Last night Laverne Cox owned the stage for an off the hook Broadway Bares performance held at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The actress who stars in Orange is the New Black wowed the audience doing a burlesque style dance wearing nipple pasties and a corset. Way to go Laverne! Broadway Bares is a striptease performance that brings together some of Broadway's greatest stars to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Watch Laverne shake her groove thing at the link below - https://instagram.com/p/4N-dKuCh3Y/ Keep on movin' Ms. Cox! To find out more about Broadway Bares got to: http://broadwaybares.com/full/
In the tradition of Sound of Music live, and because of it's record breaking ratings. A live version of Grease is coming to FOX January 31st 2016 - werd!
The first two casting announcements were made today - and this writer found them a mixed bag.
Julianne Hough will play Sandy, um I'm not sure about the rest of you , but I find the former Dancing With The Stars star and now judge pretty uninteresting. I certainly don't think she can and ever will compete with my first girl crush Olivia Newton-John.
Next up Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo. Now this is something I can get behind, she is one of my current girl crushes, and I think perfection casting wise.
Julianne had this to say (source E!Online) "Greaseis one of the movies that made me want to be an entertainer, and I have literally been waiting my whole life to play Sandy," Hough said. "My siblings and I watched it and played it out over and over when we were kids. This is my dream role and performing it live on television will be one of the most thrilling opportunities I've had in my career so far."
Cutie Vanessa Hudgens who will be on Broadway in Gigi states (source E!Online) "Being Rizzo is something I've never imagined, and I love that because it will be a new challenge. She is such an iconic character that continues to transcend generations. I cannot wait to bring her to life on live television. I'm going to be a Pink Lady!"
The Woods Are Alive With The Sound of Music: Meryl Streep & Bill Magnussen
Meryl Streep really isn't an evil witch, she just plays one in Into The Woods. The Oscar winning screen legend played a part in landing her costar Bill Magnussen the lead role of Rapunzel's Prince in the film which opens Christmas day.
"I remember the first day coming into rehearsal," Magnussen told the New York Post, laughing. "Meryl was like, ‘Listen, I want you to know, I got you this f - - king part.'"
This is the kind of story that show biz dreams are made of. It just so happens that Meryl had seen the Broadway actor in Tony winning play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in 2013 and then lobbied producers for him to land the part in Into the Woods. Magnussen has been in the biz for several years, Into The Woods will be his first major movie role. That's a pretty amazing Holiday gift, wonder what Bill is getting Meryl in return? Take A Walk Into The Woods at: http://movies.disney.com/into-the-woods/
Watch Out Bitches, Neil Patrick Harris Is On The Loose!
Apparently Neil Patrick Harris, the immensely likable performer is a bit of a Devo (Male term for Diva for those not in the loop) - Oh and by the way, kidding!
Neil Patrick Harris' recent Broadway performance of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"is causing a bit of a stir.
After a female admirer yelled out "I love you Neil!," during the show Saturday, Harris shot back, "I'm doing something up here, motherf—cker!"
The former "How I Met Your Mother" star isn't denying that this happened, but he is saying the supposed curse out was taken out of context.
The musical—about a transgender German rocker—is highly improvisational, embracing audience interaction."
It's great that an enthusiastic fan was there in the audience for Mr. Harris to take her comment and make it a part of the show. I bet she loved it!
NPH made the following statement to Out Magazine:
"Hedwig is bringing up a lot of super insecure things within me. I never thought drag was intoxicating, I've never had a fun drunken Halloween in drag, never been in heels, really. I've lived my whole life being attracted by masculinity—it's why I like guys. I'm not a super effete person, and I have to turn into that, and in doing so it brings up a lot of homophobic insecurities within myself."
Since I mentioned that one of the things I was kicking off my New Year with was Richard Greenberg's Tony Award winning play "Take Me Out" which I saw at a preview last night I must mention it, right?! Well happily so. I have never seen the play before and what a wonderfully written piece of work! The synopsis for "Take Me Out" goes something like this: "Take Me Out," Richard Greenberg's 2002 Broadway hit, explores with wit and compassion what might happen if a player on a major league baseball team were to announce that he is gay. Greenberg brings out many attitudes toward homosexuality by drawing his main character as a very specific, unique individual. Darren Lemming is the star player who has led his team to win two Worlds Series in a row. He comes from a middle-class, biracial family but has never faced any sort of racial prejudice. He is the ideal ballplayer on the ideal team, until the day he decides to announce his sexual orientation to his team: then his relationships change with his coach; his teammates; his new business manager, who is gay; his best friend, who is devoutly religious; and especially with the homophobic pitcher recently up from the minors, who refers to Lemming by using an offensive slur... Pretty intriguing stuff, no? Not to mention, since most of the play takes place in the team locker room, there is a lot of frontal male nudity, what was that?! Yes I said, a lot of male frontal nudity. The actors are in top form, all of them, and the directing by James Kenneth is spot on.
Classically-trained, Broadway veteran, Natalie Toro brings her infectious energy,and powerhouse vocals, coupled with luscious tones to melt any heart with the, release of "Just In Time For Christmas"....
Yep this pretty much sums it up, this was my first encounter with the force of nature known as Natalie Toro and I must say, not only do I love her voice, I personally think she is da bomb!
The following is when Michael met Natalie, grab some Eggnog and raise a glass, Cheers!
NT: Hi Michael, it's Natalie Toro, how are you?
MS: Hey, want to hear something funny? I found out at the very last minute that you were on the web series "Child of the 70's" and I was watching an episode you are in, I know Michael Vaccaro (Actor/Creator/Writer of the show), I did a short film with him.
NT: Oh my God how funny! Did you see the Christmas dinner scene?
MS: Yes!
NT: We had the best time shooting that, Oh My God, it was during the summer, and here we are trying to get in the Christmas spirit in the middle of August in New York. (laughs) I've known Michael all my life.
MS: I watched the video for song "Just In Time For Christmas" five times before you called, very nice. Was that shot in August too? (laughs)
"Just In Time For Christmas"
NT: No, it wasn't shot in August, but it was very funny shooting it in Central Park with a hidden camera. People thought I was insane! (laughs) I had the little ear plug in my ear and my iPod in my pocket and I was singing to Jesus, yep it was just me in the middle of Central Park singing acapella while the video was being shot! (laughs)
MS: The video came out really great - hard to believe you shot it guerrilla style.
NT: You want to know something really funny, when you see the unedited footage before the song got put it in, I am underneath the big theater in Central Park, you know that dome theater? I'm wailing, the acoustics there are incredible! There were people watching and shooting video footage of this crazy lady in a coat, me, just singing at the top of her lungs to no music and you can hear this saxophone player playing "New York, New York" in the background, I was crying I was laughing so hard trying to focus on what I was doing!
MS: Vocally you are really simple, clean and direct, I love that!
NT: Thank you. I really tried to focus on getting away from my "Broadway Voice" on this album. I really wanted to find out who Natalie was, with the help of my producer, Dawn Makay she really worked with me, I mean I've always had a pure clean sound, but Broadway has a standard of what to do in a show, like using vibrato, also I tend to over pronounce everything because of the theater. With this album I really felt like a recording artist, I chewed up the mic I was very up close. A lot of my pure sounds were even more pure when I didn't add a vibrato.
MS: Great! For me personally I think a lot of artists over sing things just to show off.
Natalie & Frosty
NT: Also when you realize if you can't control your vibrato, and this is something I learned from Dawn, when someone has vibrato on every syllable of every word, it really takes you out of the song. It's not all about balls to the wall, it's about finding those moments, it's about what you are singing and the intimacy of it.
MS: "Just In Time For Christmas" is a great example of that.
NT: It's like a grand Disney song.
MS: That's a great way of putting it.
NT: Yeah, I hope Disney can hear it, hey I want that somewhere in a Disney movie! We even have a New Age song on the album "The Christmas Song" with an American Indian flute, so we really worked on that vocal purity and clarity, I mean if I am going to have an American Indian flute playing with me on a Christmas song I better have that same purity and clarity of what that flute represents. It's haunting and at the same time it's meditative, I mean you can't be meditative with someone's vibrato going "Ah ah ah ah ah" that's not meditative, that's like "go get a gun and kill me." (laughs)
MS: I agree, that's why I hate House Music.
NT: House Music is what you dance to when you are having a cocktail.
MS: Not even then I can't be near it.
NT: Yeah, I know I hate it too. (laughs) Hey Michael it might be our age! (laughs)
MS: All of your tracks on "Just In Time For Christmas" are clearly a labor of love for you, but is there any track in particular that resonates more than the others?
NT: My absolute favorite Christmas song is "Ave Maria/O'Holy Night" my idea for intertwining them is they are meeting on the same premise. "Ave Maria" is a prayer about the Holy Mother and her Child, and "O'Holy Night" is about the birth of the Child and I thought Oh My God, it made complete sense to put them together.
MS: Any new videos beside "Just In Time For Christmas" coming from the album?
NT: Yes, the video for "Baby It's Cold Outside" a duet I did with Ryan Kelly was just released.
"Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea these singers are or what lives they lead, until now" -
So goes the IMDB synopsis for the Documentary "20 Feet From Stardom" starring one of my favorite people Darlene Love, who jumped those "20 Feet" and became a star and legend that was recently inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame.
Love has been called the "world's most famous backup singer," but has also appeared on Broadway and in films — most notably as Trish Murtaugh in all four "Lethal Weapon" films. " She hosts a Christmas special in New York City every year, and Harper Collins released her new novel, "My Name is Love," on June 4. She's currently performing in an Australian production of "FAME" as the musical's lead performer.
"People in the biz always give you a lot of lip service about what you should do, but when it comes time to put the bucks down on the table everybody disappears" - Darlene Love
This is an excerpt from and interview I did with Ms. Love about her upcoming (and out now) CD "Concert of Love"- you can read it here:
Pop Princess Shara Strand claimed her territory with the release of her EP "Born Tonight" the title coming from a verse of the Rosanne Cash song "Seven Year Ache" which Shara does a wonderful cover of on the disc. Also on the EP is Shara's hit single "Jekyll or Hyde" the song is so popular that coming Tuesday, January 22nd a disc of re-mixes is dropping, yes including dance ones. Shara dropped by "Entertain Me" to respond to 10 Random Things I tossed out to her, let's see what she said in return... 1. Born Tonight: My debut EP everyone that has something for everyone! OUT NOW!
2. Make-over: Shara Makeup Studio at The Pierre Hotel in the Dominique Salon will have you looking and feeling INCREDIBLE! 3. Showtime at the Apollo: Still nervous thinking about doing that show. The producer literally had to push me on stage! But, the scary clown man never came out and I rocked it!
4. Get Here: Oldie but goodie. I performed this on Showtime at The Apollo.
5. Re-mixes: Jekyll or Hyde remixes out Jan 22nd. D1 Music, Mike Rizzo, Paul Goodyear, and Wayne Numan ALL did their thaaang!! 6. Treble Clef: I've always hated music theory BLECH! 7. Broadway: My real schooling for everything thats evolving in music. 8. Whiskers on Kittens: I played Liesl, and I never had so much fun doing a show! 9. Pop Princess: Honored, humbled, and excited every time I hear "pop princess" in the same sentence as my name!! 10. Jekyll or Hyde: Wahoo! Touring starts NEXT WEEK! Keep up with Shara and check out her tour dates at: http://www.sharastrand.com/
Valarie
Pettifordis
that rare breed, a triple threat. From the stages of Broadway to the
sound stages of Hollywood, she has charmed audiences with her
performances. A Fosse-trained dancer, Pettiford was Tony nominated
for her work in the musical revue, “Fosse”,
which paid homage to her mentor.
As
an actor, she is most recognized as Big Dee Dee Thorne on the hit
sitcom, “Half and Half”, and Aunt Geneva, whose rehearsal
dinner musical number in “Jumping the Broom” pretty
much stole the show from her Co-Stars.
Valarie
has released her second solo album, “Velvet Sky”, a collection of
original lullabies.. This new album, all of which were written
especially for her by two legendary writing teams – Ron
Abel (music)/Chuck Steffan (lyrics) and Michael
Orland (music)/Jamie Wooten (lyrics).
Here
to sing you a soothing lullaby as only she can is Ms. Valarie
Pettiford...!
VP:
Hey, it's Valarie Pettiford.
MS:
Hey, how are you?
VP:
I'm awesome how are you?
MS:
Great! I was giving “Velvet Sky” a listen before you called, it's
very nice, did your Mom sing you lullabies when you were a kid?
VP:
She did. She has a beautiful voice, it's so nice to see her now with
singing to her Great Grandchildren, she has always sang, and so does
my sister. Lullabies have always been a part of my life.
MS:
I always wondered if people really sang lullabies to their kids.
(laughs)
VP:
They do, they actually do. (laughs)
MS:
There was something I read that stated you thought your voice was
well suited to them, I agree with that.
VP:
Thank you, thank you. People always ask me: “Valarie what do you
usually sing”? Of course I do Jazz and Musical Theatre, but my
heart is in Rock-N-Roll. But I just don't have a Rock-N-Roll voice,
so I have thought about where my vocal sensibilities lie. I think
they do lie in this particular vein.
MS:
Interesting, because I wouldn't know by hearing you sing that you
didn't have a Rock-N-Roll voice. Because as we all know Pat Benatar
was trained as an opera singer and she has a Rock-N-Roll voice...so
someone listening to you would not necessarily know you didn't have
that type of voice.
VP:
You're right, I mean I could do it, but it's not the way I want to do
it. I would want to sound like Pat Benatar or Tina Turner, but I
don't.
MS:
Rumor has it you pretty much stole “Jumping The Broom”.
VP:
(laughs) Somebody said that, not me. My role was very delicious, it
was amazing to, I was surrounded by the best cast and had the best
director. It was a wonderful experience.
MS:
I heard you had an off color musical number in it.
VP:
I did. (laughs) The movie is about a wedding and I did a song during
the rehearsal dinner, that was inappropriate but, funny as Hell.
MS:
Since I haven't seen it, can you tell me what it was?
VP:
Well....the movie has been out for a while so it won't spoil it for
anyone. But sometimes I hate saying it, because it will spoil it for
people who have not seen the movie and still want to see it.
