Hello, diva lovers! Hope you caught the informative and often touching tribute to the late Judy Garland that aired on the E! Entertainment Network this past Sunday, which showed both the joys and many troubles of one of the world’s most famous performers, who left the world at the all-too-early age of 47. E! will rebroadcast this two-hour “True Hollywood Story” tonight, Jan. 19, at 9 PM.
BETTY BUCKLEY
It was announced earlier this week that Tony Award winner Betty Buckley will return to the Bottom Line this March. Buckley just completed two standing-room-only shows at the famed East Village hotspot and will return there on March 16 and 17 to dazzle the crowds in song. Show times are 7:30 PM and 10:30 PM, and tickets are available only at the box office at 15 West 4th Street; call (212) 228-6300 for more information. I also just received a copy of Buckley’s most recent, ever-growing concert schedule, which follows:
Jan. 19-28 Florida Condo Tour in Florida
Feb. 10 Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, CA (fundraiser)
March 3 Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA
March 11-12 at the Geary Theater in San Francisco, CA
March 16-17 at the Bottom Line in New York, NY
April 1 at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA
April 16 at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, TX
May 12 College of Staten Island’s Center for the Arts in Staten Island, NY
May 24 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, MA
June 17 at the Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans, LA
August 25 at the Great Waters Music Festival in Wolfeboro, NH
October 6 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ (with Michael Feinstein)
November 24 at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ (with Michael Feinstein)
December 6 at Abravenal Hall with the Utah Symphony in Salt Lake City, UT (Xmas program)
*By the way, Ms. B will also be a part of the upcoming 2001 Outstanding Achievement Awards presented by T. Schreiber Studios -- one of New York’s foremost professional theatre schools -- on Monday, Feb. 5. This year’s recipients include Proof’s Mary-Louise Parker and Shubert Organization Chairman Gerald Schoenfeld. The evening will be hosted by T.S.S. alumnus Julie Halston, and other theatrical luminaries on the guest list include Billy Crudup, Anne Jackson, Michelle Lee, Joe Mantello, Marin Mazzie, Debra Monk, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach and many others. The gala benefit will be held at The Supper Club on West 47th Street, and tickets are available by calling (212) 741 0209. CAROL WOODS
For the past few years, Carol Woods has been touring the country as Matron “Mama” Morton in the national touring company of Kander and Ebb’s Chicago, belting “When You’re Good To Mama” eight times a week. Now, the former Goodbye Girl star, who will return to Broadway in the upcoming, eagerly anticipated revival of Follies, is currently preparing a cabaret act for Arci’s Place (450 Park Avenue South), where she will open on January 30 for a four-week run. Woods’ act, which is entitled Stick Around, will feature such tunes as “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Children Will Listen,” “Even God Must Get the Blues,” “Sit On It,” David Friedman’s “As Long As I Can Sing” and Rupert Holmes’ “People You Never Get to Love.” What follows are a few of Woods’ choice quotes from an upcoming Playbill article written by actor/writer David Drake.
about her decision to perform a cabaret act:
“[One night in Chicago] I thought, ‘I’m a singer who doesn’t sing!’ I mean, I do these Broadway shows -- and I’m getting ready to do another - where I have this one song and then, I disappear! . . . I made a decision: ‘When I go home to New York, I’m going to sing.’ That was my goal. And in New York, honey, you’ve got to have a goal.”
about the start of her career:
“A lot of folks don’t know this, but [professionally] I got my start singing in cabarets. Of course, we didn’t call it cabaret, we just called it a night club. I did the ‘Chittlin Circuit,’ you know, the black clubs.”
about her former profession:
“I do still miss [nursing]. But, you know, I still feel like I’m nursing. I mean, that’s what we do when we go out onstage: We’re administering to the audiences, giving them a show -- it’s healing.”
QUOTABLE QUOTES
Lawson Taitte’s review of Patti LuPone’s recent concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (in the Dallas Morning News):
“Ms. LuPone was pretty sensational, too . . . The most-fun moment came when the singer alleged she could do either star female role in West Side Story (snarling to the audience, "Only you made me become Ethel Merman"). Or both of them. She then launched into the great Anita Maria duet, ‘A Boy Like That/I Have a Love,’ singing both roles - sometimes almost simultaneously. The crowning touch was when the time came for Maria to hit her final high note, and Ms. LuPone picked up a glass of water and took a drink instead. The singer used all her classical theater training to cross the line from burlesque to serious emotion back and forth at will. Her pipes are still in astounding shape for someone who has been belting constantly for more than 20 years.”
A review of “Girls, Girls, Girls,” which airs on VH1 this Thursday at 10 PM and includes a feature on Jennifer Holliday (from Jeff Gemmill’s “Music Guide” in TV Guide):
“This All Access episode -- which plays like six mini-versions of Behind the Music, on women -- is a reminder of the thin line between success and excess. Profiles include the Go-Go’s, whose career was sometimes riddled with substance abuse, and Jennifer Holliday of ‘Dreamgirls,’ who discusses her suicide attempt . . .”
IN OTHER NEWS It looks like Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone will bring her acclaimed Matters of the Heart concert act to New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse in March for a one-night only performance. Stay tuned for confirmation and price list . . . You can catch Dee Hoty and Simon Jones in this weekend’s production of Baker Street, part of the York Theatre Company’s “Musicals in Mufti” concert stagings. Baker Street, which features a score by Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel, will be performed at the Theatre at Saint Peter’s at 619 Lexington Avenue; call (212) 935-5820 for tickets . . . One of the funniest shows in town continues Thursday nights at Don’t Tell Mama. Part interview and part performance, Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Chatterbox features at least one Broadway star each week. Next Thursday (Jan. 25), you can catch The Full Monty’s Emily Skinner and Annie Golden. February 1 brings Laura Benanti and Matt Bogart, February 8 will include many cast members from Jane Eyre, and Forbidden Broadway’s Christine Pedi and Kristine Zbornik will amuse audiences on February 15. There is a $10 donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and a two-drink minimum. Don’t Tell Mama is located on Restaurant Row, and reservations may be made by calling (212) 757-0788 . . . On Monday, Jan. 22, Rocky Horror Show’s Alice Ripley will be Anthony Rapp’s special guest at his band’s concert at Fez (380 Lafayette Street). Visit www.feznyc.com for more information. And, on Thursday, Jan. 25 Ripley will play the Sh-K-Boom Room at 19 West 24th Street. Sean McCourt will open for Ripley, and reservations may be made by e-mailing [email protected] . . . The multi-talented Christine Ebersole will play Dorothy Brock in the upcoming 42nd Street revival . . . And, finally, congratulations to this year’s Olivier Award nominees for Best Actress in a Musical: Nicola Hughes in Fosse, Joanna Riding in The Witches of Eastwick, Samantha Spiro in Merrily We Roll Along and Josie Walker in The Beautiful Game The awards will be presented on Feb. 23 at London’s Lyceum Theatre
REMINDERS:
BARBARA COOK
Feb. 2 at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY
Feb. 23 and 24 with Michael Feinstein at the Cerritos Center for the Perf. Arts in Cerritos, CA
LINDA EDER
Eder in concert:
Jan. 20, 2001 with the Boca Pops at Florida Atlantic Univ in Boca Raton, FL; go to: www.bocapops.org
Jan. 21 in Naples, FL at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts; (941) 597 1900
Feb. 1 & 2 in Phoenix, AZ at the Orpheum Theatre
Feb. 3 at the Vilar Center for the Arts in Beaver Creek, CO; (888) 920 2787
Feb. 15-17 in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; (202) 467-4600
Feb. 23 at the Westbury Music Fair in Long Island, NY; call (516) 334 0800
Feb. 24 at the Community Theatre in Morristown, NJ; (973) 539-8008
March 8 in Clearwater, FL at the Ruth Eckerd Hall; (727) 791-7400
March 9 in Sarasota, FL at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall; www.vanwezel.org
March 10 in Melbourne, FL at the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts; (407) 242-2219
March 17 at the Thomasville Cultural Center in Thomasville, GA (912 226-0588)
March 22 at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA
April 29 at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA (978-232 7200)
May 31-June 3 in Pittsburgh, PA at Heinz Hall; call (412) 392 4900
PATTI LUPONE
Several concert dates have been added to Patti LuPone’s ever-growing schedule. What follows are La LuPone’s confirmed concert appearances as of this week:
April 8 ("Matters Of The Heart") at Duke University’s Page Auditorium in Durham, North Carolina; (919) 684-4444
KAREN MASON
What follows is Mason’s up-to-date performance schedule:
January 29 “Cabaret on the Record” benefit at Arci’s Place in New York, NY
March 17 Appearance at 92nd Street Y with Craig Carnelia in New York, NY
May 9-20 at Davenports cabaret in Chicago, IL
BERNADETTE PETERS
The two-time Tony winner, who recently concluded her run in Annie Get Your Gun, is now on a U.S. concert tour:
March 29 at Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady, NY
April 6 at the Bass Perf. Hall in Fort Worth, TX (with symphony)
April 7-8 at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, TX
April 19 at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto (with symphony)
April 28 at the Pasquerilla PAC in Johnstown, PA
May 11-12 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, MN (with symphony)
May 18-20 at the Myerson Hall in Dallas, TX (with symphony)
Well, that’s all for now. Happy diva-watching!
- By Andrew Gans
