By Wayman Wong
01 Jun 2003

Their very first show was on June 13, 1983, at Palssons (now The Triad). Harnar, 43, says, "I don’t know why we click, but we really do, like brothers. I bring a lot of ideas to the party, but Alex has the genius to pick out the good ones. He has impeccable taste." Rybeck, 45, who also accompanies Liz Callaway and Karen Mason, adds, "Jeff’s a great entertainer, but he’s also such a good and loyal friend. And though everyone thinks of Jeff as the king of theme shows, we’ve always done a variety of stuff. People also have no idea how truly wacky and silly Jeff can be, and I love him for that."

For example, when Harnar "got depressed [about showbiz] and stopped singing" in the early 80’s, he worked as Phyllis McGuire’s houseboy. But that later inspired him to write a parody of a song from Working, which he called "Just a Houseboy." "To this day," he says, "my dad thinks no show has matched the brilliance of that number." A big film buff, Harnar also used to do a cabaret tribute to "Valley of the Dolls" in which he recited from the novel and made a movie-inspired mobile from coat hangers.

The NYU grad has always kept his sense of humor, even when he learned last year that his record producer, John Jerome, who was supposed to put out his latest CD, "Dancing in the Dark," was arrested for embezzling over $3 million from Alliance Capital.

"When I first heard the news, I laughed hysterically," he said. "Then the reality of it sunk in. I had three months of Jerome-subsidized [gigs] in London, Chicago, Boston. All of a sudden, I had no work, and all these people who worked on my CD were owed thousands of dollars. It was horrifying. To Alex and me, these are our friends. Now I’m paying them off and hope to have my CD out later this year or early next."

Like any performer, Harnar has had many highlights, like the night Liza Minnelli invited him to do his Vincente Minnelli theme show in her apartment: "It was great. I was singing Judy Garland songs to Liza, while her dog, Lily, who looks like Toto, was running around my feet." And then there have been the fiascos, like the time his then-Norwegian boyfriend booked him to do a midnight show in a jam-packed disco in Oslo: "Everyone was rocking their brains out and I’m introduced [to sing Cole Porter]. It was so bad!"

Though Harnar came to New York to be on Broadway, he’s happy with his home in cabaret: "I love to perform and direct. I also love the marketing end of it. I love writing and creating. And musically if you can sing songs you care about and you’ve somehow touched people’s hearts or minds, I can’t imagine anything more fulfilling!"

For more information, visit www.jeffharnar.com.

WHERE THE GUYS ARE
BROADWAY: Brent Barrett is back in like Flynn in Chicago on June 2, and he’ll be joined by Melanie Griffith, who’ll make her Broadway debut as Roxie on July 11. . . . On June 6, Cabaret will play host to a new Emcee: Jon Secada. . . . James Barbour, the Rochester, big and tall, of Jane Eyre, fills in for Jeff McCarthy Lockstock and barrel in Urinetown from June 13-July 6. . . . Adam Pascal leaves Aida on June 15 and Richard Blake steps in as Radames from June 17-29, but Will Chase (The Full Monty) takes over on June 30 with Toni Braxton.

OFF-BROADWAY & MORE: The York Theatre Company will salute rising musical-theatre writers with NEO, a star-studded concert, on June 9 at 7 PM at St. Peter’s Theatre, and it’s loaded with leading men: Bryan Batt, James Barbour, Matt Bogart, Matt Cavenaugh, Darius de Haas, Deven May, Matthew Morrison, Adam Pascal, John Tartaglia and Max von Essen. (212) 935-5824. . . . The Broadway Musicals of 1960 brings back the era of Camelot (and Bye Bye Birdie) on June 9 at 8 PM at Town Hall. And what a cast! Brent Barrett, Tovah Feldshuh, Eddie Korbich, Marc Kudisch, Doug Ladnier, Liz Larsen and Lisa Vroman. (212) 840-2824. . . . Chaz Esposito will make a "Splish Splash" playing Bobby Darin in Mack the Knife, the new musical about the legendary pop star. It opens June 22 at St. Peter’s Theatre. (212) 239-6200.

CABARET: Matt Cavenaugh, who really earned his spurs in Urban Cowboy, steps into the Broadway Spotlight on June 2 at 8 PM at the Ars Nova; (212) 977-1700. . . . Jim Caruso hosts his celebrity-studded Cast Party on Mondays at 10 PM at the King Kong Room, but the merry musical comic will kick off Mondays at 8:30 there on June 2 with his own show, followed by Johnny Rodgers (June 16) and Mark Nadler (June 30). Billy Stritch’s June 23 gig, meantime, has been rescheduled for Aug. 4. Turns out that the club has been booked for a special event starring a onetime sax player named Bill Clinton. (212) 921-1904. . . . Two-time Bistro Award winner Tim Di Pasqua has had his sensational pop songs sung by Tom Andersen, Scott Coulter, Alix Korey and Phillip Officer, and Stephen Schwartz calls him "one of the freshest and most melodic writers" around. You’ll be singing Di Pasqua’s praises, too, if you catch him June 17 at 9 PM or June 28 and 30 at 7 PM at The Duplex; (212) 255-5438. Visit www.timdipasqua.com. … Ruben Flores, a hot, charismatic crooner from Mexico, made his New York cabaret debut only a couple of months ago, but he’s already a must-sí. His vibrant vocals and Latin allure landed him the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast back in Mexico City, but here he delivers sultry Spanish songs about "amor" by the score, along with Porter, Rodgers and Wildhorn. He’ll sing again June 25 at 9:15 PM and June 30 at 7 PM at Danny’s Skylight Room; (212) 265-8133. Visit www.rubenfloresonline.com.

Got comments or questions? E-mail me at waymanwong@hotmail.com.

Until next month, let’s hear it for the "boys"!

Wayman Wong edits entertainment for the New York Daily News. He has been a movie and theatre critic for the San Francisco Examiner and a Drama Logue Award-winning playwright.