QUARANTINED MEMORIES #1: SWEET CHARITY

During this pandemic madness and the awaited return of Broadway shows,   I am doing what every theater geek is doing: spending endless hours on You Tube, watching clips of every damn version of every damn thing that we have ever heard, seen, or done, multiplied by 1000.   If you are a theater enthusiast having lived in NYC long enough, in addition to Broadway and Off Broadway, then you know that there is something so amazing and so unique happening on a regular basis, especially with organizations like Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund, (which, by the way, are both raising funds to help the many whose profession is the basis of many of our favorite moments. If you have a spare fiver to donate,  and know others who can, collectively you will be helping). Back to me.  

In my spiral, I ran across this clip from the Actors Fund production of SWEET CHARITY in 1997, featuring three Tony Award© winning legends, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and Donna McKechnie, in one of my favorite numbers, There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This

I immediately flashed back to actually being in that audience that night. I had been in NYC for about 2 years, and my survival job at the time was being a bouncer/dj/emcee/janitor/house mother and sometimes choreographer at a strip club. 

Yes, I know it might be hard to believe, but at that time many of the older comedians that I admired had worked in a strip club in the early days of their careers.  I felt like I was following a tradition. Not to mention, who would you trust hanging out with female strippers? Lecherous straight guy or fabulous gay guy who can fight, too?

Anyway, after seeing the big event postcards in the rack (remember those?)  at a coffee shop near the strip club, I went back to the club and immediately called the Actor’s Fund and asked for ticket prices.  Cheapest ticket was $150 in the Mezzanine, but Orchestra seats started at $250, so I waited because I had to think about it, because I barely had enough for a mezz seat.  I told one of the “exotic” dancers how bummed I was, because I wanted to go as close to full out fab as I could. That dancer went back to the dressing room and told the other girls. At closing, they ALL went out of their way to tip me extra so I could afford an orchestra seat.  

When I called back the next day to order the ticket, I told the woman on the phone my whole life journey from Texas, and how much I LOVED the movie, and how I was a comedian who worked at a strip club, and how lap dancers were the modern day Taxi Dancers, including the story about the ladies and the generous tips. I know that I exhausted her.  I went to pick up the ticket and pay for it with my stripper tips because I did not have a credit card. That fabulous woman gave me a front row center seat, which was misleading, because it was Row AA. In my mind I thought it was the 27th row, after passing through the alphabet once. Imagine my surprise that night at Lincoln Center almost like Cher in MOONSTRUCK?  

Cy Coleman came out to play the overture.  The ladies from THE LIFE were singing Big Spender with Chita and Bebe.  Theater Goddess, Gwen Verdon, made her final stage appearance that night. She also fell while smoking a cigarette and hiding in Vitorio’s closet.  Dom Deluise and Charles Nelson Reilly were among the other stars on stage. Debbie Allen’s off book moment cracked up the house. Hearing someone scream, “You better work that ponytail, gurl!” as that young dancer made her entrance for the RICH MAN FRUG number.  Looking back some 23 years later, it still feels amazing.

Because I did not know where my life was taking me after that night, I marvel about how many connections to that night continued so many years later.  At that time, I had been in NYC for about 2 years still trying to figure it out. It was before 9/11, social media, and the beginning of the flip phones. After making my way around NYC as a comedian and a hospital clerk for about 10 years from that magical night, I landed a dream job of working in radio.  One of my first BIG assignments was to cover the book launch party of…..Donna McKechnie. 

Tony Award© Winning, Donna McKechnie's Memoir, TIME STEPS: My Musical Comedy Life

Guess who else was at that party? Bebe Neuwirth.  I know right?  It was right before they were to announce that Bebe was to return to the cast of CHICAGO in the role of Roxie Hart. Later on in my career, I also got the chance to connect with the great Chita Rivera.

Chatting with the amazing 2x Tony Award© Winner, Bebe Neuwirth.

Stage door with Chita Rivera at The Dancer's Life in 2005 holding the pic from the 1997 SWEET CHARITY

2019 Chita Rivera Award Nominee Reception with Chita Rivera

As magical as that night was, it came up again in the most unlikely of places.  My first big relationship lasted shy of 7 years, and began with a few theater conversations.  Upon spending my first night with him at his place, I saw this awesome display on his wall. It was a signed poster from that same SWEET CHARITY concert along with pics of him with some of the stars of that same night.  It was such a sweet moment to realize that we were at the very same event meeting people and possibly passed each other and not even knowing it. No matter how the relationship ended, I will never deny that theater was one of the things that made our relationship fun, and we both can admit it was a good run, and yes, we are still friends.  As this quarantine continues, it seems that I will have plenty of time to remember some really great moments involving the theatre, and I think that I will. In the meantime, do the same and if you can, please check out Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Actors Fund.
Please enjoy some memories from that magical night, too.

Meeting Emmy Award© Winning Debbie Allen after 1997 SWEET CHARITY

The Original Pic from 1997 SWEET CHARTY with 2x Tony Award© Winning Chita Rivera

Dom Deluise (center), My Friend Bruce and His "friend" 1997 SWEET CHARITY

3X Tony Award© Winner, Hinton Battle, at 1997 SWEET CHARITY

Happy Birthday, Stephen Sondheim

As many of us quarantined theater geeks living in NYC are trying to get through not having live performances, one of our giants, STEPHEN SONDHEIM, celebrates his 90th birthday.  Thanks to COVID-19, many planned events to celebrate him have been cancelled, including the highly anticipated opening of another revival of Company.  I will admit that I was a late bloomer to the genius of Sondheim. I thought his music and shows were something that only the white theater folks would shame me for not knowing well.  Of course, there were many moments in my life that my ignorance of WHO he is, allowed me to appreciate him unconsciously. He wrote the lyrics to 2 of my favorite musicals WEST SIDE STORY and GYPSY.  2 shows that I first saw as movie musicals. I hold them both responsible for awakening my inner show queen, along with Wonder Woman, but I digress. His vast musical theater cannon of shows exhibit a mastery of drama, comedy, and the macabre. 

I remember seeing Into The Woods and Sweeney Todd on PBS, and not seeing the big deal at first. Fairy tales and a serial killer who kills people and then gives them to the lady downstairs to make meat pies, were not big on my radar.  At the time, I gravitated to things closer to my experience: The Wiz, All Black Casts of Hello Dolly and Guys and Dolls, Jelly’s Last Jam, and 5 Guys Named Moe. Over the years and out of context, I would randomly hear songs like Losing My Mind, Broadway Baby or I’m Still Here, especially with a big orchestra, being sung by a grand diva like Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch, Barbara Cook, or Barbara Striesand, and I would get carried away by those lyrics, big finishes, and buttons. Like Blanche Devereaux on the Golden Girls said to the wedding planner, “you just wanna fly right out of here!” 

It was not until I was in my first real relationship with an even bigger theater geek than myself that I started to understand the genius of Steve (I heard that is how he signs his personal notes). My ex and I went to see so many shows, and when we scored great seats to see the 2011 FOLLIES revival. All of the sudden, things made sense from a universal place. The longing loss of love along with the other complicated emotions of life are on full display, even with the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Once my understanding of his universality came to me,  hearing artists later like Billy Porter and Heather Headley interpreting Sondheim's music, I soon felt a new level of soul. The real aficionados of Mr.Sondheim will agree that his work speaks differently to everyone. I admit that his funny and sassy tunes get me every time, and depending on my own state of being, the other tunes are just as powerful. So in honor of his birthday and my endless need to be trendy, I would love to share with you some of my favorite Stephen Sondheim songs.

Gotta Get a Gimmick- GYPSY ( lyrics only)

Broadway Baby from FOLLIES

Everybody Ought Have a Maid, from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

You Could Drive A Person Crazy, COMPANY

The Ladies Who Lunch from COMPANY

AMERICA from WEST SIDE STORY ( lyrics only)

Have a Little Priest from SWEENEY TODD

The Boy From “...”  from THE MAD SHOW

LOSING MY MIND from FOLLIES

Buddy’s Blues from   FOLLIES 

Let Me Entertain You from GYPSY

2019 Chita Rivera Award Nominees

On Tony nominations Day Eve, a new tradition has emerged: The Chita Rivera Award Nominees Reception, celebrating the best in choreography on Broadway, Off Broadway, and Film.

I had the chance to catch up with some of this year's nominees: James T. Lane ( KISS ME KATE) Angie Schworer (THE PROM) , Ashley Blair Fitzgerald (CHER SHOW) , Dionne Figgins (SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE), Rick and Jeff Kuperman (ALICE BY HEART), Shea Sullivan (NEUROSIS, A MUSICAL THAT GETS IN YOUR HEAD), Denis Jones (TOOTSIE) Sergio Trujillo ( AIN'T TOO PROUD) Please Enjoy My Conversation with these fabulous folks.

                                                  2019 Chita Rivera Award Nominees

BROADWAY NOMINATIONS:

Outstanding Choreography
Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me Kate
Denis Jones, Tootsie
David Neumann, Hadestown
Casey Nicholaw, The Prom
Sergio Trujillo, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations

Outstanding Male Dancer
Corbin Bleu, Kiss Me Kate
Rick Faugno, Kiss Me Kate
James T. Lane, Kiss Me Kate
Jeremy Pope, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations
Ephraim Sykes, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations

Outstanding Female Dancer
Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, The Cher Show
Gabrielle Hamilton, Oklahoma!
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice
Angie Schworer, The Prom

Outstanding Ensemble
Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations
Hadestown
King Kong
Kiss Me Kate
The Cher Show
The Prom

OFF-BROADWAY NOMINATIONS:

Outstanding Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Raja Feather Kelly, If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka
Rick and Jeff Kuperman, Alice By Heart
Lorin Latarro, Merrily We Roll Along
Shea Sullivan, Neurosis, A Musical That Gets in Your Head

Outstanding Male Dancer
Brennan Caldwell, Neurosis, A Musical That Gets in Your Head
Zachary Downer, Alice By Heart
Brendan Henderson, Cleopatra
Jelani Remy, Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Wesley Taylor, Alice By Heart

Outstanding Female Dancer
Emma Degerstedt, Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Mia Dilena, Alice By Heart
Irina Dvorovenko, The Beast in the Jungle
Dionne D. Figgins, Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Naomi Kakuk, The Beast in the Jungle

Outstanding Ensemble
Alice By Heart , MCC Theatre
Fiddler on the Roof, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka, Playwrights Horizons
Smokey Joe’s Café, Steven Baruch, Mark Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel
Twelfth Night, The Public Theater


FILM NOMINATIONS:

Theatrical Release

Isn’t It Romantic – (Release date, February 13, 2019, Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth) Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli; Additional Choreography, Nick Kenkel, Assistant Choreographer, Jon Rua

Mary Poppins Returns – (Release date, December 19, 2018, Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Choreographers: Rob Marshall & John DeLuca; Co-Choreographer, Joey Pizzi; Associate Choreographer, Tara Nichole Hughes, Assistant Choreographer: Marlon Pelayo

Shine – (Release date, October 6, 2018, Alysia Reiner, David Zayas)
Director of Choreography: Lyrik Cruz, Choreographers, Charlie Garcia, Osmar Perrones, Grisselle Ponce

Swimming with Men – (Release date, December 7, 2018, Rob Brydon, Rupert Graves) Choreographer: Caroline Pope

The Nutcracker and The Far Realms – (Release date, November 2, 2018, Misty Copeland)
Choreographer: Liam Scarlett


Documentaries

Ballet Now – (Release date, July 20, 2018; Tiler Peck)
Director: Steven Cantor

Bathtubs Over Broadway – (Release date, November 30, 2018; Tribeca Film Festival Award Winner prior and other festivals, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, etc.)
Director: Dava Whisenent

Hot to Trot – (Release date, NY, August 24, 2018, nationwide rollout to follow)
Director: Gail Freedman

If The Dancer Dances – (Release date, July 24, 2018, Dance on Camera Festival)
Director, Maia Weschler

Moving Stories, Lives Transformed By Dance – (Release Date, August 11, 2018, Battery Dance Festival, MoMa)
Director: Rob Fruchtman, Wilderness Films, Producer

   

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Top 20 Most Popular Episodes in Year 1: #17- 2x Tony Award Winning, living legend, Chita Rivera.

As the Top 20 Most Popular Episodes of Year 1 continues,  #17's entry is the one and only, 2x Tony Award winning, living legend, Ms. Chita Rivera.  She took a little time out of her stroll down the red carpet for the 2016 Drama Desk Awards, and chatted with me about still making it POP, at her age.  That pic of Chita and I was taken outside the stage door of her show The Dancer's Life in 2005.   I was holding a pic of the first time that we met almost 8 years prior.  Even though we chatted briefly, I must say that she is truly one of my favorite people to have ever met.  I am hoping to have a much longer conversation with her.  Hopefully, we can add another level to this picture.  Click Here to hear my moment with a true, gracious, living legend.  

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