TAMMY GRIMES, CHRISTINE ANDREAS, STEVE DEPASS...AND MORE!

June 25, 2010

TAMMY GRIMES, CHRISTINE ANDREAS, STEVE DEPASS...AND MORE!

(Tammy Grimes,, shown here at her 1966 marriage to actor Jeremy Slate).

Happy Friday!
I hope this finds you well! It has been an exciting week in NY. Dana Lorge and I celebrated our 1st year at The Iguana with an SRO crowd.

Jennifer Litt & David Alpher were on hand to sing their hysterical Manatee song. You can see them live at DON'T TELL MAMA this month. Call DON'T TELL MAMA for show times! DON'T MISS THEM!
They will also be returning to WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE IGUANA July 21st! Hope to see you there! You will love them. I want to also thank Daryl Glenn for all he has done in supporting Dana & I and WNATI.
He has been invaluable in the past year and a great addition to the shows when he appears.
Thank you Daryl. He will be bringing his MULTI-award winning "Nashville" show to Feinstein's in October. Also, Helena Grenot & Barbara Porteus! Thanks for all you two have contributed to WNATI over the past year. You are welcome anytime. Barbara will be returning to Feinstein's July 31st and August 1st. Don't miss her. Thank you to all the audience members who have supported us and to all the entertainers and musicians who have graced our stage. Now, here's to the next year! See below to see the line up for next Wednesday night!
Tonight, I am seeing Tammy Grimes! I have been in love with her since I was 17! I did THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN when I was 17 with THE THEATRE OF THE REPUBLIC in South Carolina. I played Roberts, the butler. I listened to that album over and over and started devouring everything I could find with Tammy.
We have met many times and I am looking forward to seeing her tonight. If you would like to join us, please call me! Rumor also has it that The Unsinkable Molly Brown will be returning to New York with Reba McEntire! I hope this is true. Inspired casting! I want to audition to play Roberts again...now that I am the right age! That would be amazing!

Tammy is a fellow Aquarian. Her birthday (January 30th) is the day before Carol Channing's.
Grimes was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the daughter of Eola Willard (née Niles), a naturalist and spiritualist, and Nicholas Luther Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer.[1] She attended high school at the then-all girls school, Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and then studied acting at New York City's prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse.

At 76 Tammy Grimes has amassed a lifetime of stories and loves to tell them. She was discovered singing in a cabaret by Noël Coward, knew she would marry Christopher Plummer the first time she saw him onstage (and she did), was the first and in some people’s minds the only “Unsinkable Molly Brown” (sorry, Debbie Reynolds), and once showered with a young Marlon Brando. Tammy Grimes returned to THE METROPOLITAN ROOM (34 West 22nd Street, NYC - 212-206-0440) on Tuesday, June 22nd with her show "Favorite Songs and Stories".
Additional performances are tonight Friday, June 25th through Wednesday, June 30th, all shows at 7:00 pm. Ms. Grimes starred in and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical as a rough-hewn Colorado social climber in the 1960 hit, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. In 1966, Grimes starred in her own ABC television series, The Tammy Grimes Show, in which she played a modern-day heiress who loved to spend money. Returning to the Broadway stage in 1969, Grimes appeared in a revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives as "Amanda", winning the Tony Award for Best Actress.
Grimes has entertained at various New York city night clubs and recorded several albums of songs; she also recited poetry as part of a 1968 solo act in the Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel.
Her voice can be heard in romantic duets on some of Ben Bagley's anthology albums of Broadway songs under his Painted Smiles record label. In 1982, she hosted the final season of CBS Radio Mystery Theater. There is a $30 cover plus a 2-drink minimum. Looking forward to seeing you again tonight, Miss Grimes!

If you read my last blog, you know that I will be appearing at The Broadway Emporium July 27th. ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!!!
AMERICAN THEATRE NETWORK, producer Herbert Goldman, PRESENTS GREAT ENTERTAINERS ON BROADWAY:
CAROL CHANNING ON CONCERT STARRING RICHARD SKIPPER! ONLY CHANCE TO SEE THIS SHOW THIS SUMMER! Tickets available at americantheatrenetwork.com or call TicketWeb 866-468-7619.
RESERVE TODAY FOR PREMIUM SEATING! This is being filmed for an upcoming documentary on the life and career of Carol Channing. Several celebrities have already responded that they will be there! This will be a star-studded audience! Would mean a lot to have you there as well. Please pay it forward. With grateful XOXOXs for your support!
I wrote last week about all the great entertainers from week one. Today, I will focus on the entertainers from week two.
On Monday, August 2nd. Christine Andreas, currently on Broadway in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES) will be appearing at 7 & 9:30PM. Christine was in the very first Broadway show I ever saw. Laurey in OKLAHOMA! at The Palace Theatre December 19th, 1979! I won the tickets answering a trivia question on Jim Lowe's radio program on WNEW Radio.
God, do I miss that station. I actually cried the day they went off the air!

Best known for her work on the Broadway stage, Ms. Andreas burst onto the New York theatre scene starring as Eliza Doolittle in the 20th Anniversary production of MY FAIR LADY opposite Ian Richardson of the Royal Shakespeare Company and garnering the Theatre World Award. As revivals gained popularity, Ms. Andreas received two Tony nominations re-creating Laurey in OKLAHOMA! working with Billy Hammerstein and Agnes DeMille, and as Frankie Frayne in ON YOUR TOES directed by the legendary George Abbott.
Other Broadway credits include WORDS AND MUSIC with Sammy Cahn, Nancy in ANGEL STREET with Dina Merrill, Rebecca in RAGS, the short-lived Alice in the short-lived LEGS DIAMOND with the late, great and wonderful Peter Allen (WHICH I SAW!), and the Broadway bound and derailed Erte production of STARDUST.
Ms. Andreas created the role of Marguerite St. Just on Broadway in the original production of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL opposite Douglas Sills and Terrence Mann.She received rapturous notices for her portrayal of Vera Simpson in the Prince Music Theater’s production of Rogers and Hart’s PAL JOEY in Philadelphia.Philadelphia rewarded her performance with a Barrymore Award for Best Actress in a Musical and a sold-out three-week engagement of her one-woman show, HERE’S TO THE LADIES…

On August 3rd at 7PM, America's singing poet, Steve DePass (who suggested me for this series! Thank you, Steve!)

STEVE has ENTERTAINED CORPORATE CLIENTS WORLDWIDE
FOR SUCH NAMES AS :

IBM, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, SIEMANS, CIBA,
FUJI FILM, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY,
GENERAL MOTORS, UNION CARBIDE,

MONSANTO, JONES MEDICAL SYSTEMS

EQUITABLE LIFE, AXA

COMMAND PERFORMANCE FOR H.R.H. QUEEN ELIZABETH

THE PALADIUM

LAS VEGAS

CEASARS PALACE, HILTON HOTEL

HARRAH’S, SAHARA

ATLANTIC CITY

TRUMP CASTLE, TROPICANA

THE BREAKERS, FONTAINBLEU,

DIPLOMAT EDEN ROC,

ROYAL CARRIBEAN, PUERTO RICO

CRUISE LINES

QUEEN ELIZABETH, CUNARD

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES

HOLLAND AMERICA

Tuesday, August 3, at 9:30 PM - A gifted musical actress who has sung opera, classical song and appeared in Broadway musicals, Marni Nixon performed on stage screen and television, most recently the animated feature, Mulan, and TV popular Law and Order. Blessed with a magnificent soprano singing voice, she spent year early in her career dubbing the singing voices of such film stars as Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady), Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Deborah Kerr in the King and I and Affair To Remember. She performs in concert and cabaret venues all over the United States.

Marni Nixon's career includes Opera, (Seattle, San Francisco, Ford Foundation TV Opera Cameos), Chamber and Symphony, Oratorio soloist and Grammy Nominated recordgs both Popular and Classical (Boulez, Villa-Lobos, Ives, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Copland) including conductors Von Beinum, Wallenstein, Previn, Mehta, Stravinksy, Stokowski, Mauceri, Slatkin and Bernstein. On July 29, 2010

Interview with Jud Newborn, curator,
with flim clips of musical/film highlights,
and Book Signing (I Could Have Sung All Night: My Story, Random House, Publishers)
Reception to follow

Cinema Arts Centre
Curator, Jud Newborn,
Huntington, Long Island, NY

contact: Publicist Susan Finkelstein
1-631 423 7611, xt 14
for more info and directions: Cinemaartscentre.org

Take Marni home with you! Marni Nixon - Marni Nixon Sings Classic Kernhttp://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Marni+Nixon&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hl=en&cid=7486127682298249163&ei=BpwkTJ39A8zhlgeE3LnrDw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p
On August 4th at 7 & 9:30 PM, LIZ CALLAWAY!

Tony nominee and Emmy Award winner
Liz Callaway is one of the top singer-actresses appearing on Broadway today. Audiences have seen her on Broadway in Merrily We Roll Along, Baby, Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, The Look of Love, and Cats, where she played the role of Grizabella (singing Memory) for five years. She has also starred in numerous off-Broadway shows,
as well as the internationally acclaimed
Sibling Revelry with her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway.
Her numerous film and television credits include the singing voice of Anastasia in the award-winning animated film, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and the King of Thieves,
and Nala in The Lion King II.
Liz is also an accomplished studio singer,
and can be heard on more than 35 recordings,
including her three solo albums. Her extensive concert career includes appearances at New York ’s
Carnegie Hall, in London, China,
France, Iceland, Estonia,
and just about every major city in the United States.

Liz Callaway is a refreshing performer with a breathtaking voice and a variety of musical styles that emanate with seasoned ease from a friendly, down-to-earth lady who seems (after 25 years of professional theatre) to not quite believe her luck to have the successful life she has. TAKE LIZ HOME WITH YOU! Liz Callaway - Passage of Time
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&client=firefox-a&q=Liz+Callaway&cid=2109948987540704899&ei=9Z0kTLepOY2Ulwekq8DuDw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p
Liz Callaway will also perform at Encompass New Opera Theatre's Jazz Gala to be held on July 14 at a Tribeca loft on Leonard Street overlooking the Hudson River. Alex Rybeck will provide piano accompaniment.

The event will also feature the Jill McManus Trio, which will perform an array of music from George Gershwin to Thelonious Monk, in addition to original compositions.

Tickets for the event, which will also include cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, are $150.00. Encompass New Opera Theatre is dedicated to creating, developing and producing imaginative productions of new music theatre and contemporary opera.

For further information, visit: www.encompassopera.org.

And closing out the series, one of my all time favorite entertainers, Tony Award winning FAITH PRINCE. August 5th (my anniversary of coming to NY!). I can't think of a better way to celebrate my 31st year in NY!

Faith Prince has been dazzling Broadway audiences since she swept the theatre awards winning the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance as Ms. Adelaide in the critically-acclaimed revival of Guys and Dolls. In 2008, she was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for A Catered Affair. Other Broadway credits include The Little Mermaid, Bells Are Ringing (Tony, DD, OCC noms), Nick & Nora (OCC Award), Jerome Robbins' Broadway (Tony, DD noms), Little Me, The Dead, Noises Off. She also starred in the world premiere of Terrence McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion.

TAKE FAITH HOME WITH YOU! Faith Prince - A Leap of Faith
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Faith+Prince&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hl=en&cid=1736872033877128835&ei=N6AkTP-oIIODlwfA5s3uDw&sa=title&ved=0CAcQ8wIwADgA#p
For more information on GREAT ENTERTAINERS ON BROADWAY, visit www.americantheatrenetwork.com. 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 30th.
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 so thoroughly enjoyed your performance at the Iguana last night when you described when you began performing as Carol Channing...what a wonderful story and then to follow it up with a kickin performance! I just bought a ticket to your July 27th show and can't wait! Sending you all good things for a fabulous show! xxoo Julie Reyburn, http://www.juliereyburn.com

Hi Richard, I am really looking forward to your second year at The Iguana. The one last year would be hard to top - such great line-ups and it has been an honor to be a part of it. Congrats on one year at The Iguana! Toi, toi! Lori Evanson

Richard, I hope to be part of the 2nd YEAR @ IGUANA. Thank you so much for your ongoing generosity and for allowing me such a great stage to sing on in front of such incredible audiences. 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

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.