after contracting viral encephalitis in the year 2000. She had to learn to talk again, let alone sing.

At several points, she was reported close to death and media outlets the world over readied obituaries.

And today? Forget walking and talking, she’s singing and dancing like a mad woman, getting some of the best reviews of her career.

So what got her through?

“Faith,” she replies. “I had faith. Faith in myself, faith in God, faith in the people taking care of me, faith in my fans.
There was no great plan, I just had faith.”

And so Australia gets to see Liza’s Lazarus-like ‘second wind’ when Liza Minnelli in Concert begins in Sydney on October 16 and visits Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, before winding up in Brisbane on October 30.
It marks Minnelli’s first visit to these shores since 1989, when she toured Australia with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jnr in The Ultimate Event.
“It’s been looong time,” Liza concedes. “And you know what? I don’t know why! I love Australia and Australians!”



Of course she does. She spent seven years married to one of us – one of our own famous stars, the late Peter Allen.
“He was just the best,” Liza recalls. “Absolutely the best. He wrote the best songs, he was so sensational. He was the kindest man you’d ever want to meet. And I was so lucky to get to know him.”

There was just one problem. Peter Allen was gay.

It’s been variously reported over the years that Liza knew this when she married him, but the Cabaret star categorically denies it when asked by Queensland Pride.

“Why would you ask that, honey?” she says, just a trifle testily. “I didn’t know. No, of course I didn’t know! And I don’t think he knew either. He hadn’t come to terms with it yet. And when he did, of course he told me and of course I said, ‘I understand’.
But it was hard.”

Liza is less understanding, however, of The Boy From Oz, the jukebox musical based on Allen’s life, which played to 1.2 million Australians in the late ’90s before moving to Broadway starring Hugh Jackman as Allen.

Liza was one of the main characters portrayed in the musical, as was her mother.

“I didn’t see it,” Liza replies airily, when I ask her opinion of it.
“I didn’t feel the need to,” she says, when pressed for a reason.
And then there’s a pause, followed by: “I had no need to see it, I lived it. I was there the first time. And nobody asked me anything about it; nobody could ask Peter anything. It was absolutely done without input from the people who were there.”



It should be noted that she says none of this with rancour. The words are delivered casually, almost sweetly.

Nor is she rancorous when asked about the image portrayed of her in some sections of the media; that of an out-of-control, drug-fuelled virago with a loose grasp on reality, to put it bluntly.
“I’m not a mess,” she maintains. “If I was a mess, there’s no way I could perform night after night, like I do. I’m one of the most disciplined people I know! But you know what? I don’t care what people say. They’re gonna say what they’re gonna say.”
Strong words, but again delivered sweetly, even pleasantly.
And again it strikes me that there’s nothing rancorous about Liza, nothing bitter.

Despite the well-documented heartaches, the very public relationship breakdowns, the near-death experiences, the drug addictions (Andy Warhol once recalled her demanding “every drug you’ve got”), and the mantle of tragedy surrounding her upbringing, Minnelli consciously chooses to focus on the good times.
The woman who once said “reality is something you rise above” seems to live by the words.

“Life is here to enjoy,” she tells me. “It’s a gift we’ve been given. There’s just no point dwelling on the bad times.”

Life is a cabaret, old chum?

“Yeah, that’s it,” she laughs.

And she sings in that unmistakable voice, loud and clear, quavering only so slightly with its 63 years.


“Life is a cabaret, old chum / Only a cabaret old chum / And I love a cab-aar-reeeeet!”
Liza Minnelli in Concert: 8pm Friday, October 30, 2009 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall. Tickets ($99-$279) available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849.


Visit www.lizaminnelli.com.au for further details.



THE LIFE OF LIZA


1946
Liza is born to singer/actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli.
1949 Makes her first film appearance (In The Good Old Summertime), at the age of three.

1963
Begins performing professionally on stage.

1964: Releases first album, Liza! Liza!; landmark appearance with Judy at the London Palladium.

1965
Becomes youngest person to win the Tony Award.

1967
Marries first of four husbands, Peter Allen. They divorce in 1974.
1972
Stars in Cabaret; wins Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe. Makes Liza with a Z television special.


1977
Stars in New York, New York, theme song of which becomes her signature song.

1981
Leading lady to Dudley Moore in hit film, Arthur.

1989
Releases acclaimed album Results, produced by the Pet Shop Boys.


1997
Returns to Broadway in Victor/Victoria.

2000
Reportedly close to death with viral encephalitis. Told she will never walk again.

2002

Triumphant Broadway return in Liza’s Back!; marries producer David Gest. They soon divorce, Gest claiming Liza is violent alcoholic with herpes.
2004
Joins cast of Arrested Development.

2009
Announces Liza Minnelli in Concert Australian tour including Brisbane performance on October 30.
A life celebration will be scheduled next month.

This Wednesday is Delores Hope's 100th Birthday! CBS is doing a celebration and I'm getting a group together to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY Live on the air for her!
We will gather at CBS between 7AM & 7:15 to sing Happy Birthday to Delores!We want 100 voices for 100 years!

Time: 7:15AM at 59th and 5th (next to Apple store).
We are working on securing individuals now. Are you interested? Please forward this to EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

I can be reached at845-365-0720.Please call to confirm! DRESS NICELY! This will be seen nationally!

Thanks for everything.
Dolores will be in Los Angeles, where the party will be held that day. TEN DECADES OF DOLORES.
With grateful XOXOXs to all of you who have come through for me ESPECIALLY Georga Osborne!!
Richard Skipper 845-365-0720Don't forfet to contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: http://www.carolchanning.org/Foundation.htm

With grateful XOXOXs for your support!

Richard Skipper

Follow me on Twitter @RichardSkipper

The party resumes in the evening.

May 27
7pm

IGUANA VIP LOUNGE, 240 West 54th St. & Broadway

WEDNESDAY NIGHT OF THE IGUANA

I will be hosting in this new comedy and musical variety show, with special guest stars Ritt Henn, Bobbie Horowitz, Hector Coris, Bernadette Pauley, Maureen Taylor. Jordan Clawson on keyboard, Saadi Zain on bass...and a few other surprises as well!