GREAT ENTERTAINERS ON BROADWAY: MARK NADLER, RICHARD SKIPPER AS CAROL CHANNING, TONY BABINO...AND MORE!

June 20, 2010

GREAT ENTERTAINERS ON BROADWAY: MARK NADLER, RICHARD SKIPPER AS CAROL CHANNING, TONY BABINO...AND MORE!

HAPPY BEGINNING OF SUMMER!
I love this time of year. I loved the excitement of NY in the summer. I arrived in NY in the summer (August 5th, 1979 to be exact). So I get nostalgic every summer. I love the outdoor cafes, I love seeing the sailboats in the Hudson, I love the joggers, I love walking through the parks, I'm looking forward to my annual end of summer trip to Malibu! You get the picture! What a week this week! I met Raquel Welch:

,
Alison Arngrim, and went to a jazz brunch this afternoon at SMOKE featuring the INCREDIBLE Lea Delaria:

. Go see her next Sunday!Smoke Jazz & Supper Club-Lounge. 2751 Broadway New York, NY 10025 212.864.6662.
www.smokejazz.com.
This year, I have something else to be excited about. Thanks to Steve DePasse telling Herb Goldman about me, I am part of a two week series called GREAT ENTERTAINERS ON BROADWAY July 26th-29th and August 2nd-5th.
Great Entertainers on Broadway will be presented on eight evenings -- Monday through Thursday, July 26, 27, 28 and 29 and Monday through Thursday, August 2, 3, 4 and 5 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM each night - in the TSAC's elegant 300-seat venue (to be renamed the Broadway Emporium for this engagement). Some performers will headline single shows while others will perform both shows on a given night.

My show is on July 27th. This is being presented by Herb Goldman and American Theatre Network. The series will kick off with zany singer/pianist Entertainer Extraordinaire Mark Nadler on July 26th. 7 & 9:30 PM SHOWS (Different songs at each performance. Go to http://www.marknadler.com for more info on this incredible entertainer.

"MARK NADLER seems to have been shot out of a cannon! Mr. Nadler is a singer-dancer-pianist Punchinello who doesn¹t exactly have an act. He has many acts, and in the course of an evening he does them all. The best commedia dell¹arte in town!"
--Rex Reed, The New York Observer

Award-winning cabaret artist/singer/dancer/pianist Mark Nadler has performed around the world and in the U.S. at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, Weill Hall, Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and at many nightclubs. He has performed on and off Broadway, in cabarets, and on television. Mark Nadler also appears annually at the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. Take Mark home with you! You Always Leave Them Laughing (Mark Nadler) http://www.amazon.com/Always-Leave-Them-Laughing-Nadler/dp/B000V5OOKQ.
Mark Nadler has joined the roster of stellar performers in Great Entertainers on Broadway, the new summer series of live performances by some of today's most talented and well known stage, television and cabaret entertainers which premieres in late July and early August at the Times Square Arts Center (TSAC) in the heart of New York City's world famous theatre district.
Next in the line-up is YOURS TRULY as Carol Channing!
I join star performers (in alphabetical order): Christine Andreas, Tony Babino, Steve DePass, Rebecca Luker, Donna McKechnie, Mark Nadler, Marni Nixon, Faith Prince in this concert series being presented once again by producer/promoter Herbert G. Goldman, the author of books about Eddie Cantor, Fannie Brice and Al Jolson.

Tuesday, July 27, at 9:30 PM - I will be joined by John Fischer on Piano, Steve Bartosik on percussion and Jeff Carney on bass as he presents - for the only time in New York this year! - my critically acclaimed Carol Channing in Concert show, which has been described by Ms. Channing herself as "the first time I have ever been shown with such love, respect and polish. Richard Skipper is a true musical comedy star! He is fabulous as me!"
Tuesday, July 27, at 7:00 PM -- Tony Babino, one of today's premier vocalists, is a first class singer-songwriter and recording artist who presents a high energy show featuring past classics to modern day gems. He is proud to be carrying on the traditions of such legendary entertainers as Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.

Tony is a first class singer/songwriter who always presents a high-energy show featuring past classics to modern day gems.

Wednesday, July 28, at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM - Rebecca Luker, one of the hardest working musical performers, has starred in Broadway productions of The Phantom of the Opera, Showboat, The Secret Garden, Something Wonderful, Brigadoon, The Sound of Music and The Music Man in a career dating back to the late 1980's. On television, she has also starred in three PBS music specials saluting Broadway composers and performers - Some Enchanted Evening: Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II (1995), The Rodgers & Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty (1999), and My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies (1999). Rebecca Luker was most recently found on Broadway in Disney's Mary Poppins as Mrs. Banks. Rebecca received a Tony Award nomination and Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Featured Actress.

Before Mary Poppins,she was last seen on Broadway in the revival of Nine playing the role of Claudia opposite Antonio Banderas.

TAKE REBECCA HOME WITH YOU! Rebecca Luker - Greenwich Time [Audio CD] http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&client=firefox-a&q=Rebecca+Luker&cid=10669002759252156637&ei=rZceTNzLDqmcwAXLjdXVCg&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p

Thursday, July 29, at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM - Donna McKechnie, the Tony Award winning star of the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line, is regarded internationally as one of Broadway's foremost dancing and singing stars and choreographers. On Broadway, she has also won rave reviews for her stellar performances in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, 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 Dancing Awards for Best Female Dancer of the 1995-1996 season. She also has several award-winning cabaret shows that she performs in venues all over the world.

Donna enjoyed one of her greatest triumphs as Sally, in the acclaimed revival of the Stephen Sondheim – James Goldman musical, Follies, in the spring of 1998. “She defined the art of torch singing with ‘Losing My Mind,’ raved Variety, joining the New York Times and other critics in unstintingly praising her performance. She is now coming to to these series in a new show directed by Richard Jay-Alexander.
TAKE DONNA HOME WITH YOU: Donna McKechnie - Inside the Music [Audio CD] Donna McKechnie - Inside the Music [Audio CD] http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Donna+McKechnie&hl=en&cid=10022299951653568385&ei=lpkeTJ2kFImWwwX6tIjTCg&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p
A teenaged Donna McKechnie ran away from home to New York, to take a job as a dancer. Her father went after her and brought her home to Detroit. That could have been the end of the story, but her parents relented and her career was born. This show tells a little of her life, her busy career and the people that she has met and worked with over the years, with many great songs along the way. AND THAT IS WEEK ONE OF THIS SERIES! Tickets available at americantheatrenetwork.com or call TicketWeb 866-468-7619. Tickets are $60, 55, 50, 45, 40. Doors open 50 minutes before every performance. Drinks and snacks available before each show. No serving during performances. ONE NIGHT ONLY FOR EACH OF THESE ARTISTS! Next week, I will write about week two: Christine Andreas, Steve Depass, Marni Nixon, Liz Callaway, and Faith Prince!

Support THE ARTS! LIVE THEATRE! Go see a LIVE show this week!

Send me your reviews and suggestions and I will put them in my next blog coming out June 25th.
Here's to an ARTS-filled summer! Don't forget 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
HERE IS WHAT AUDIENCES ARE SAYING ABOUT MY WORK:

Richard, I can't wait to be part of the 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY @ IGUANA. Thank you so much for your ongoing generosity and for allowing me such a great stage to sing on in front of such an incredible audience. I continue to learn so much and am constantly inspired by the incredibly talented singers you schedule to perform there week after week... My best wishes to you for another AMAZING and SUCCESSFUL year at the Iguana!! Thank you! -Gregory Nalbone

The Following is from Rich Siegel's blog:To acknowledge one special professional relationship in particular, I've toured the US with cabaret star Richard Skipper , from Maine to Colorado to South Carolina and various points in between. I suppose I never expected back in my music school days that I would be working for a man who puts on a dress and becomes Carol Channing, but doing so has been an absolute delight!
Celebrities! (This paragraph is not for the squeamish! I am dropping names!) Did I tell you that just before a Richard Skipper show in Mississippi Carol Channing herself called to wish us a good show?!! Part of the fun of working as a free-lance musician has been contact with celebrities, and I'd be lying if I denied it! (SOURCE: http://richsiegel.com/musicmaina.html)

What a fun night last Wednesday at The Iguana - and a great & fabulously talented crowd too! Thank you for creating this wonderful new room, Richard, and for creating this great community of singers in the city! xo, Lori Evanson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NYC THE AWARD WINNING WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE IGUANA STARRING DANA LORGE, RICHARD SKIPPER, AND FRIENDS!
Dana Lorge and I have put our OWN spin on the variety show format and are now going into our second year every Wednesday night in NYC at The Iguana VIP Lounge (http://www.iguananyc.com) in the heart of NYC (240 West 54th Street 8-11PM/with an intermission).

Cover: $12 - no food or drink minimums – but remember – the food is great!
WINNER OF TWO 2010 MANHATTAN ASSOCIATION OF CABARETS AND CLUBS AWARDS (MAC) FOR OUTSTANDING VARIETY SHOW AND OUTSTANDING HOSTS!
or more info, please call 845-365-0720 or visit _www.RichardSkipper.com_
RESERVATIONS A MUST!!!!!!! 212-765-5454.