Old Interview with Betty Garrett

The following interview with the great lady, Betty Garrett, who we miss already - passed away on Saturday, Feb 12 - was printed in NoHo LA in the January 18-31, 2005 edition. We did it prior to the opening of Nunsense @ Theatre West.

Right after my interview with singer/comic actress Betty Garrett, I had a delightful surprise. I turned on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and came in on a screening of the 1948 film Big City with Margaret O'Brien. Lo and behold playing nightclub chanteuse Shushu appeared the very beautiful Garrett singing up a storm with "OK'l Baby Dok'l" by James Miller. Garrett, beloved from film, TV (All in the Family and Laverne & Shirley), and Broadway (most recently in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies) teaches a weekly musical comedy workshop at Theatre West and is about to sing and kick up her heels live onstage in Nunsense, opening there January 20. She finally has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is a recent recipient of the Cinecon Award, the Professional Dancers Society Award and the Ovation Award for Lifetime Achievement.


Any special reason for mounting Nunsense at this time?

Well actually, Lee Meriwether kind of put it together. She was out on the road in it for ten months and became friendly with the writer/director Dan Goggin. Before she went, she enlisted a group of actors at Theatre West to help her learn the show and workshop it. On the road, she expressed the wish to Dan of doing the show at Theatre West so that all the people that worked so hard could perform it. His response was "Why not?" He gave her the rights to it and not only that, he generously agreed to come here to direct.
Lee and I have been friends for over 40 years now, and she said "I wish we could find a part for Betty", because all the other parts were assigned. He said, "I'll write her a part." So he wrote in another character (before now the cook was only mentioned), and a song. I'm Sister Julia Child of God. I'm in the tap dancing number and I also get to read from my cookbook that I've written in order to raise funds. It's just outrageous. (She laughs heartily.)

Do you prefer musical comedy to drama?

I love any kind of theatre, as long as it's good. But, somehow when I started out, I was doing things where I had to learn to sing, and musical comedy seemed to be where I was the most successful. As a matter of fact, my next project is going to be working on a revue of all the songs that I've written over the years.* I discovered in my trunk about 50 different popular songs. I've been doling the songs out to people in my musical comedy workshop to try them out and see how they work.

What advice do you give young actors?


Get yourself hooked up with some group where you can work all the time, because it's a waste of time to sit around waiting for your agent to call you.
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* This became Betty Garrett Closet Songwriter, performed at Theatre West in November, 2007.


Betty Garrett worked hard and always delivered. What a gal; what a performer! Your passion for the theatre should never die, even in moments that are, as we say, less than favorable to you. Garrett is certainly living proof, as she worked at Theatre West and attended theatre around town and the country right up until shortly before her death this year. Young actors can learn a lot from her tireless dedication and lifelong service to the arts. She will be sorely missed!
Godspeed!

Interview with David Campbell

Australian actor/singer/director David Campbell, whose recent CD On Broadway is fast approaching  international success, was in New York this past weekend as an ambassador for G'Day USA and to promote his family album Floodlight to be released in stores in Australia February 1 and already a hit on iTunes. The album is a $4.95 contribution to aid the flood victims in Australia. In our conversation Campbell talks about the album, his background and his busy schedule in Australia as artistic director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.


Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed your performance here in LA in November at the Catalina Jazz Club.
Thank you. I had a great time doing it, and I'm going to come back within the next year or so, in more of a cabaret room.

You might like the Inner Circle of the Magic Castle for its size and Hollywood location.
I know, and it's got my favorite...magic. I wish I were a magician.

Really?
Oh, yeah. I think magic's really great, and now I have a kid to learn magic. A lot of kids have fathers that are singers, but to have a father that does magic, that's a singular thing, really cool. So maybe I'll try and get some tips if I come back there.

You're in New York to sing tonight (January 28) at G'Day USA. Tell me about that.
It's sort of an Australian/American tradition now that helps get Australian people together here. I've done this a few times here...we've done it at Carnegie Hall, at Lincoln Center and now we're doing a smaller version at Cipriani's. It's myself, the cast of Priscilla (Queen of the Desert), and also the Qantas Choir is performing as well. 

You'll be singing selections from your album On Broadway?  
Yes, a song from my 60s album Good Lovin' with the Qantas Choir, and I think we're all singing "I Still Call Australia Home" together, another Peter Allen song.

Let's talk about the Floodlight album. Terrible tragedy befalling Australia!
Yeah...obviously, these terrible things happened...and for an Australian performer...we go to those areas that were affected by the floods all the time. Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Maribor, Ipswich. The mayor of Ipswich sent my wife (formerly Lisa Hewitt) and me towels. I have all these gifts from him. He's a very generous man; it's a great town. These are all really good people that support artists going through there touring, and my father (Jimmy Barnes) and I felt very strongly.

I was performing at a telethon in Australia for the flood victims; I was singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" and he called me up that night and said "Announce on TV that we are going to release an album!" We had nothing. We had no agreements from any record company or anything like that. But I announced it and within a week we had it on iTunes and within 24 hours it was Number 1. It's 16 tracks from all of our albums. I have many family members and in-laws that perform. So, we all put tracks on the album. It all goes to the Flood Relief Victims. Both record companies got all the rights waved, and we made it very cheap so that people can get 16 tracks. It's done very well, and we're releasing the CD. The interesting thing on there from my dad and I... He, myself and my sister (Mahalia Barnes) did a cabaret show at the Festival in our first year (2009). My dad, in an acoustic mode, sang things like "Around the World", the old Matt Monro song and "Love Me Tender". You get to hear us do harmonies and live stuff together, special stuff that you can't get anywhere else. We just took it off a desk tape and mixed it. But, really for us, it's about giving back to these people who support us around the world. A lot of people tour through there, so I think it's very important that we are there for our fellow people. Queensland is a very large state, the second largest in Australia, and 75% of it was considered a disaster zone.

Being Jimmy Barnes' son, how did you get the name David Campbell?
My maternal grandmother, who brought me up, was married to a man named Peter Campbell, her second husband. I was a kid and he was only around for 4-5 years. He left before I found out who my father was. I kept his name, and when I found out who my dad was in my teenage years, there was a lot of talk of whether I should take his name. It didn't feel right; I had grown up as David Campbell. I guess in a way it's kind of a stage name really; I have no emotional connection to it. My grandmother never had any emotional connection to it, but it felt right and I never changed it. Now it seems great, like starting my own legacy. How many times do you get the chance to do that unless you're making up a name completely for yourself?

Tell me more in detail about the variety of music you grew up appreciating.
I didn't know about my mother being my mother. I thought she was my sister for 11 years. When I found out about my father, I found out about my mother. I was brought up with all these older women. My grandmother was very English, but she loved Nat King Cole...Johnny Mathis is a big favorite of hers. She loved Scott Walker; she loved swing singers as well. And she loved the old movies; we used to watch movie musicals, so I had this sort of connection to that as a kid. And my mother and her sisters would come in on a Saturday night and bring in some wine and would play Motown and the popular stuff of the day, 80s tracks. And I grew up in a very rough area and with my dad being a very rough rock 'n roller too, I had to have all of that as well. It's a really wide gamut of music that I love and listen to. I guess Johnny Mathis was a big vocal influence on me when I was starting out in cabaret. Watching movie musicals, listening to people like John Raitt, Gordan MacRae and hearing that sound a lot - to my grandmother that was the proper way of singing - these are the people I look up to. As I got older into cabaret and found my own voice, I found Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr. Peter Allen, the sort of big showmen that I have an affinity to and work hard to aspire to.

The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is a very popular event. You and your wife Lisa are currently artistic directors of it. Tell me more about that.
It's in its 11th year this year and takes place in June. But we work on it all year. This is our third and final year as artistic directors. Last year we had Natalie Cole, which was wonderful and Bernadette (Peters) the year before. We get big acts like that and we also create a lot of young cabaret. It's been very difficult in Australia, because cabaret has sort of painted itself into a corner. People just doing regular shows like a Cole Porter show, and no one really wanted to see it anymore, and when we got to the Festival, the numbers were dwindling, they were not reaching out to big people anymore, so we were very cognizant that we wanted to change it. We wanted to bring cabaret into the 21st century, make it relevant. While we were bringing in Bernadette Peters or Donna McKechnie or Liz Callaway to do that classic New York cabaret style, we were also bringing in fabulous French performers from London like Sarah Louise Young or Frisky & Manish (School of Pop), and then going to Australian performers and saying "Give us something different!" like doing a show with my dad and making him sing something he'd never do live or going to other Aussie rock performers and saying "Do your shows, but do them in cabaret style!" Everyone would embrace that and then that would filter down to really young artists now, from drama schools or musicals. We have this girl who's the lead in Xanadu, Christie Whelan who's incredible. We approached her and said "Britney Spears and cabaret: perfect for you! We're going to get a director. Let's write it and do it." She's done that all over the country to great acclaim.

We try to encourage and build shows around people. We've gone one step further. Last year and this year, we're going to high schools, teach kids about cabaret and I direct two high schools in their professional debuts of cabaret. We're seeing kids that are relating to shows like Glee and dip their toe into this musical theatre/American popular song. I try to make it relate to them, make them tell their stories and we get through it. It's emotional, dangerous, but so exciting to be out there introducing it to the next generation. There was certainly a time when I was coming up, where I didn't feel supported. The support that I got in America I didn't have in Australia when I was staring out. Now the new generation's coming through, as it is here, making it their own.

You are so funny on stage. Is there a role that you really yearn to play?
(laughs) I don't know that there's anything funny that I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to be goofy and wacky on stage. Actually, the less I try, the funnier it starts to get. But I'd love to do Carousel and the other classic musicals. They don't write men's roles any more. Outside of cartoons or people flying around the room... (we laugh)

David Campbell will find an original of his own, he's so creative and fun. Don't miss him when he plays LA, New York, San Francisco in the future and order a copy of On Broadway @ Amazon.com It's a must for serious theatre lovers. And listen to Floodlight on iTunes!

Interview - Matt Cavenaugh

Soap heartthrob and Broadway star Matt Cavenaugh has done Urban Cowboy (photo below) and more recently Tony in the 2009 revival of West Side Story. He will costar in Reprise's Gigi opening @ The Freud Playhouse at UCLA on February 16. He took time from his hectic schedule of rehearsals to speak briefly about Gigi, his other work and his new CD.

How do you feel about the short run of A Catered Affair? 

A Catered Affair was a great show. What John Doyle, Harvey Fierstein and John Bucchino were attempting to do was quite bold and risky. Perhaps it was a show not quite large enough to compete on the Broadway commercial landscape, but I was very proud to be a part of it. 

What is your favorite musical of all time?   

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of so many great shows it’s hard to pick just one.  Of course I have a special affinity for Grey Gardens and West Side Story.


What was it like to do soaps? 

It was a great change of pace to work in the soap opera world. When I was doing As The World Turns I was also doing Grey Gardens – so those were some very long days! But it was terrific by day to be in front of the camera and by night to be in the theater, onstage in Grey Gardens – one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I’ve has this far. 


Let's talk more about Gigi. Tell me about your role and how it differs from others you've played. 

The role of Gaston is vastly different from any role I have played in my career this far. In some ways Gaston might share some similarity to Joe Kennedy in that Gaston is rich and has a lot of class. Gigi is a comedy of manners of sorts, different from other things I’ve done – which are more American – emphasis on the hard “r “– and there is a quality that we’ve been trying to capture with top hats, canes and gloves and how that changes your behavior. The social norms and etiquette involved in this world are something we are all learning, and something that has informed Gaston – and I get to fall in love with the incredible Lisa O’Hare, who is just so charming and hilarious. I am having a terrific time! I didn’t know Lisa before, I just met her ten days ago, and I fall in love in this show at every performance, which is always terrific.

Anything else of note happening in your life at present?


I’ve got a new CD – something my wife Jenny Powers and I have been wanting to do for a while. We are in the final stages of mixing and mastering, and we will have an official release date to announce soon. Jenny is currently starring in Dangerous Beauty, the new musical premiering at the Pasadena Playhouse.

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Gigi, which is directed by David Lee and also stars William Atherton, Lisa O'Hare, Jason Graae and Millicent Martin plays @ The Freud Playhouse UCLA from February 15-27.

UCLA Central Ticket Office:  310/825-2101

www.reprise.org

Interviews - Robert "Bobby" Moresco/Pedro Antonio Garcia

Playwright Pedro Antonio Garcia will bring his fascinating Firehouse, based on a real-life incident, in a World premiere, to the Whitefire Theatre, with artistic director Bryan Rasmussen as director, opening Friday, February 4. The piece will play Fridays only at 8 pm. In our conversation Garcia talks about his Puerto Rican roots, how the play developped and its prospects for the Los Angeles audience.

How did you become involved in writing this project?

I was raised in the projects in the South Bronx, and during my lifetime I personally witnessed the conflagration of the neighborhood, as buildings were torched day after day while fire engine sirens wailed throughout the night.  Inevitably, people were killed in these fires, including innocent children.   Along with the devastation caused by gangs and drugs, the Bronx was also physically devastated, often compared to Dresden after the bombings.   When I began my career as a criminal defense lawyer, I represented the community when the city tried to close a South Bronx Firehouse.      Later, I attended the Amadou Diallo rallies following his shooting, and I personally knew members of Diallo’s entourage.   I had discovered afterwards that two of the policemen acquitted in the killing of Diallo are now firemen.    I created the issue of the death of the little girl and the fireman’s choices from my experiences.   When I began writing plays, these matters kept haunting me, so I decided to put them together in a story.   

How long ago did this happen?  Did you change any facts for dramatic purposes?

Although every issue raised is true, the play is an amalgamation of them.   Amadou Diallo was an unarmed African street salesman who was shot and killed by four cops in the South Bronx on February 4, 1999, which happens to be the opening day for this play.     I believe the cops-turned-firemen are still on duty, and the community did protest one of the firemen as a result of the Diallo issue.    I added the fictionalized account of the death of the girl to spark the debate of police abuse and underlying currents of racism within the Police and Fire Departments.   In New York City, about 90 percent of the fire department is white. 

Tell me in detail about  the process of developing Firehouse.

I began writing the play as a playwright with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in New York City under the tutelage of Allen Davis III.    A workshop presentation was held for a five show run at the 47^th Street Theater in 2009.   I arrived in Los Angeles in January 2010 to write for the screen.   In October,  I visited a friend, Kamar de los Reyes, the owner of Jo’s  Fitness Center in Sherman Oaks,  adjacent to the Whitefire Theatre.  I asked Kamar to introduce me to the theater’s executive, Bryan Rasmussen, whom Kamar did not know.   Bryan and I began talking, we discovered our similarities, and I gave him Firehouse to read.   He liked it, we spoke about producing it, and he suggested I attend Bobby Moresco’s Writers/Actors Gym, which is held at the Whitefire on Saturdays.  Bobby began reviewing the scenes in his Gym,  giving me the opportunity to sharpen it.   In December, Laura Coker – Bryan’s friend  – attended auditions for Firehouse and decided to produce it.     Thus, a series of fortunate, random events, beginning with a visit to see a friend, led to this production.     It was Bryan’s foresight that opened the possibilities.

           

What do you think audiences will take away with them or what do you want them to take away?

I believe art has a dual purpose:  to dramatize moral truths through creative expression and to examine society.     For the Firehouse audience, I want them to leave profoundly affected by the work of firemen, their humanity, the culture of the code of silence, the adversity that affects the poor in ravaged neighborhoods, and the moral choices that they face daily.    I want their lives broadened by this experience.so that they feel satisfied and moved at the end of the evening.

Do you see a parallel with this story and any of those in Bobby's Crash? 

As in Crash, this work examines moral truths, right and wrong, and the convergence of different sociological aspects of similar events, all reaching a crescendo.    Crash is a tremendous work of great importance.  If this play reaches a sliver of the magnitude of Crash, I’ll be eternally grateful.   As a writer, I derive satisfaction from putting my words on paper – er, computer – and watching the interpretation of the work on stage or film.    


Would you consider adapting the work for the screen?


Firehouse, like Crash, is a perfect fit for the screen:   the relationships of Firefighters and their fights and conflicts among themselves; the fireman whose loyalties are ripped apart as he balances his duty to firemen, the community, and his lover;  the lawyer siding with the community while fighting the firehouse and her fireman-lover; the junkie’s world inside a crackhouse and the savagery of life on the outskirts of law; the politics of racism and police abuse;  the riots in the wake of governmental intrusions; the obligations of the church and its neighborhood; and the daily struggles of the community.        

How was Bobby Moresco's work most helpful to the play?    

 I am fortunate to be part of Bobby Moresco’s Actors/Writers gym, where I was able to run six of the nine scenes of Firehouse for the gym participants.   He further suggested that I fine tune the moments that mean something, to get the most out of them, to raise the stakes.  As a result, the play became clearer and more focused.  

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Academy Award-winning screenwriter Bobby Moresco (Crash) serves as consulting producer of Firehouse. In our interview he discloses his artistic reasons for encouraging the production of Garcia's riveting work.


How did you react to Pedro Garcia's Firehouse when he first brought it to the Actors Gym!


The first thing that I liked about it...it felt to me that this is a playwright who is trying to understand something, not only about the human condition and how people deal in situations, which is what we all look for...but I felt that he was after bigger issues and dealing with them in a small human way. I think that's what good writing is always about. If we get inside of people's heads and put them into situations that are pressure-cookers and we find out who they really are, that reflects, for me anyway, a bigger issue about the world around us. That's a cool thing to be involved in. I remember clearly the Amadou Diallo situation...and if you know anything about the work I've been involved in, I'm attracted to the idea of moral complexity: you're not quite sure who's right or who's wrong; there's no black and white. Pedro was after "what the hell really happened?" in a case like that.


Give me the details of the case of Amadou Diallo, upon which the play is based.


A black man in New York City coming out of his house, evening or might have even been dark...there was a mugging or shooting nearby and the police were looking for a suspect. He was described as an African American, and this kid, who was a vendor, coming out of his house...the police thought he fit the description and they took out their guns...he didn't speak English all that well; they told him to keep his hands up; he thought they were asking for his identification; he reached into his wallet; one of the police thought he was reaching for a gun, and they shot the man...41 times. 41 times. On the surface of that, one would think "those sons-a-bitches, they shot an unarmed man 41 times, there is no excuse". On the other hand, if they really thought that there was a gun, then that one shot led to more shots makes it a more complex situation. They could have shot the man 41 times because they hated black people or it could have been a more complex situation, an untenable crisis that led to Amadou Diallo's death. Having said all that, understanding that in a dramatic context is a cool endeavor. I don't think Pedro is looking to point fingers at anybody, and I like that.


Tell me more about your Actors' Gym.


The Actors' Gym is a company I opened in 1978 in Los Angeles and then moved it to New York when I moved there, and brought it back here when I moved back to LA. It's essentially a group of  actors, writers and directors who come once a week, bring in work put it up on stage...not unlike the Actors Studio, we talk about the work. We examine ways and try to offer help to each other to take the work to a better place. We developed Crash there. Paul (Haggis, co-screenwriter of Crash and writing partner) and I brought the script in, we read it with the members who gave feedback and we made changes that we thought were helpful. The Actors Gym is for people who have been around and who don't need a teacher. They've done their studying; they just need to keep working to hone their craft. If you can't sit and listen to a piece of criticism about your work and throw away the 80-90% that is not going to help you, and take the 10% that is going to help, then it's not a good place for you. We meet once a week currently at the Whitefire Theatre.


As consulting producer of Firehouse, what did you do?


I helped to develop the writing of the play at the Actors Gym. Bryan (Rasmussen) and Pedro have done everything. I've done, quite frankly nothing except offer whatever help I could in terms of the writing. I was happy to do that. I think this a playwright with a voice. The human being is complex. He contains multitudes. It's not always what we think it is. That's what interests me about drama and I think Pedro explores deep and is trying to get there. I hope it all goes well.


What's up next for Bobby Moresco? What are you working on?


A movie for Universal that I've written that Todd Field is directing called Hubris that I'm really excited about and a new pilot that I've written that I'm supposed to direct for Fox. Also there's a play by Bill Hoffman that we developed at the Actors Gym and are doing a reading of soon. Some of the actors involved are Michael Stahl David (Cloverfield), Saverio Guerra (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Patrick Brennan (The new Twilight movie), and Maggie Siff (Sons of Anarchy). New play, new playwright. Important stuff!
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Firehouse:

Opens:  Friday, February 4, 8pm

Runs:  February 4 – April 29, 2011

Plays:  Fridays ONLY, at 8pm

Whitefire Theatre,  13500 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks

Tickets:   www.theatermania.com or (323) 822-7898

Interview with Chairman of the Board Luca Ellis

Actor/singer Luca Ellis is having a breakthrough year portraying Frank Sinatra in the huge hit Hoboken to Hollywood at the Edgemar Center for the Arts, now extended to the end of January. Having portrayed Sinatra last year with the cast of Louis and Keely In Concert @ the El Portal, he is no stranger to the legend. It shows, for when you close your eyes, you feel you are listening to Sinatra himself. Handsome and confident, Ellis talks about the show, its eventual move to a larger space - one that has been confirmed by director Jeremy Aldridge, who also directed Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara to great acclaim - and shares other insights about singers and the art of singing.

How much of Luca is in the portrayal of the Chairman of the Board?

I would ask the question, how much of the Chairman is in Luca’s portrayal of a crooner or singer of popular song in the 1960s?  My very first influence was Dean Martin, during my adolescence. I was about 7 years old.  I can thank my mother for that, since she’s the one who initially exposed me to this music.  In my teens I found Harry Connick Jr.  I was so impressed by his talent. Not only could this guy sing, but he’s an exceptional musician!  It wasn’t until I turned 30 that I discovered Sinatra.  I didn’t even know I was a Baritone until I started listening to Frank.  I quickly realized our voices were incredibly similar.  So, I immersed myself in his recordings.  For years I would listen and learn new tunes, and since I was singing professionally 4 to 5 nights a week. I had the perfect playground to become the well versed singer of American song I am today.  In essence, Frank Sinatra was my mentor and I believe my predecessor to what has turned into a very rewarding and fruitful singing career.  Once you learn to phrase like Sinatra, it’s very difficult to sing a song in any other fashion. To sing with no inhibitions, fearlessly as if no one is listening.  Yet you do all this in a very conversational manner, taking out all the theatrics and giving the most honest and often poignant interpretation of a song. I have not been given the privilege to say I’m playing the role of Mr. S.  Hoboken to Hollywood is a tribute to the American Song Book.  If delivering these songs in the highest light possible means delivering them in a style forged and innovated by Sinatra? So be it.  Is Hoboken to Hollywood about Mr. S? That’s entirely up to the audience member.  Is Hoboken to Hollywood a love letter to Frank?  Probably. 

Tell me again how long you have been preparing to play this role and where you played him before.

When I started listening to Frank Sinatra, I had no intentions of playing him.  I was merely curious about his style of singing.  Being the legend that he is, I felt the need to check his work out.  I’d heard him in passing, but it wasn't until I really started listening to Frank that I found the similarities in our voices a little over 6 years ago.  The first time I ever played the Chairman was last year at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. It was for the Holiday rendition of Louis and Keely Live At the Sahara.  This took place after their run ended at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood.  The second role came a couple of months later.  This time I was playing the role of “Ol Blue Eyes” in Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show in Las Vegas.  To end up playing the same character in an entirely different show a couple of months later at the actual Sahara Hotel and Casino, seemed a little serendipitous to me.  All while the “Hoboken Four” (Producer Peach Reasoner, Musical Director Paul Litteral, Director Jeremy Aldridge and Singer/Actor Luca Ellis) were well on their way to developing a new hit show titled Hoboken to Hollywood.  Sometimes things in life just come together.

What do you feel is the chief message of this piece? What do you want the audience to take away besides the enjoyment of the great songs?

As an entertainer I would hope my audience leaves the show with an exhilarating feeling, a sensation as if the air around them was charged with an electricity.  A voltage if you will.  Leaving an imprint on them causing them to still think about the show a few days later.  Maybe they feel the urge to pull out and dust off their old LP collections and have a listen.  Or how about the younger viewer/listener who finds themselves acquiring a taste for fine music all of a sudden.  I feel this show is as educational as it is fun.  Last but not least, for all my audience members to walk out of the theatre believing in the beauty of love and the incredible potential of human innovation.  Experiencing a night or perhaps just a moment, where the human dilemma meets fine art.

What other singers besides Sinatra and Dean Martin do you love? 

Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin, Keely Smith, Sammy Davis Jr., Doris Day, Peggy Lee, June Christy, Sarah Vaughan, Julie London and Jo Ann Greer just to mention a few.  Not a lot of people know who Jo Ann Greer is.  She dubbed some of Rita Hayworth’s vocals on musicals adapted for the silver screen such as Pal Joey, one of my all time favorites.

Among the newer crop of singers, who stands out?

Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall.  Unfortunately most of todays singers haven’t adopted the proper disciplines to singing a song, so I find it very hard to listen to most of them.  Unfortunately the pickings are pretty slim these days.

What are the plans for this show beyond Edgemar?

Hoboken to Hollywood is Broadway bound. What happens between Edgemar and New York, is already written in the stars I’m sure.

Do you see yourself playing Sinatra's life perhaps on film? Or is the musical enough?

I intend to keep singing this wonderful music no matter what happens with my acting career.  If anything, this show will always serve as a creative outlet for my love of singing and acting in front of living breathing audience.  I would love to keep creating other installments of the basic principal or “mechanism” that is Hoboken to Hollywood.  I say mechanism because it’s an original concept for live musical theatre.  Theatre where the actor/singer has more than one take.  Where spontaneity and circumstance can create an entirely different experience for the audience on a nightly basis.  H2H part II would consist of all new songs and introductions to those songs.  New “on set” dilemmas.  Such a future installment would only come after Hoboken to Hollywood has been enjoyed by tens of thousands of theatre enthusiasts in LA and New York.  In the meantime, if I was approached to play Frank Sinatra in a biopic? I would be honored but more importantly, as an actor I would be completely prepared.  I’ve already studied the man for 6 years, what does that get me?  A Masters Degree?  Would I go for the PHD?  You can bet your life on it.

What is your favorite Sinatra song? Why? What is it about "My Way" that keeps audiences wanting to hear it? "New York, New York"?

I’ll quote Mr. Sinatra on that one, “That’s like asking me if I like steak better than I like ice cream.  There are so many songs to choose from, it’s hard to pick a favorite”.  “My Way” I feel is the quintessential torch song for most listeners.  It paints such a picture that speaks to so many people.  People from all walks of life can personally relate to that song.  I think it’s kind of a phenomenon, I’ve heard of people getting shot or even linched in the Philippines for botching up that song in a karaoke bar.  Can you imagine?  Getting whacked for not singing a song right?! Some people take it a little too seriously.  Although “My Way” and “New York, New York” are the most requested songs, I personally feel there are far superior songs in the “American Song Book” but then again, I’m just the singer.  Since it’s never about me, and always about what the good people want.  If that’s what they wanna hear, then that’s what I’m gonna sing for them.

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“NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH MY BABY” STARRING LUCA ELLIS AND THE PAUL LITTERAL ORCHESTRA AT EDGEMAR CENTER FOR THE ARTS

                  Luca Ellis and the 12-piece Paul Litteral Orchestra, the stars of the phenomenal hit show “Hoboken to Hollywood,” will be the stars of a special New Year’s Eve celebration at Edgemar Center For the Arts on New Year’s Eve.  Commencing at 9:30 p.m., Luca and the Orchestra will perform an hour-long concert of big-band standards from The Great American Songbook and your favorite holiday chestnuts.

                  Then, a break for Champagne and strawberries.

                  Then, another set of musical standards but, this time, the audience is invited to get on the floor and dance to the great song classics made famous by That Certain Blue-Eyed Crooner From Hoboken and the great big bands.

                  Then, we ring in the New Year, with festivities officially set to conclude at 12:15 p.m. “New Year’s Eve With My Baby.” A musical celebration starring Luca Ellis and the Paul Litteral Orchestra. At Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405.  Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. Starts at 9:30 p.m. Tickets: $135. Reservations: (310) 392-7327. Online ticketing: www.edgemar.org

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I watched Luca Ellis and the cast of H to H shoot a video promo of "The Christmas Song" between shows on December 18. I was immediately struck by Ellis' keen musical ear. He knew exactly how to improve an orchestral entrance and how to ease his transition into the song. After only 3 takes, it worked beautifully. Watch below!
Christmas promo with Ellis singing Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ6vAYe5tew

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New Interview with Leslie Jordan

Comedic actor Leslie Jordan is best remembered internationally for his recurring role as Beverley Leslie in TV's Will & Grace (2001-2006) for which he won the coveted Emmy Award. On stage in LA, he has starred in Del Shores' Southern Baptist Sissies as Peanut and in Sordid Lives as Brother Boy - also in the film and cable TV series in the same role - to popular and critical acclaim and in his own productions of Like a Dog on Linoleum and My Walk Down the Pink Carpet. In our talk, he tells us about his newest touring Christmas show Deck Them Halls, Y'All, which will open at the Renberg Theater of the Gay and Lesbian Center in LA on December 16, as well as other future projects. Jordan is so funny, I had to really be on my guard to control my laughter; otherwise, we'd still be talking.

How are you?

Well, I'm in Atlanta, Georgia...I'm opening this weekend and it is 21 degrees. (he laughs)

Unusual for the south, isn't it?

I grew up in Chattanooga. I thought it was unusual, and I called my mom this morning who said, "This is very unusual." I was in Fort Lauderdale before that, which makes it even colder.

Tell me about the new show and all the characters you're playing. 

I'm so excited. I've had two people, both my producer, who produced the original tour of My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, Dave Morgan, and my director, Mr. David Galligan, say, "This is the best thing you've ever written", probably because ...  it's not about me. (he laughs) For once, I wrote something that's not about me.

And the wonderful thing is when it's not about you, you don't really have to tell the truth. You can let your imagination run. 

How did it get started?

What happened was ... we are opening My Trip Down the Pink Carpet on the West End. I leave on January 16, and because Will & Grace is so popular over there, I'm opening at the Apollo Theatre which has 800 seats, between the two hottest shows in London. Priscilla Queen of the Desert is next door and on the other side there's a show based on the music of Michael Jackson called Thriller. We had planned on November and December to tour ...Pink Carpet to get it ready for London, and I finally just said, "Guys, I've done this show for years; there's nothing else to do." Plus, they were having trouble finding the right sized venue. I'm not Kathy Griffin. I can't do 1200 seat venues. I need 300, 400 something like that. Anyway, out of the blue, they just pulled the rug out from under me and said, "Well, we'll just go to London in February."

I thought, "Well, fine, but, we've got to keep the ship afloat. What am I going to do for November and December?" My booker Dave Morgan, who has a company called Reaction Marketing out in Palm Springs called me out of the blue and said, "Leslie, if you do a Christmas show, I could book you all over the place."

And I said, "Please, what would I do? Talk about baby Jesus and sing Christmas Carols? I don't have a Christmas show in me." He said, "I bet you do."  Well, I had this old Christmas ornament I bought at the Cracker Barrell, these really kind of trashy restaurants all over the south. I had bought this ornament that said,  Deck Them Halls, Y'All! I thought, "That's a title!"

That's cute!

I called Dave and said, "Well I've got a title". He said, "I'll book you into Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and a couple of nights in Atlanta, and then we'll open at the Renberg". I said, "What are you talking about? I haven't written it". That was the best thing that could happen. I sat down and I had had this idea for a long time. I met this waitress in Dallas, Texas years ago, who was a stripper in her prime. Back in the 50s and early 60s she stripped for Jack Ruby. She had her own little Kennedy assassination theory that makes more sense than anything I've ever heard. She said to me (affects a high-pitched female voice). "Honey, you know Jack Ruby was homosexual. We all knew it. The girls knew it. You didn't talk about it. You didn't mention things like that. But, we knew what was up. He was always coming around the bars with these rough young boys, they called them his muscle." She said that when she saw Oswald, she could have sworn that was one of the boys Jack walked around with. "Honey, he went in there and shot him." I thought, "That sure beats Cuba or anything Oliver Stone's come up with." So, that was the germ of this idea and I thought, "How can I make this about Christmas?" So I come out as this old stripper. Honey, she sings, she does a bump and grind. I've got great big enormous bird seed titties, bigger than Dolly (Parton). I do these corny old burlesque songs. I hired an orchestra. I've just put a fortune into it, because I think it's something I'm going to roll out every year.

That's great! What other characters do you play besides the stripper?

It's three generations. The old stripper...she's trying to win this contest on the radio, and you tell them the worst Christmas you've ever had. She just talks and talks and then, the second character...what I do, I've got this strip music and instead of doing a strip, I change into the next character...seductively remove a wig and put on another wig and, bla.bla.bla, I'm the next character, the stripper's daughter, who's a trans-gender lesbian, who's lamenting the loss of her pussy. She misses it. It turns out that the lesbian had, through the product of a rape, a kid. She couldn't raise it, so she left, and the grandmother's raising it, the old stripper. The shining light of the family, he's a little ten-year old boy...and he's in a beautiful Christmas robe. He's had it on for four days. The choir teacher told him, he has potential (his voice goes up). He's going to sing a solo in the Christmas pageant. Anyway, it's basically three generations of this white trash family celebrating Christmas. The Orlando Sentinel gave me a glowing review, which I didn't expect because I was only there two, three days. It was a love letter, saying it's the perfect anecdote for anyone who's just sick of all that cheerfulness at Christmas. 

I can't wait to see it! Since you mentioned Will & Grace... when I interviewed Megan Mullally last year, she talked about working with you on Karen the Musical, once it gets written. What's up with that?

She thought it was a bangup idea for just Beverley Leslie and Karen Walker to be loose on the Great White Way. But, when you ask someone to do a musical with you, wouldn't you ask them, "Can you sing?" It never came up. (we both laugh)

Anyway, she had the rights, but the business people stepped in and were doing another round of negotiations of the syndicated rights and they told her "You just can't do it right now". It might happen on down the road.

So, she said to me, "Honey, we know the chemistry's there. Let's you and I come up with some ideas."  Her mom's been sick so we haven't gotten together, but I have an idea, which I read in the paper, this is the most hilarious thing I ever read. It was a true story in St. Louis, Missouri. A hotel accidentally booked two vastly different conventions under one roof. The Christians, like a Baptist convention, and leather queens, whose convention was called Beat Me in St. Louis. I called her and said "This is it! I'm head of the leather contingent and you're Sarah Palin. You're this white wing Christian, Anita Bryant." We just shrieked. We haven't moved beyond that, because the two of us are so busy all the time.

Who are your favorite comic actors? Anyone you idolize?

Three. Lily Tomlin, who produced my show in New York. She and Jane Wagner produced ...Pink Carpet in New York, and they're involved in the London production. When I was a kid, I had an album of Lily's and I could act out all of those characters, and my favorite was not Edith Ann or the telephone lady. She had a very obscure character called Sister Boogy Woman. She would preach at the rest homes and get the old people up and going. When I met Lily, I acted it out for her. Sister Boogy Woman.She couldn't believe that I remembered that. She was my idol. And Phyllis Diller, who came to see one of my shows. She's tiny. I didn't know that. She's my height; she's tiny, tiny, tiny. When I was a kid, I'd act out her routines with Fang and...my third one, whom I have never met, but would love to, is Carol Burnett. I would sit in front of the television as a kid... I don't know why all three, my comedic idols are ... women. You toss Bette Midler in there somewhere, and you've got it.

Do you have a Christmas wish for everybody?

I have a lot of shame, and until I got sober at 42 years of age, I had never voted. I was just a hippie. We smoked pot, we didn't vote. I didn't know a Republican from a Democrat. I didn't know anything. Never read a newspaper. In the thirteen years I've been sober, I've gotten so politically active, but you can march in the streets and carry signs all you want...but the change has got to come from within. My Christmas wish is that every young gay man and gay woman register to vote. Get out of those bars! I'm all for everybody having fun, but at least get out of the bars and vote! There's so much happening right now and it's so important. That's my Christmas wish.

A wonderful one, and be sure to visit Leslie Jordan's website:

www.thelesliejordan.com

to buy his book My Trip Down the Pink Carpet

and for info on tix to:

Deck Them Halls, Y'All! at the Renberg Theater from December 16 - 19 only!

Call: 323-860-7300 or google the Renberg Theater online!