Showing posts with label Nell Carter. Show all posts

Thursday, March 26, 2020

We're In This Together: Part Two In A New Series...Today, Let's Celebrate Warren Schein!

Life's like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Happy Wednesday, March 26th, 2020!
Today is Legal Assistants Day. It recognizes the many contributions made to the legal profession by legal assistants. Legal assistants do work to support lawyers in areas such as

Happy 80th Birthdayto Nancy Pelosi today

corporate law, criminal law, immigration, and litigation. Their duties may vary depending on the type and size of the law firm they work at, but their contributions are vast.

March 26 is the 84th day of the year . 282 days remain until the end

of the year.

• 222 Days till Election Day! November 3rd! VOTE!!!!!!! (God willing)
• 16th of #SelfIsolation!
• Singer/actor Al Jolson born (1886?)
• Actor/singer Martin Short born (1950)
• Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand opened on Broadway (1964)
• Minnie's Boys opened on Broadway (1970)
• Annie revived (1st time) on Broadway (1997)
A 20th anniversary Broadway revival, which played at the Martin Beck Theatre (now called the Al Hirschfeld

Theatre) in 1997, entitled Annie, the 20th Anniversary, starred Nell Carter as Miss Hannigan, but controversy surrounded the casting of the titular character. The original actress cast in the role, Joanna Pacitti, was fired and replaced by her fellow orphan, Brittny Kissinger (who usually played orphan July) just two weeks before her Broadway debut, while battling bronchitis in Boston.
The Pre-Broadway Tour was playing the Colonial Theatre. 'Annie' Understudy and Swing Orphan Alexandra Keisman performed the role the first

Alexandra Keisman

night Pacitti was absent. The producers then gave Kissinger the next performance. The show then moved on to the Oakdale in Connecticut where an insert was placed in the Playbill claiming "The Role of Annie is now being played by Brittny Kissinger".
Public sentiment seemed to side with Pacitti as she was the winner of a highly publicized contest to find a new Annie sponsored by the department store Macy's.

Joanna Pacitti as a young woman

This incident, coupled with the mixed reviews the new staging garnered, doomed it to a short run, although it was followed by a successful national tour. Kissinger, then 8, became the youngest actress to ever play Annie on Broadway.
More controversy surrounding the show involved Nell Carter. Carter reportedly was very upset when commercials promoting the show used a different actress, Marcia Lewis, a white actress, as Miss Hannigan. The producers claimed that the commercials, which were made during an earlier production, were too costly to reshoot.

Marcia Lewis

Carter felt that racism played a part in the decision. "Maybe they do not want audiences to know Nell Carter is black", she told the New York Post. However, the ads did mention that Carter was in the show. "It hurts a lot", Carter told the Post, "I've asked them nicely to stop it — it's insulting to me as a black woman."
Her statement, released by the Associated Press, read: " 'Yes, it is true that I and my

representatives have gone to management on more than one occasion about the commercial and were told that there was nothing they could do about it,' Carter said in a statement Thursday.
'Therefore, I have resigned myself to the fact that this is the way it

Miss Hannigan-Annie Dorothy Loudon, Nell Carter, Katie Finneran

is.'
The statement also addressed the alleged charges of racism, first published in the New York Post. Carter is black. 'I, Nell Carter, never, ever, ever accused my producers or anyone in the show of racism,' she said. Producers have said it is too expensive to film a new commercial."

Carter was later replaced by another white actress, Sally Struthers. The revival closed on October 19, 1997 after 14 previews and 239 performances.
Joanna Pacitti has become more famous for not playing Annie

than for playing her.
Although pint-sized Kissinger went on to open the show on Broadway, America rallied around Pacitti, whose family sued the show's producers and settled out of court. Barbara Walters did a special about the scandal, and Pacitti made

Joanna Pacitti

appearances on "Good Morning America," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and "Sally Jessy Raphael." (Sources: Playbill.com and Wikipedia)

I celebrate everyone's art. Today's social media engagement: Comment on something mentioned in this

blog and let's keep the next 24 hours upbeat! Have something to promote? Email me at Richard@RichardSkipper.com! Now, go out and so something nice for someone without expecting anything in return! Celebrate the gifts you have to offer the world! Did you do your Morning Pages?

Have no clue what I am referring to? Today, celebrate your crazy ideas and surround yourself with those who will support those ideas! Make it a great week! Recommended Reading
Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand
By William J. Mann

Now, Go to the 8th person in your friend’s list and do something for them without expecting anything in return and let me know what happens!
Warren Schein, Today I celebrate YOU!
The world has changed. I find myself reminding people that we’re

experiencing a once-in-a-century pandemic event. Right now, a little kindness and a little humanity, goes a long way. That’s why I’m writing you an email, personally.

Richard Skipper Celebrates Warren Schein!
“the voice is true and beautiful, the phrasing elegant and he never crosses that fine line between emulation and imitation.”

WARREN SCHEIN, has been entertaining audiences on stages throughout the US and Europe. He has played leading roles Off-Bdwy, Regional Theater and in Summer stock productions which include Mickey in Sugar Babies, Max Bialystock in The Producers and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, just to mention a few. He has been performing his one-man shows, Remembering Mel: A Musical Tribute To Mel Torme and Spend An Evening With Mr. Saturday Night, a medley of timeless music and comedy to sold out audiences throughout the country.

with Marty Allen

Warren also garnered glowing reviews from his show “From the Borscht Belt to Broadway which included a tribute to the entertainer extraordinaire, Al Jolson (whose birthday we celebrate today).

For many years Mr. Schein has been participating as one of the major headliners performing in the famous Provincetown Cabaret Fest in Massachusetts.

Warren has been the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Rice Krispy MandMs, and the leprechaun for Lucky Charms. TV appearances include ads for The History Channel, A and E and Nick at Night . He appeared on Saturday Night Live, Boardwalk Empire, Law and Order and in the films, The Stepford Wives, Dark Room and Spector.

as part of Richard Skipper Celebrates

Warren and his musicians enjoyed a jazzy evening, Rhythm, Reeds and Brass, a nineteen-piece big band that offered selections from the Great American Songbook. The impressive list of performers he has opened for and performed with includes: Marty Allen and Steve Rossi, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Totie Fields, Buddy Hackett, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Danny Kaye, and Tony Martin.

Steve and Eydie

Warren is especially known for his classic jokes from the Golden Era of Comedy and of today’s lifestyles. Warrens interaction with his audience makes him one of the foremost improvisational comedic performers in the business. Mr. Schein has played in every NY City premiere night club such as the Metropolitan Room, and The Copa.
Warren is currently in rehearsals with his Music Director, Tom LaMark, for his up-coming debut performance of “Dream Along

Perry Como

With Me”: A Tribute To Perry Como.

Do you recall your first stage appearance? What did you do?
I was in the sixth grade at P.S.18. They had a talent show and I got up and sang a song from "Guys And Dolls".
I wasn't even nervous, I just got up on stage and wowed them.
The principal came over to me after the show and asked why I picked such a song.

with Jeff Harnar and Patricia Fitzpatrick

I told him all I've ever wanted to do is to perform on stage so I thought a Broadway tune would be the thing to do. (By the way, I won the contest.)

Do you have a structured routine during this time (of the Coronavirus Pandemic)?
I'm not good at having too much time on my hands. I like to keep busy. I'm up early, have my coffee, read the paper and usually look at what needs to be done for the day.

with Dana Lorge

How do you prepare for a performance?
Over the years I've learned that I need to prepare each performance differently. And, of course this depends what venue I'm playing at. If I'm booked to perform my Mel Torme` Show and it's all music, I ease up on the comedy and keep it very structured. I keep to the script of the show almost line by line, word for word, song by song.

If I'm doing "standup and music" now that's a different story. I improvise and "work" the audience throughout the show. Obviously, my band members are aware of this and they know I'm going to go off "script" and I'm going to ad-lib. However, I still keep to my structured show for that performance but, stay in tune so to speak

so as to keep focused.
When I'm only booked for comedy, I keep it very structured except when I'm working an audience member.
I perform at many condo's, assisted living facilities, libraries, civic centers etc, it's important to bring the audience into your show.

They need to like you, love you. And that's true of any performance. Dana Lorge taught me that you've only got the first ten minutes of your show to get into the hearts of your audience. If you can do that, you"ll kill. She was right, and I think of her as I walk on stage to this day. Whatever little bit of success I've had is because what Dana taught me. She was a "present" that was given to me and will always remain in my heart. Both Richard and I had a real privilege to share her friendship and love. And performing on stage with her, was a dream come true.

Name one thing you’ve learned about yourself during this

pandemic?
This is a tough question. I'm a free spirit. I spend many hours working and rehearsing all the time. But I always didn't think that way. I need to be rehearsed, especially musically. I've learned that you can't feel comfortable on stage in front of an audience it you're not prepared.

I've found very honestly, that as you get older it takes a little more time to prepare.
So, I've learned that now I need to start rehearsing and planning well in advance of all of my material so that I'm ready to give every audience all that I've got. It's on thing to "wing" it when you have to but remember, you need the "chutzpah" to make it work. (I learned that from both Marty Allen and Totie Fields).

What song(s) are you currently listening to during this time?
I'm always in tune with Broadway melodies and looking for songs I've never sung that will now fit my voice and age. My favorite songs now of course are those sung by Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Matt Monro, Steve Lawrence, Perry Como to name a few. Especially the "Vegas Sound".
They make me feel good and when I perform them, I get this wonderful feeling throughout my body and I realize how happy I am on stage.

Do you believe our spirit lives on after we pass on?

Absolutely. I only hope that when my time comes to leave this precious world, (and I hope it doesn't happen for a very long time) that I come back somehow and be able to watch whomever is lucky to have a little of me in them so I watch them perform.

Dana and I used to talk about that happening together. We would come back and take over their show and do them and they'd never even know. But no question that I do believe that our spirits live on, or at least I hope so.

What do you wish to be remembered for?

That I made people happy. Not only my audiences, but my friends and family. For example, whenever I've had the good fortune of be in some of your shows. I'd always give it all that I've I got. And why not, when you produce such terrific shows along with Russ Woolley, you and your audience deserve that.

And of course all of the many other Variety Shows that I've been in, I want them to know how much I've appreciated my stage time. Working with Patricia Fitzpatrick is a pleasure. Especially writing material for her shows. And of course after a show, especially in Florida, when it's over you've got to do the "meet and greet". Some performers complain about it, I love it. Thanking your audience is so important. I want them to know how much I appreciate them. I truly do.

Without them, what would we do? To this day, and I've been performing for over four decades, whenever I'm in the audience I always say to myself "I wish I was up stage". I guess it all comes down to this. I try to be humble and when I perform, I hope the audience says, "he really made me forget all the problems of the world, my aches and pains and I'd just love him". I have a huge ego, but I'm really very nice and humble...

Lighting round! Describe each of the following in one word: Who you are, what you value the most, and what you’d be if you were a food item.
Who are you-Friend
What I value the most- Family
Food item-Jelly Donut, alright it's two words

What do you like least? Leg of lamb. Hate the taste and the aroma destroys me. Besides, how

could eat "Bambi".

What do you wish to be remembered for? A loyal friend and someone you can depend on. Always willing to do something nice for someone else!

How do you create a strategy to continue the drive and ambition

to continue to perform?
Because it's what we are made of.
Some people are meant to be doctors, teachers, train engineers and some are born to entertain. It's in our DNA.
Some people can try to be funny but, no matter how hard they try they can't because they just don't have it in them. That goes for singing as well.
My strategy is my inner drive that keeps me going to want more. It's this constant feeling that I have deep in my soul that powers my ambition to keep on working at what I love to

do the most, perform. It doesn't stop and never goes away.
What would happen today if all the scientists who are trying to come up with a medication to stop this virus stopped working because they didn't have the drive and ambition to continue to do what they've been trained to do all their life?
So, as long as I have a breath in my soul, my strategy is to always keep my motor running and put it into drive, which will allow me the privilege to continue to perform.

Thank you, Warren Schein!, for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give.

Now, everyone, please go and and do something nice for someone without expecting anything in return! Go to the 8th friend in your friend's list and call them! We're ALL in this together! Till tomorrow...

Friday, June 30, 2017

Don't Defer IT Until Tomorrow!

Used with Permission From The Margo Feiden Galleries

47 Days In Search of a Book Deal: CallonDolly.com

I believe the future is only the past again, through another gate.
- Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, English Dramatist (1855-1934)

Happy Friday...Last Day of June! (June 30th, 2017)
June 30 is the 181st day of the year.
There are 184 days remaining until the end of the year. It is 9:39 AM to be exact as I start today's blog. I am winning because I am a good person.
The day that I am having has been created by design. The same can very much be said of the life I have created for myself. I pretty much had a knowledge of this 40 years ago. I still do but I need daily reminders and I still have to convince myself of this fact.
Approaching others with optimism allows me to connect with others and live happily.
I am not the person those who did not love me deemed me to be. That is one of the lessons of today's blog.

My horoscope tells me that talking about everything I'm going to do actually gets in the way of my doing it. The 'WORD' for the day is INTERESTED . Think of this word as your mantra for the day. First apply the word to yourself, THEN apply this word to EVERYONE YOU meet. Think of this word as you respond to EVERY PERSON you see throughout the day. The 'word 'for TODAY is INTERESTED ! Please pay it forward...

Everything takes longer than I expect, leaving me short on time constantly.

I am stepping back from my commitments, reevaluating my recent plans, and reassessing the steps I must take to reach my

goals.

Words are meaningless without intent and determination. It is social media day. There are pluses and

minuses to where this has brought us. I absolutely love social media and how much it has connected all of us.

I also despise social media and how it has absolutely thrown a monkey wrench into human interaction. I hate it, for example when I CALL someone and they respond with an email or text message!

Human interaction is what I crave! That's one of the main reasons I pursued the career that chose me and why I do what I do.

Today is a summer day in the greatest city in the world!

I still love this city 37 years after arriving here for the first time (August 5th, 1979). As I sat down to begin writing my blog today, I was listening to Nell Carter, Armelia McQueen and Charlayne Woodard sing "Off Time" on the 1978 Tony Awards. Ms. Carter won for Best Actress in a Musical that year.
It takes me right back to 1978 and '79 when it was on Broadway.

Interesting thought: June 30th, 1978 was also a Friday.

I was 18 and still living in South Carolina. I had a one way ticket to New York and in 36 days I would be leaving on a jet plane never to look back. As an 18-year-old in 1979 dreaming of a life in the theater, I was given valuable lessons in the respect of the theater.
Those lessons stay with me to this day and actually have a huge bearing on the work I do.
I've written about her in the past, but I had a great mentor in Miss Florence Epps. She took me under her wing after she first saw me on stage.
She had a playhouse in her backyard and I used to go after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. If I had gone to my parents to tell them that I wanted to take drama and elocution lessons, they would have laughed and stood in the way, their usual response.

I don't say this asking for empathy or sympathy. It is simply a fact and part of the fabric of my life. My parents never supported my dreams nor did they ever take any interest in any aspect of my life.

My father passed away in 2002. I regret that we resolved our differences. As far as my mom is concerned (and family and relatives), I have accepted it as my lot in life. Years ago, I interviewed Carol Lawrence.
She told me that being in this business is the greatest elixir in the world. The more we get, the more we desire. The rub is whether or not the general public is buying. My family never bought what I'm selling.

Wayne Dyer said, "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Speaking of the way you look at things, the Quad

Cinema in Manhattan is showing a Barbra Streisand film festival next week.
On Wednesday night, one of my favorite Streisand films, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, is being shown.

I love seeing these films in the manner in which they were meant to be seen.: in a movie theater with an audience!

When I first came to New York in the summer of '79, it was in the days before VCRS, DVDs, and Turner Classic Movies.
There were revival houses all over NYC, the Regency, Carnegie Hall Cinema, the Thalia, the Film Forum, to name a few. I would go through the papers to see what was playing where and would plan my week around these great classic films.

I went to see a classic film or two almost every Sunday and sometimes as well during the week.
What memories!At my very first audition in New York, for Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (I did not get a part), I met Millie Brown. I've written about her in previous blogs. She became one of my frequent movie partners. As a matter of fact, the first time I saw On a Clear Day..., it was with Millie.

Melinda Winifred Tentries, but I gravitate towards Daisy Gamble

I saw so many movies this way.
I don't even remember which theater it was or where exactly it was located. I know it was in the West Village and I practically flew home after seeing this film.
Not only did you have a perfect trifecta with Streisand, costumes, story, and songs, but most of the film is set against the backdrop in the seventies.

The Daisy Gamble character is what resonated with me. She also had an ability to look into the past with accute clarity!
Being that age in the 70s in NYC is something that is, of course, glamorized in the film. Where does the time go?
47 years ago, in 1970, I was 8 years old and living in South Carolina. New York, at that time, may or may not have been in my scheme of thinking.

New York, and the world, was changing. 1970 would be the year of the first Gay Pride March. It was before Studio 54 and the Disco Era, it was long before AIDS.
My sweetness was not a weakness when I first arrived in NY.

It may be slightly coarser now due to life experiences but it is still there. When I arrived in New York at the age of eighteen, there was no one greener or more naive! That naivety, I believe saved my life.
Knowing the person I am today, it might be hard for anyone who knows me personally to believe that I did not know I was gay! I was the most asexual person to ever emerge out of Conway, South Carolina. I never went on a date. My last year in SC, and thanks to getting involved with the Upstage Company at Coastal Carolina, I had somewhat of a social life. That was the year I met Beth Mahar, still one of my best friends and one of the greatest people I have ever known.
From the moment she met me, she accepted me for just being me!

According to her, she had seen me the previous year as Roberts, the butler, in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, with The Theater of the Republic, our hometown theater.
I did a slow turn to the audience that stopped the show and brought down the house.

She said at that moment, she knew she had to work with me.
Move forwards a year. As a result of my role as Roberts, I started getting cast in larger, mostly character, parts. I would go on to do The Night of January Sixteenth by Ayn Rand, one of my favorites, Cheaper By The Dozen, and Oliver!One afternoon, going home on the bus, Victoria Kujala, a friend told me about a play she was doing at the college called Marat/Sade.

I had never heard about it. She told me they were looking for a lot of people to play the inmates in the asylum.
That was something I could do. She told me that night that there would be a read through and that I should just show up. She was sure there was something in it for me.

I went home and the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was. I walked to the college, about 25 minutes away.As I was walking up the steps into the small performance space, Beth, whom I had never met before, came running in my name yelling, "Are you Ricky Skipper?"
When I acknowledged who I was, she told me to apologize for my mom for hanging up on her.
She had called my mom to ask me to come and audition for the show. When my mom told me I was already on my way to the theater, she dropped everything to get there. Beth was going to be the stage manager of the show, and having remembered me, thought I would be great for The Herald, which is essentially the narrator and story teller of the show.

Beth had more faith in me than I ever would have! This role was the antithesis of everything I had done up to this point AND was in verse!
I was introduced to the director, Cynthia, and asked to stick around and they would hear me read.
It was very different than anything I had ever experienced with Theater of the Republic!
Before any type of a read or run through, we all sat in a circle and acknowledged each other. A golden chalice was also passed around with white wine in which everyone took a sip. I had definitely moved to a whole new realm, on many levels. After everyone left, Beth, Cynthia, and myself stuck around so I could read through it. It was more a formality than anything else.
I think the decision had already been made based on Beth's recommendation.

Loved Judy Garland and the world of Musical Comedy!

I barely read a few lines when I was asked if I would like to play the part. I was excited and scared at the same time. That has always been the case with anything new that I try in life. I went home that night and read through the script and had no idea what I was reading! I started committing everything to memory.
I can still recite the opening monologue to this day because of the amount of work I put into this character. The more I worked on it, the more anxious I became as to whether or not I would be able to pull it off. One of the things that I LOVED about Cynthia Hodel's approach as a director was that we spent weeks in improvisation before we even got to the script.
By the time we got to the script, we had a solid handle on as to who we as these characters were.

My biggest fear was what if THEY didn't like me. It consumed every waking and sleeping moment of my life.
Thank God for Beth. She kept assuring me that I was going to be great.
She spent hours grilling me on my lines and never once complained. The entire script was in verse.
What if I forgot a line!?!?!
Well, that's exactly what happened! Opening night, the actor portraying François Simonet de Coulmier comes out to welcome the audience. The entire company comes bounding out on stage to take our places. As soon as I took my first position, my mind went completely blank! I don't think I could have told anyone my name if I had been asked!

A childlike curiosity has always propelled me forward

However, the moment that I was given my cue, as if by magic, the words began to flow. I felt as if I were flying! It was a zen moment that I have felt many times since then on stage, but at that moment it was a feeling that I can't describe.

It was there and I'll never forgot the ovation we all received at the end of the evening.
One thing that I had forgotten about until I started writing this blog today.
Before we opened, because of the nature of the play, we had to give a special performance for the board and faculty to deem whether or not we could open the show. Thank God, they gave us the go ahead.

If You Believe

This show came along at the right time in my life. It was the perfect storm in terms of building self esteem in me. It convinced me that I WAS truly an actor. Also, because of the friends that I made and worked with on this show, it gave me a sense of belonging.

All through school, I never fit in. No one knew what to make of me. Even when I was at Theater of the Republic, with every role I played, I felt like I was constantly trying to prove myself. The funny thing is that 37 years later, I still feel this.

Writing The Next Chapter!

As I type these words, I am in an office surrounded by awards, accolades,photographs, and testimonials. Those don't really mean anything to anyone but me. It does show me, however, of where I've been. It also tells me that I can go forward and be prepared for the next chapter! I'm ready!

I never gave up! Persistence and stubbornness are underrated tools for lifelong success.
I'm throwing back the curtain and showing my followers the little man behind the Wizard who is always trying to put forth a positive image of a man.

Let's Be Friends! I promise you a great experience!

Today's blog is dedicated to Susan Hayward who was born on this date in 1917.