DIVA TIDBITS: Tonight, Friday, Oct. 19, former Rent star Daphne Rubin-Vega will perform two shows at NYC’s Bottom Line (15 West 4th Street). Rubin-Vega will perform original songs from her CD “Souvenirs,” and proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross and the New York State WTC Relief Fund. About her concerts, the recent star of The Rocky Horror Show says, “As an artist, I am an ambassador of peace and an agent of change. I entertain to instruct, inspire and give pleasure to my audience. That pleasure is doubled for me knowing my contributions directly assist those of us in great need.” Show times are 7:30 and 10:30 PM, and there is a $20 cover charge . . .
London’s leading musical theatre actress, Elaine Paige, will give a one-night-only concert with opera singer Jose Carreras at the Royal Albert Hall on Dec. 11 . . . From Nov. 6 through Nov. 24, Sally Mayes will debut an all-new cabaret act Arci’s Place (450 Park Avenue South) in N.Y.C. Mayes, who starred on Broadway in She Loves Me, has titled her show “Boys and Girls Like You and Me,” which she says is a “journey through the different stages of love and an examination of life’s loves through song.” You can expect to hear Mayes interpret such tunes as “I Dream in Technicolor,” “I Never Know When to Say When” and the title tune, a song cut from the Broadway production of Oklahoma!. There is a $30 cover and a $15 food/drink minimum for Mayes’ shows; reservations can be made by calling (212) 532-4370 . . . On her new CD, Heather MacRae offers a moving and beautifully sung tribute to her late father, Gordon MacRae, star of such legendary film musicals as Oklahoma!, Carousel and The Desert Song. Available from Harbinger Records, MacRae’s disc, “Songs for My Father,” was recorded live at Eighty Eight’s and features MacRae singing such tunes as “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” “If I Loved You,” “What’s the Use of Wondrin’,” “Soliloquy” and “Look for the Silver Lining.” The 16-track disc also features MacRae’s amusing stories of growing up in Hollywood as well as musical direction by Mark Nadler . . .
On Oct. 23 DRG Theater will release a two-CD set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in the recording business. “Show Stopping Performances from Our Original Cast Albums” features such Broadway stars as Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Heather Headley, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Barbara Cook, Tyne Daly, Marin Mazzie, Patrick Wilson, Melissa Errico, Joanna Gleason and Carol Burnett singing such tunes as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “You’re Just in Love,” “What’s New at the Zoo?,” “Perfectly Alone” and The Act’s “Walking Papers.” . . .
DRG will also release a single CD that celebrates its cabaret releases over the past two-and-a-half decades, “Great Cabaret Performances.” The 20-track disc features Ann Hampton Callaway, Billy Stritch with Liza Minnelli, Amanda McBroom, Margaret Whiting, Eartha Kitt, Faith Prince, Laurie Beechman, Liz Callaway, KT Sullivan, Barbara Cook, Julie Wilson, Karen Akers, Portia Nelson and the late Nancy LaMott, who sings a tune penned by the late Portia Nelson, “As I Remember Him.” . . .
“A Time for Love” is the name of the Dec. 3 concert to benefit the American Red Cross’ Relief Efforts. Presented by the Lampkin Music Group in association with Rob Colson and Rusty Hernandez, the concert will be held at Chicago’s Apollo Theatre (2540 N. Lincoln Avenue) at 8 PM and includes such Chicago talent as Hollis Resnick, Alexandra Billings, Martha Lorin, Tom Michael, Beckie Menzie, Suzanne Petri, Bob Brueler, Robin Kay, Tom Oman, Audrey Morris, Michael Laird, Dan Stetzel, Patti Morabito, Achy Obejas, Terry Higgins, Becca Kaufman, Dick O' Day, Caryn Bark, Sue Conway, Larry Gray, Larry Novak, Leon Joyce, Bill Underwood, Kari Howard, Bob Moreen, Honey West, Nan Mason, the cast of Bailiwick Theatre’s Being Beautiful, Susan May, and Jason Antone. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the Apollo box office by calling (773) 935-6100 . . . Jazz singer Joyce Breach will return to the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room on Friday, October 26 at 9:30 PM to celebrate the forthcoming release of her new CD, “Love Is the Thing.” “Love” is Breach’s seventh recording for Audiophile Records and is scheduled to be released later this month. Breach’s CD and her upcoming show will feature a diverse selection of love songs penned by Stephen Sondheim, Schwartz and Dietz, Dorothy Fields, Bart Howard and others . . . Composer David Friedman, who has written such cabaret staples as “Listen To My Heart,” “We Can Be Kind” and “Just in Time for Christmas,” recently had this to say about British performer Alison Jiear, who will perform at Don’t Tell Mama later this month: “I want to let you know that my friend Alison Jiear will be coming over from London to sing at the Cabaret Convention on Tuesday, October 23rd, and will be doing her act at Don't Tell Mama on Wednesday the 24th and Thursday the 25th at 11:30 P.M. You may remember I brought Ali over to the states two years ago to sing ‘Listen To My Heart’ for me and she tore the house down. I would have to say that Ali is my favorite singer since Nancy LaMott. She has a voice that is gorgeous and can do everything in every range, she's a great singing actress, she can be hilariously funny and then turn around and break your heart. She has a new CD out called ‘Forgiveness Embrace’ that features several of my songs (including one new one written just for her) plus songs, old and new, of some of our most wonderful writers, and the extraordinary title song by Stephen Schwartz. Christopher Marlowe will be playing her shows at Don't Tell Mama, and I hope everyone will come down after the convention and give themselves the pleasure of hearing this extraordinary singer, who I hope will be spending much more time in America.” For those interested in hearing Jiear sing, reservations can be made for her Don’t Tell Mama (343 W. 46th Street) performances by calling (212) 757-0788 . . .
Bravo, the Film and Arts Network, will begin airing their 15th annual “Broadway on Bravo” festival beginning Nov. 5 with the American television premiere of Julie Andrews in the Broadway production of Victor/Victoria. The star-studded schedule also includes Camelot (with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave), “Inside the Actors Studio: Kevin Kline,” Hello, Dolly! (with Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford), The Music Man (with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones), “Bravo Profiles: Julie Taymor,” Gypsy (with Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden) and “Inside the Actors Studio: Nathan Lane.” . . .
Quotable Quote: The Hartford Courant’s Frank Rizzo wrote this about Barbara Cook’s recent Sondheim concert: “The show in New Haven also allows for a bit of nostalgia. After all, Cook made her professional musical-comedy debut at the Shubert 50 years ago in the nearly forgotten musical Flahooley. But another musical that played New Haven on the way to New York — She Loves Me — also brings back some amusing and poignant memories. When it comes time to sing ‘Ice Cream’ from that show, it is as if the audience — as well as herself — is transported in time. The 73-year-old singer suddenly is an ingenue again: fresh, girlish and sparkling — but also perhaps a bit more knowing. When she hits the song's high note with breathtaking flourish, it is a moment as musically thrilling as any I have heard — a note of greatness, distinction and triumph.” . . .
And one final item: Confirmed track listings for Barbra Streisand’s upcoming holiday CD include “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “A Christmas Love Song,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” “I Remember,” “Snowbound,” “It Must Have Been the Mistletoe,” “Christmas Lullaby,” “Christmas Mem’ries,” “Grown-Up Christmas List,” “Ave Maria,” “Closer” and “One God.” . . .
REMINDERS:
BETTY BUCKLEY
That Tony-winning dynamo, Betty Buckley, has just released a new slate of concert performances, which follows:
November 10 at the Naperville North Central College Performing Arts Center in Naperville, IL (with Michael Feinstein)
November 14-18 at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret in Uncasville, CT
November 24 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ (with Michael Feinstein)
December 6 at Abravenal Hall with the Utah Symphony in Salt Lake City, UT (Xmas program)
December 7 at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan, UT
December 27 at the Verizon Regional Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia, PA (with Michael Feinstein)
January 4 & 5, 2002 at the Bushnell Auditorium in Hartford, CT
March 15 & 16, 2002 with the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh, NC
March 30 at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA
BARBARA COOK
April 12 and 13 with Marilyn Horne at Michigan State University’s Warton Center in MI
April 26 at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA
June 5-9 and June 12-16 at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre in Washington, DC LINDA EDER
Eder in concert:
Oct. 19 and 20 at the Atlanta Symphony Hall, go to www.atlantasymphony.org
Nov. 3 at the Youngstown Symphony Center in Youngstown, OH, (330) 744 4269
Nov. 16 and 17 at Jacobs Symphony Hall in Jacksonville, FL, (877) 662 6731
Dec. 1 at the State Theatre in Easton, PA (610-252-3132)
Dec. 5 at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, (973) 376-4343
Dec. 11 at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA, (617) 266-1492
Dec. 14 and 15 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, (800) 444-1324
PATTI LuPONE
The Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress has also just released a whole new slew of concert dates, which follow:
February 9, 2002 at the Tilles Center with the Long Island Philharmonic (“Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda”)
February 22-23, 2002 at the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, NY with the Buffalo Philharmonic (“Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda”)
February 28 at Carnegie Hall in New York, NY (“Coulda Woulda Shoulda”)
BERNADETTE PETERS
Oct. 19-21 at the Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis
Oct. 24 at the NJPAC in Newark
Oct. 26 at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto, Canada
Nov. 3 at the Keneseth Israel Hall in Philadelphia
Nov. 21-25 at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco
Jan. 4, 2002 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater
Jan. 6 at the Barbara Mann Hall in Ft. Myers
Jan. 7 at Van Wezel Hall in Sarasota
Jan. 9 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach
Jan. 10 at the City Center in Coral Springs
Apr. 5-6 at the OCPAC in Costa Mesa
Well, that’s all for now. Happy diva-watching!
By Andrew Gans
