Happy December, Giving Tuesday, and it is World AIDS Day

Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen 

Dear Friends, fans, fellow artists,

Here we are and it’s Giving Tuesday again already! December has begun and all of us are preoccupied with holiday plans, list making, shopping, decorating … it’s the busiest season of all!December 1 is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 30 days remaining until the end of the year.
 On this date in 800 – Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.
I am starting a new blog series in which I will be celebrating all that TODAY and the upcoming days and weeks have to offer. I hope you enjoy. Please show your support by celebrating the artists and events within these blogs.

WHAT IS #GIVINGTUESDAY?

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals.
Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity. Always appreciate those who come into your life..you never know the impact they'll have on the world. We need to focus on sending positive energy into the world instead of all the negative energy.
A police officer who was a pastor at his local church. An Iraq war veteran. A mother of two, accompanying a friend.
Those were the three fatalities in Friday's shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I do believe that it is due to a lot of the negative misguided rhetoric that has been put out into the world in recent months from a certain Republican presidential candidate. Let's ALL focus on ending 2015 on a positive note. Let's ALL work together on this.

Woody Allen turns 80 today

Today is also World AIDS Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and mourning those who have died of the disease.
Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.

World AIDS Day is one of the eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Here are some upcoming events I recommend. 

SHEREE SANO: TONIGHT (Tues. - Dec. 1) and ALL THROUGH DECEMBER...
Shereeewill be performing at the Metropolitan Room TONIGHT (December 1st - Tuesday) for
WE CAN BE KIND - a cabaret concert to benefit Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS and Help Is On The Way Today
Produced by Joseph Macchia

The Metropolitan Room
Dec 1st
Doors open at 6:30 - Showtime is 7:00 PM
$10 Cover plus 2 Bev Min
212 206 0440
In addition to my regular Happy Hour shifts on Fridays and Sundays at
Don't Tell Mama, I'll be adding Wednesdays and Saturdays in December -
All are (very) Happy Hour shifts from 5-8pm.
Beer/Wine - $4, Well drinks - $5, Cosmos (super potent) - $8
Don't Tell Mama Piano Bar
343 W. 46th St - NYC
212-757-0788
www.donttellmamanyc.com
Sheree Sano Sings: In Whatever Time We Have
(Intro by Lennie Watts, Piano by Bill Zeffiro)
https://youtu.be/bNJpt9hMoIM

Celebrate Gretchen Reinhagen's's incredible cabaret career  with Reinhagen Redux Recap at The Metropolitan Room tomorrow Night on December 2nd, 2015.
On Saturday at 1PM at the Metropolitan Room, Songwriter in the House represents veteran cabaret songwriter Tom Toce’s solo debut as a performer. Throughout his career in musical theater and cabaret, Tom has always written other songs, in a different style. Call them acoustic songs, singer-songwriter songs, or folk-rock songs--if they were easy to pin down, they might have been recorded by now! Emboldened by good reviews at open mikes and songwriter camps, Tom is stepping up to the mic and putting on a solo show. Accompanying himself on guitar, with Jon Burr on bass and Justin McEllroy providing backup vocals, Tom will take you through an eclectic collection of witty, tuneful, and sometimes moving new songs.



December 10th, Julie Budd: Metropolitan Room 34 W 22nd St, New York, NY 10010  (212) 206-0440 Julie Budd returns to the Metropolitan Room with her new show of " They Wrote the Songs: Remembering Mr. Sinatra…and The Holidays " musical directed by Herb Bernstein. In this series, Julie revisits some of her favorite songwriters and those that sang their songs by remounting a new show each time.  The next show in the series is “They Wrote the Songs: Remembering Mr. Sinatra…and The Holidays”” and features Musical Director, Herb Bernstein This show explores the many aspects of Julie’s musical career and influences such as Sinatra classics like “I’ve Got the World on a String,” and other songs recorded by Sinatra, such as Herb Bernstein’s arrangement of “All The Way”, Cy Coleman & Carolyn Leigh’s “The Best is Yet to Come” and “More Than You Know”.

https://juliebudd.com/

JOIN US AND SEE AN ALL LIVE SHOW! Here is an interview Julie recently did on The Sue Bender Show. Enjoy!
Julie will also be appearing in concert at the Berrie Center for the Performing Arts on December 12th in celebration of Frank Sinatra's 100th Birthday.
Before you attend Julie's Show at the Berrie Center on the 12th, please check out   Ben Yagoda at the American Popular Song Society at 1:45 pm.
American Popular Song is Irving Berlin, Carole King, and The Lion King. It is not rock, but thousands of rock songs are popular song. It is not country, but the biggest country hits usually become popular song. These are the standards, the songs you know, the songs you've forgotten but remember immediately when you hear
Welcome back to another great event of our Society!

Just because I like it!

the chorus.
 

THEATER TALK presents “The Best of 2015,” featuring some favorite interviews from the past year. 

Up first, is the creative team from Hand to God, the hit Broadway comedy about a teen attending a Christian puppet-making workshop in Texas, whose sock-puppet seems to be possessed by Satan. 

Guests are playwright Robert Askins, director Moritz von Stuelpnagel and actor Steven Boyer (along with the outspoken puppet, Tyrone).

Next up, Dame Helen Mirren, award-winning star of the spring’s box-office bonanza The Audience, shares a few wise sentiments on fame.

The half-hour concludes with Fun Home, the Tony® Award-winning musical, with composer Jeanine Tesori and book writer/lyricist Lisa Kron, who created this masterpiece based on the bestselling memoir/graphic novel by the segment’s other guest, cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The trio discuss their collaboration on the show with Tesori and Kron performing a few songs from the Tony-winning

score.

THEATER TALK is co hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post, and Susan Haskins. This episode premieres in the New York metropolitan area on CUNY TV* Saturday 12/5 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 12/6 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 12/7 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; and on WLIW/21 on Monday 12/7 at 5:30 PM – a total of 6 times this week. (THEATER TALK is preempted on Thirteen for Pledge Drive.).

It's time to make your reservations! I can't believe it's been 9 years of Sue Matsuki and Edd Clark's Annual Show. I was a guest there first year reading The Night Before Christmas as Carol Channing! Please know that each year they do a different show so, if you have seen it before, or, if we are part of your annual "Ring in the Holiday" ritual (for which they thank you) join them again!

Multi-Award winning singing team, Sue Matsuki & Edd Clark present their 9th Annual (FABULOUS) Christmas Show on
Wednesday, December 9th @ 7:00 pm & Saturday, December 12th @ 4:00 pm at METROPOLITAN ROOM - Ticket Price: $22.00 / 2 beverage minimum.

WHAT “THEY” ARE SAYING ABOUT SUE  and EDD’S FABULOUS CHRISTMAS SHOW!

It’s almost become a New York tradition: celebrating the holidays by seeing Sue Matsuki and Edd Clark’s

Christmas show. An engaging pair, it didn’t take long to get the show out of the gate. The opening medley was worth the price of admission and then some. - Peter Leavy, Cabaret Scenes

This show was a full course meal! As a team, Sue & Edd are unstoppable, both with split second comic timing and senses of humor and a group of songs that showcase the range and power of both their impressive vocals. The show feels like an impromptu living room concert. - Sherri Rase, QonStage.com
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I am not alone in being totally enamored by the fantastic vocals of this multi-MAC Nominated Duo. Alone or in duet their voices are clear and beautiful. I have had the CD of this show loaded on my iPod. It serves as the sound-track to my life in December. This duo has enough chemistry to win them a spot in the Gilbert Hall of Science!” - Stu Hamstra, CabaretHotlineOnLine
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Like old friends hanging around the tree singing favorites at a party, these genial singers would be welcome “presences” at the holiday season. - Rob Lester, Talkin’ Broadway

An extraordinary array of musical theater stars will perform on the stage of the Metropolitan Room to pay tribute to Barbara Siegel on Wednesday, January 27th at 7 PM. The concert will be performed by Broadway stars of the first rank, major award nominees and/or winners. Barbara, a theater critic and columnist, has been a nominator for both the Outer Critics Circle and The Drama Desk (the latter for a total of 18 years, 12 of them as chairperson), and she has influenced the careers of countless performers. A great many of them will converge on the Metropolitan Room to say thank you. By the same token,

Barbara Siegel

a percentage of the profits for this event will be turned back to the people Barbara loves so much by making this event a benefit for The Actor’s Fund.

A full list of performers will be announced shortly.

Tickets are $30 plus a two-drink minimum
To Reserve your seats call: 212-206-0440  www.metropolitanroom.com (Source: Sandi Durell, TheatrePizzazz).

The Landmarks Preservation Commission just approved a proposal to lift the legendary Palace Theatre 29 feet and move its Times Square entrance to a side street so that the theater’s valuable ground-floor space, fronting on Times Square, can be converted to retail use.  Read more HERE. 

Thank to ALL of the artists mentioned in this blog for the gifts they have given to the world and continue to give!

With grateful XOXOXs ,

 

 

Check out my site celebrating the legacy of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly!

Phyllis Diller and Richard Deacon in Hello, Dolly! December 1969

NO COPYRIGHT 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!    

            

Richard Pryor born on December 1st

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

Happy Birthday, Bette Midler

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Today Marks the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest

Keeping Entertainment LIVE!
 

TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAY

Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com