By Andrew Gans
07 Jan 2005
DIVA TIDBITS
I was more than thrilled earlier this week to receive a copy of the forthcoming CD, "Nancy LaMottLive at Tavern on the Green." After an eight-year wait, this "new" LaMott recording taped live at Tavern on the Green just weeks before her untimely death will arrive in stores Feb. 1 on the Midder Music label (with distribution by LML Music). That same day will also mark the re-release of five of LaMott's previous magnificent recordings: "Beautiful Baby," "Come Rain or Come Shine: The Songs of Johnny Mercer," "My Foolish Heart," "Listen to My Heart" and "What's Good About Goodbye?" (All discs are being released on the Midder Music label with distribution by LML Music.) The Tavern on the Green CD which I will review next week was taped at the famed Manhattan landmark during LaMott's final cabaret engagement, which began Oct. 27, 1995. LaMott's producer, David Friedman who also penned such LaMott signature tunes as "Listen to My Heart," "We Can Be Kind" and "Help Is on the Way" created the new recording from various performances during that final run, and the single disc also includes LaMott's engaging and often humorous patter. The complete song list for the recording, which features musical director Christopher Marlowe on piano, Steve LaSpina on bass and John Redsecker on drums, follows: "Listen to My Heart" (David Friedman), "The People That You Never Get to Love" (Rupert Holmes), "Sailin' On" (Alan Menken-Dean Pitchford), "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart), "Jeepers Creepers" (Harry Warren-Johnny Mercer), "How Deep Is the Ocean" (Irving Berlin), "Waters of March" (Antonio Carlos Jobim), "I Got the Sun in the Morning" (Irving Berlin), "The Promise" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman-David Shire), "Help Is On the Way" (David Friedman) and "The Secret O' Life " (James Taylor) Visit www.nancylamott.com for more information.
It was announced earlier this week that Patti LuPone will guest star in an upcoming episode of the hit NBC situation comedy "Will & Grace." LuPone will play herself in the Emmy-winning series, which often features celebrity guests. Others who have made appearances as their celebrity selves include Cher, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson and Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth. It's an especially busy time for the Tony and Olivier Award-winning LuPone, who is touring her acclaimed Matters of the Heart concert throughout the country. As previously announced, La LuPone will star in concert stagings of Regina at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts March 10-12. Following that D.C. appearance, she will return to New York for her third solo Carnegie Hall concert. The March 14 evening is titled "The Lady with the Torch" and will feature songs culled from her recent appearances at Feinstein's at the Regency. She'll end the month of March playing Fosca in the American Songbook presentation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion. That March 30-April 1 staging also features Tony Award winners Audra McDonald and Michael Cerveris.
Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski, currently in negotiations to star in the Donmar Warehouse's production of Guys and Dolls, has titled her upcoming Lincoln Center concert Better When It's Banned: Selections From a Sinful Songbook of Prohibition and Hayes Code Era Gems. The Feb. 1 evening at the Time Warner Center's Allen Room, will mark Krakowski's solo concert debut and will feature musical direction and piano accompaniment by Michael Kozarin. The original one-woman show will boast such classics as "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and "Mad About the Boy" as well as rarities like "When I'm Low I Get High," "But in the Morning No," "A Guy What Takes His Time," "Wacky Dust" and "Gloomy Sunday." Krakowski, according to a press statement, has "long been fascinated by this controversial period in history. She has been especially moved by stories of artists directly affected by these moral codes and the great music that was lost because of them, as well as what these codes, though no longer in effect, tell us now about current battles with censorship." Tickets for the 7:30 and 9:30 PM concerts priced at $40, $55 and $70 are available at the Alice Tully Hall box office (Broadway and 65th Street), by calling (212) 721-6500 or by visiting www.lincolncenter.org.
Wicked's Idina Menzel ends her Tony Award-winning run as Elphaba this Sunday (Jan. 9) at the Gershwin Theatre. On her newly updated website, the actress-singer says, "In 2003 I was cast as Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west in Wicked. Words can't express the overwhelmingly profound experience it has been both personally and professionally." Menzel, who will soon begin filming the role that launched her stage career Maureen in Jonathan Larson's Rent will be succeeded in Wicked by Shoshana Bean, who begins performances in the Stephen Schwartz musical Jan. 11.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
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