Patrick Rinn and Leanne Borghesi

February 13, 2018

Patrick Rinn and Leanne Borghesi

The Cast of Richard Skipper Celebrates February 11th, 2018

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can have.
-Theodore H. White, American political writer (1915-1986)

Happy Tuesday, February 13th, 2018!
February 13 is the 44th day of the year. There are 321 days remaining until the end of the year! Once during your day today, take a 5-minute digital break. Stop texting, let the phone go to voicemail, and don't respond to that email message. If you're inside, look out the window. If you can get outside, take an even closer look at your physical environment. Carpe Diem!
We are surrounded by too much loss lately. I am deeply heartbroken today by the loss of Marty Allen. My heart goes out to his wife and all those affected by this loss. Marty Allen has left us at 95. Always enjoyed his act with partner Steve Rossi. Also, the recent passing of Charlotte Patton. HERE is a great article I found on grief this AM.

As I sit down to write today's blog, I'm listening to Marlene Dietrich's Just a Gigolo in the background.

I was just thinking of her this AM in anticipation of KT Sullivan's March 15th Show celebrating Marlene. I'll be there cannot wait!

Where do I begin? Yesterday was my 57th Birthday and I cannot imagine this one ever being topped! Russ Woolley, the BEST producer, AND FRIEND I've ever known surprised me and honored me above and beyond anything I truly deserved. It only makes me desire to

From a few years ago with Eileen Fulton, Anita Gillette, Paul Greenwood

strive and live up to the accolades bestowed upon me on Sunday.
When I embarked on this journey with Richard Skipper Celebrates... first with my blogs, and eventually, with this series, Russ was nowhere on the horizon. When he came along and offered to produce this series, God truly smiled down on me. My costars are not aware of my emotional intensity because I hide it so well.
Russ experiences it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly! All I get from him is support!
It's always positive and upbeat!

Thank you, Russ! I can never thank you enough for your generosity!

When Russ suggested an afternoon to celebrate me, I was truly touched and honored. I knew I was in great hands but I didn't know what to expect. I relinquished all control of the show to Russ and the afternoon was a total surprise to me until it unfolded before me. Except for Musical Director Tracy Stark, I didn't even know who the band was until 24 hours prior to the show!

Thank you, Tracy Stark, Matt Scharfglass, Rex Benincasa, and Erik Lawrence for making Beautiful Music!
Thank you, Randi Levine-Miller, Peggy Eason, Leanne Borghesi, Anita Gillette, Sarah Rice, Carole Demas, David Sabella, Michael, Blanca, Richard Blanca, and Kathleen Hassett-Hochberg for making me realize how blessed I am in this industry AND in my life to have true friends such as all of you.
Thank you, Glen Charlow, Jay Michaels, and Matt Skallerud of

Pink Banana to ensure the success of these shows.
Thank you, Arlene Jacks, Pamela Singer, and Mark Lord for all the work you do behind the scenes.
Thank you, Kenny Bell, Michael Kirk Lane, Abby Judd and the entire staff of Laurie Beechman for giving us a home full of love and the highest professionalism in all of New York!
Here's to the next 57 years! I will strive harder to live up to all of the love you bestowed upon me.
Thank you to all who composed testimonials. I also believe I have the best audiences around.
I CELEBRATE ALL of you!
Now, it's time to roll up my sleeves and get to work on the March 18th Show! I promise you a great CELEBRATION!
https://youtu.be/QpeBnCrMnNo

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Richard-Skipper-For-Hes-A-Jolly-Good-Fellow-20180212

Many successful people pay attention to a door opening in front of them. Opportunities are created every day, but it takes the smart to utilize them. Today, I am celebrating THREE artists who are creating their own opportunities. Please see their shows. Tell them I sent you.
The first is Patrick Rinn. He will be at The Triad in NYC tomorrow night in a special St. Valentine's Day Show. This is where my husband and I will be tomorrow night. Please join us if you are available. There is a great Turkish restaurant downstairs with the best lentil soup around!

Patrick Rinn as Rose Garden
Known to NYC and television audiences for his acclaimed creation, the always-enticing Rose Garden, Patrick Rinn, has had recurring roles on All My Children and One Life to Live, ap- peared as Rose Garden in the HBO mini-series Angels in America, and performed with Hearts and Voices as a member of The Imperial Court of New York. In 2014, Patrick was crowned the very first Broadway’s Best in Drag winner, a yearly benefit for AIDS Service Center NYC.

Is there a charitable cause you support?

Patrick Rinn

I support BC/EFA

What’s the most important thing I should know about you?
I strive for perfection

What keeps you going through the day?
PILLS (just kidding)

What do you do for fun?
Create art

Who is your favorite superhero?
Thor

Who would you like to see profiled?
The Dali Lama

If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?
A Horse

We must keep the art forms from the past alive!

The Triad Presents
Rose Garden'sValentine Varieties
and (The Sweetheart Ball)
at the The Triad Theater 158 West 72 Street
2nd Floor
Wed. Feb. 14, 2018
8:00pm
Tickets On Sale Now
www.TriadNYC.com

After a successful run in his one-man show I NEVER PROMISED YOU ... ROSE

GARDEN, Patrick Rinn returns to The Triad Theater as Rose Garden in the first of his Vaudeville series titled, ROSE GARDEN’S VALENTINE VARIETIES.
An homage to the art form of Vaudeville, the evening will consist of a variety of performances including seldom seen novelty acts, unusual musical presentations, old time comedy sketches and much more.

After the show, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, the audience is invited to stay and enjoy The Sweetheart Ball. The perfect way to end the evening with music, dancing, and a few unexpected surprises.
Featuring performances by Aaron Burr, David Giardina, John Hillner, Kimberley Hawkey, Marina Colonna, Ray Cetta, Wendy Waring, Sharon Ruben and many more. Directed by Peter Gregus

with Wayne Gmiter

Having just returned from the road with Tommy Tune and Chita Rivera, as Production supervisor for (Chita Rivera and Tommy Tune-Just In Time), Patrick switches from backstage to center stage with his first of a vaudeville variety series: “Rose Garden’s Valentine Varieties”.

Tickets are $30.00 each (plus a two-drink minimum) and include tickets to “The Sweetheart Ball” post-performance are now available at www.TriadNYC.com.

Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain. Running time: 60-75 minutes

QUOTES
“From her well-turned ankle to her manicured fingertips, Rose Garden embodies that rare combination of glamorous coquette and mature minx. I can't get enough of her.

Patrick Rinn, Amra Faye-Wright and Carol Woods

She'll knock your socks off.” - Amra Faye-Wright (Star of Chicago-The Musical)

“Patrick Rinn is a tour de farce, I’ve never really seen anything like this before.
Just GREAT!!! - Tommy Tune (10 time Tony Award winner)
Patrick Rinn made his stage debut his one man-man show I Never Promised You..Rose
Garden, and a star was born. I laughed and cried as I watched Patrick’s touching per-
formance. - Magda Katz - Times Square Chronicle

I'll be there tomorrow night! Please join us!

Leanne Borghesi
Leanne Borghesi is one of my favorite entertainers! Leanne Borghesi: is a solo-performer specializing in the creation and performance of comedic 'theatrical cabarets.’ Her shows blend the magic of theater with the music and setting of cabaret shows. Her pieces are interactive, making each performance unique, personal, and full of surprises. She is currently
performing in her hit one woman show Mood Swings in New York City at The Triad Theater. Leanne has been a Guest Artist at The Eugene

O'Neill Theater Center Cabaret Conference where she debuted her one- woman show, BAZAZZ under the direction of Michael Bush. Here she performed in Accentuate the Positive, A Johnny Mercer Tribute alongside such legendary performers as Lillias White, Marilyn Maye, Penny Fuller, and Amanda McBroom. Leanne attended the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University where she trained with Tovah Feldshuh, Sally Mayes, Julie Wilson, Amanda McBroom, Alex Rybeck and Sharon
McKnight. She has performed in the UK in David Kent's This Summer I Lived. She has played houses in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco including Feinstein’s 54 Below, Feinstein’s at the Nikko, The Triad, The Metropolitan Room, Rrazz Room, MBar Hollywood, Herbst Theater, Marines Memorial, Palace of Fine Arts, and The Duplex. A Northern California native, Leanne has been a staple of the San Francisco cabaret and theater scene for over a decade. Borghesi’s previous theatre credits include NEW

YORK: Workshop of
Jonathan Brielle’s 40 Naked Women a Monkey and Me with Veanne Cox and Doreen Montalvo directed by Michael Bush (Sir Studios NYC and Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, CT), Smeraldina in The Servant of Two
Masters (Sonnet Rep), Jan in Mr. Irresistible (LaMaMa Etc.), Valerie Solanas Up Your A$$ (PS 122), Dora
Bailey in Singin’ in the Rain (Gateway Playhouse). REGIONAL: Chaperone in The Drowsy Chaperone, Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden (TheatreWorks), Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney

Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Rona Lisa Peretti in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (CenterREP), Nancy in Oliver (PCPA Theaterfest), Mrs. Bassett in Eccentricities of a Nightingale (Aurora Theater). Leanne is the recipient of Best Actress in a Musical award from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for NCTC’s Productions of Dames at Sea (Mona Kent) and her solo theatrical

cabaret, Divalicious.
She is a founding member of The National Theater of Uptown in Manhattan, one-third of the comedic trio B.O.O.B.S! (Busty, Outrageous, Over-the-Top, Broads, Singin'), and moonlights as San
Francisco's own original Faux Queen, Ms. Anita Cocktail. She collaborates with many not-for-profit organizations performing in numerous Gala and Benefit shows on both coasts. Leanne is a proud Member of Actor's Equity.
Leanne also has The National Theater of Uptown opening Monday night, February 19th.

What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for audiences who attend your event on Monday night?
What a great question, there are many ways that I can answer this…

I hope that after 80 minutes on this ride of MOOD SWINGS, my audience left the theater feeling inspired, entertained, surprised and hopefully humming a tune or two. I very much enjoy creating atmosphere, taking the audience member on a journey with Me and at the end, we
understand each other a bit more. The give and take during the show creates a unique
experience with each audience and because of this, the piece grows, finding new life and gives
space for improvisation and storytelling. It’s a real blast and is blessed to work with such a great team, my MD Brandon Adams, Director Nick Minas and Sound Designer Sharon Boggs.

Working at The Triad Theater is wonderful as it’s big enough to contain me, yet intimate enough
to really connect with the audience. I am so very excited to see how the next couple months go
while crafting the show for future endeavors.

What should remain with them long after it is over?
At this moment I am not thinking long over as each experience creates the next, I plan to take
this piece to other venues, festivals or even a continued run at The Triad as it is a great introduction to who Leanne Borghesi is and what you may expect when you come to one of her
shows. MOOD SWINGS, or any of my pieces.

What I’d love for people to take away from these shows is a desire to come back and see it again with someone who may need to see it, for whatever the reason is. That the time spent in “Borghesi’s Hideaway” was special and when they think back they remember that they laughed, had fun and ignited to come see me again in the future.

What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow artists?
My advice from what I’ve learned is, to be fearless in what it is that makes you happy and sets your soul on fire. Surround yourself with people who inspire, challenge, love and believe in you.
Understand what your gift is and share it, that is our job as artists, especially performers.
Collaborate with artists who you enjoy working with, value the differences and perspective.
Never give up, if it’s your passion and you love it always find a way to share it and never be ashamed of telling someone that you are a “performer” or “actress”, own it.
Own who you are and know that you are enough. My advice to other artists are also things that other mentors have shared with me. Liza Minnelli told Me about 20 years ago “Be ready, when the door knocks, you answer it and say Yes!”. Like Marilyn Maye told me, “Entertain your audience, that is

what they came to you for.” She also said which is so true and helps me a lot, “Positive thinking works, it really does, it’s a bunch of bull!@#$ but it really works.”

Why do you feel that celebrities are such an important part of our lives?
Celebrities that I have chosen to be of importance in my life have been role models to me when it comes to my passion for performing. Carol Burnett for her absurdity and fearlessness,
Lucille Ball for her hilarious timing, Liza Minnelli for her passion and determination, Marilyn Maye for walking her talk…the list goes on and on.
As a woman, I am drawn to other strong women who show me success in whatever I choose is obtainable.

Celebrating and valuing the hard work from other artists in this New York cabaret community is also important, to honor the paths that have been created by a lot of hard work.

If you could perform with one person, who would that be?
I’d love to perform with my father who passed when I was 22. I would have done a show with
my dad as he played the accordion, drank red wine and accompanied me to a rollicking rendition of I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.

What person do you most admire, living or dead?
That’s a very hard one…I admire the LGBTQ community,

especially the women and men who risked their lives, identities and worlds to live fearlessly, publicly and able to stand up for love, marriage, and gender equality.

Who would you like to see profiled?
Tracy Stark

Now, Go Out And Do Something Nice For Someone Else Without Expecting Anything In Return!

with Shana Farr, Leanne Borghesi, Denise Spann-Morgan, Jesse Luttrell, Phyllis Pastore, Russ Woolley

Here are a Few Testimonials for Richard Skipper Celebrates:

Richard Skipper Celebrated all over the Laurie Beechman stage December 3rd, 2017. Nothing

could've been Christmas-ier. If you needed a little Christmas, this was the place to soak in it, being a tinseled treat of warmth and holiday cheer. It was wonderful to see Bobby Belfry, Ann Kittredge, Sidney Myer, and Deborah Stone all at the top of their respectively unique yuletide cabaret games under the musical direction of Tracy Stark and the band. The show opened with a charmingly nostalgic credit crawl designed by Michael Masci and a video sequence featuring the great variety TV stars of the past, concluding with Mr. Christmas himself Bing Crosby. The highlight of the show, or any Holiday show happening in 2017, would have to be Ms. Kathryn Crosby, Bing's widow, singing first "Holly Jolly Christmas" and of course ending with "White Christmas." That's Christmas right there. Richard tied it all together with great showmanship. His Richard Skipper Celebrates series produces some of the livelier and most just-plain-fun events in Cabaret.

Jeff Macauley

-Jeff Macauley

Hi Richard, My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed your cabaret show yesterday. The singers were all wonderful and their back stories were so inspiring. You're a very talented host with a sparkling presence and infectious energy. My husband said that you should have your own talk show! Looking toward to seeing you again! Regards, Michelle & Michael

Just had the pleasure of attending my first Richard Skipper Celebrates at the Laurie Beechman today. I was captivated from beginning to end. I had no expectations, I thought it was just going to be a conventional cabaret (not that there's anything wrong with that :) ) but instead it was an excellently produced, thoughtful and warm celebration of music and music-makers. I will be back!
Ann Kittredge, NYC

Stay Tuned for Richard Skipper Celebrates March 18th at 1PM at The Laurie Beechman Theatre!

Sit Back! A New News Cycle Is About to Begin!

Thank you, to ALL who are mentioned in this blog for showing me that it is up to ME to lead by example!

With grateful XOXOXs ,