Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: June 7, 2020
By: Laura Deni
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VEGAS GAMBLES ON RE-OPENING: $670,637 JACKPOT HIT

Nothing is at it used to be - including casino openings.

On June 4, 2020, 78 days after resorts were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some sterilized gambling joints re-opened.

In the Golden Days of casino openings there would be celebrities waking a red carpet, ladies in long gowns and middle aged men in tuxedos strolling to VIP parties where they'd nibble on gourmet canapes, indulge in elegant dinners and, in crowded, smoke filled rooms, enjoy the best entertainment money could buy.

Casinos would be crowded and noisy.

Although hopeful and sincere, Thursday was a bit different.

Costumed workers at Caesars Palace wear masks. Photo: Caesars Palace

“Wash your hands while saying, ‘Vegas Baby!’ 20 times,” instructs a video marquee on the Las Vegas Strip.

The happiest people in the casinos were the employees who were back to work.

The city’s unemployment rate in April was 33.5 percent, the highest among 51 metro areas with at least 1 million people, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Wednesday.

The local tourism industry employed 276,300 direct jobs and 450,000 supporting jobs, according to the Nevada Resort Association. in the near future, the majority will not return to work.

Employment will be based upon need.

In downtown Las Vegas the under forty crowd, mostly dressed in what appeared to be whatever they picked up off the floor from where they last dropped the garment, held beer bottles and plastic glasses, and tried their luck at recently cleaned slot machines and newly configured three person table games.

As might be expected, there a few distinctions between locations. Those at the high end properties on the Strip preferred neat looking casual attire befitting temperatures pushing 110 degrees.

Guests at the Flamingo beat the heat by frolicking in a pool party.

The famed Belligio fountains were dancing to Frank Sinatra tunes.

Most of the hotel senior executives, who usually run around in bespoke suits and design ties, eschewed Seville row suits opting for sport shirts in an attempt to fit in with low budget clientele. One of the few exceptions was a Caesars Palace executive who dressed the image of the resort and looked good enough to be taken anywhere.

All hotels require employees to wear surgical masks which are encouraged but not required of customers who are provided free face coverings, many sporting the hotel's logo.

In a shrewd marketing move, Derek Stevens, co-owner of The D Las Vegas and Golden Gate, gave away almost 2000 one-way flights to Las Vegas from 24 U.S. cities.

Dealers and dancers at The D prior to the COVID-19 days. Now they also wear space age total facial masks.

While free anythings are always popular, the plane trip was particularly enticing and the boarding passes were snapped up in minutes. When arriving at The D the travelers were treated to free champagne at check-in and a ribbon-cutting on the casino floor, as first reported by USA Today.

His “Keep America Flying” promotion covered a one-way flight to Las Vegas. Participants were required to handle their own return flights, hotel accommodations and other travel costs. The flights originated from more than 20 U.S. cities and involved five airlines including Allegiant, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, according to Stevens in a statement.

Visitors were not required to stay at any of his properties.

"Obviously, my team and I would like you to stay at one of our hotels,” he added in a video. “But if you don’t, that’s alright, too. Because Las Vegas needs you. Our community needs you. We’re just trying to do our share, keep America flying, keep Las Vegas rolling.”

In the casino are of The D, a 34-story, 638-room hotel and casino, scantly clad females gyrate on bar and table tops. They're dressed in black boots, skimpy red outfits and large, clear plastic total front head coverings - which might contain more material than their outfits.

Visitors clock through the doors with a normal temperature and make use of hand sanitizer stations.

For those who fail the temperature check they are moved to one side and re-checked fifteen minutes later. Some reasons for initially failing the temp check: it's hot outside and you've been baking in the sun. A women is experiencing a massive hot-flash; you've been exercising/running. Those who have cooled down are admitted. Anyone who has a sustained fever is quarantined at one of the hotels accepting "contagious" patients. They are confined to isolation floors.

Before reopening, casinos were required to submit a plan to the Nevada Gaming Control Board detailing hygiene and social distancing plans.

During the re-opening week-end, Caesars Palace was anxious to promote that a Los Angeles visitor - a casino regular who wished to remain anonymous - known only as a Rewards Diamond Guest - hit a $670,637 progressive jackpot on Let it Ride.

While the odds on winning money were the same as before COVID-19. The odds on catching COVID-19 won't be known for another week.

The younger customers seemed non-pulsed at that potentially deadly prospect. Facial coverings were worn by less than half of the customers and many ignored social distancing.

Resorts welcoming customers include: MGM Resorts International's Bellagio, MGM Grand, New York-New York and Signature, Caesars Palace, Flamingo and Harrah's

Excalibur opens on June 11 with the Westgate following on June 18.

First in the reopened doors weren't the whales - the high rollers. They are laying back - waiting until Vegas can return to fawning over them, providing them with their every whim. Nevada brothels are still shut.

If you have a beer budget and long to be treated as though you could afford better, now is the time to visit Las Vegas. Your presence and slot machine nickles are eagerly sought after.

You will be treated nicely by hotel staff. You won't be looked up and down by a bus boy or cocktail waitress who are trying to ascertain your tipping ability.

This will be a short lived politeness, dissipating in direct proportion to the increase in tourists. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Vegas is (sort of) back, baby.

While the lights are back on, the new normal requires adjusting.

The real test will be the upcoming 4th of July weekend. By then, it will be evident if there has been a COVID-19 spike. Since nothing is free, another barometer is whether people have enough discretionary income - or remaining credit card limits - and are willing to spend them in Sin City.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

ART AND ABOUT

THE ROCK & ROLLL HALL OF FAME celebrates African-American Music Appreciation Month. The powerful art form of expression that challenges the status quo and shapes important social change the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors talented African-American artists and their music. The first week was dedicated to the Queen of Soul, '87 Inductee Aretha Franklin. As the first female inducted into the Hall of Fame, Franklin made unprecedented contributions to both music and culture, from the anthem R-E-S-P-E-C-T to performing at three Presidential Inaugurations, she inspired a nation.

Throughout the month of June, they'll continue to share more From the Vault video series on rockhall.com and their YouTube page highlighting and celebrating the legacy of African-American Inductees. From Induction Ceremony speeches to show-stopping performances, they'll be looking the important moments where " music changed us and pushed rock forward in our culture."

Explore free online education resources available at Rock Hall EDU, including a research guide on African-American women in rock, a music and activism in the 21st century playlist, an activity pack on Lizzo, and collections that spotlight music and civil rights, music and protest, early hip-hop, and artists like Sam Cooke, The Staples Singers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bill Withers, and more.

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SWEET CHARITY

THE WALT DISNEY CO has pledged $5 million in support of nonprofit organizations that advance social justice, beginning with a $2 million donation to the NAACP, amid ongoing protests of the death of George Floyd.

The company is also matching donations given by employees to eligible organizations.

Among Disney holdings are: Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, ABC, ESPN.

WARNER MUSIC GROUP AND BLAVATNIK FAMILY FOUNDATION announced a $100 million fund to support charitable causes related to the music industry, social justice and campaigns against violence and racism.

Warner Music Group is a conglomerate that owns Atlantic Records, Parlophone, and Elektra Records, among others.

An advisory panel made up of appointees from Warner Music Group and the Blavatnik Family Foundation will establish procedures to identify and support those in the music community, and organizations strengthening education, and promoting equality, opportunity, diversity and inclusion. The advisory panel will determine the amount of the financial gifts and timing.

Steve Cooper, CEO, Warner Music Group said, “This fund will support the extraordinary, dedicated organizations that are on the front lines of the fight against racism and injustice, and that help those in need across the music industry. Our advisory panel, which will draw from a diverse cross-section of people from our team and the wider community, will help us be very thoughtful and accountable in how we make an impact. We’re determined to contribute, on a sustained long-term basis, to the effort to bring about real change.”

The Blavatnik Family Foundation is exclusively self-funded by American-British industrialist and philanthropist Len Blavatnik, a majority owner and the founder and chairman of Access Industries, a privately held industrial group based in the United States.

THE WEEKND announced he donated $100,000 to National Bail Out, $200,000 to The Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative and another $200,000 for the Black Lives Matter Global Network.

KAYNE WEST Kanye West is stepping up to help that West has donated $2 million to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, three of the unarmed black Americans whose killings have sparked protests across the country, as first reported by TMZ.

The donations includ West setting up a college fund for Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter Gianna. West also made a separate donation toward legal fees for Taylor, shot dead by police in her Louisville, Kentucky, home, and Arbery, shot dead by white men while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia.

BLAKE LIVELY & RYAN RENOLDS donated $200,000 to the NAACP legal defense fund, an organization that strives for racial justice by making structural changes to expand democracy and eliminate disparities through litigation, advocacy and public education.

NEW YORK CITY'S MAYOR'S OFFICE OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT Music for the Soul, a program in partnership with?NYC Health + Hospitals and AFM Local 802 continues through July 4. With support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the program was created to bring the healing power of music to healthcare workers and patients at NYC public hospitals. Live performances by local NYC musicians are livestreamed on the?NYC Health + Hospital’s Facebook page from noon-1pm every day.

SPREADING THE WORD

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY IN WASHINGTON DC demonstrates action, not just lip service. While it appears that almost every venue has spammed out e-mails proclaiming they are pro civil rights the venerable Shakespeare Theatre Company has done something constructive to support those protesting in Washington, D.C. for Black Lives Matter, for justice, for equality, and for civil rights. They became a safe haven.

The Michael R. Klein Theatre at the Lansburgh was open Saturday and Sunday - June 6-7 - from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. as a resource for protesters offering water, snacks, bathrooms, WiFi, charging stations, first aid, and A/C. "We encourage anyone who needs a safe indoor place off the streets to regroup to come to our space.

"We ask that all entrants wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines and be respectful of each other's needs. STC staff will be on hand to help facilitate social distancing and keep the spaces cleaned and sanitized."

THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY is devoting June to a 25-day virtual celebration of Michael Tilson Thomas’s 25 years as the orchestra’s music director. The daily rollout of audio and video selections, titled “MTT25: An Online Tribute,” comes as a substitute for the more extravagant live performances of works by Wagner, Mahler and more that were originally scheduled to conclude his final season with the orchestra but were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The celebration began last Thursday, June 4, and will culminate on June 28 - Thomas’ last official day as music director - with a worldwide performance. That event, An Online Tribute Event for Michael Tilson Thomas, on June 28, hosted by famed vocalists Audra McDonald and Susan Graham, will feature performances and tributes by musicians of the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, an array of distinguished guest artists, and many surprises. This global virtual event honoring Michael Tilson Thomas will stream free of charge on the SF Symphony’s YouTube page.

For the project, the Symphony dug deep into its archives of performance recordings and other memorabilia. Each day, a new archival recording of a past live performance will be released on the orchestra’s website, linked specifically to a single year of Thomas’ tenure, beginning with his first season as music director in 1995-96. Esa-Pekka Salonen is scheduled to succeed him in September.

Other aspects of the project include a public Memory Wall, where Symphony patrons will be encouraged to contribute their comments and memories of the past quarter-century, and a daily broadcast on classical radio station KDFC.

Thomas’ activities as a composer will be recognized with the release of a new recording on June 26 devoted to his song cycles From the Diary of Anne Frank and Meditations on Rilke. Vocal soloists are mezzo-sopranos Isabel Leonard and Sasha Cooke and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny. Whistle Tune, a new piece based on a melody from Thomas’ father, Ted, will premiere on YouTube on June 21, timed to Father’s Day.

SEATTLE OPERA has announced that due to the pandemic's effect on its ability to present live performances, the company has been forced to cancel its first production slated to open the 2020-21 seasonAugust 8 at McCaw Hall - , a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, and will furlough nearly sixty percent of its administrative staff.

“It is a deeply painful moment for us as a company, region, and world,” said Seattle Opera general director Christina Scheppelmann, in a statement. “Considering King County and Washington State are not yet open for large gatherings, COVID-19 has forced us to remain closed for safety as a means of protecting all artists, musicians, and our audiences. In addition, we have had to make difficult decisions to ensure Seattle Opera’s future. While inevitable, these decisions have been devastating to the livelihoods of our artists and administrative staff.”

In anticipation of the loss of its Paycheck Protection Act funding by June 16, the company is furloughing 55% of its administrative staff. Of those who remain, all are on reduced salaries or hours (with the exception of full-time workers making less than $50,000 annually).

The cancellation represents a loss of work for more than 220 singers, crew, and musicians.

THE SMITH CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN LAS VEGAS a five-acre performing arts center consisting of three theaters in two buildings, which opened March 10, 2012, will stay closed indefinitely according to a release: "Our community may be starting to reopen, but sadly it’s clear that large theater venues will be among the last facilities to reopen. For now, we remain dark indefinitely. We are currently in the process of rescheduling many of the other concerts and events we had slated for the summer and fall. During this period of uncertainty, a number of shows at The Smith Center have been cancelled or postponed." However, while Hamilton which was to have played September 10-October 11 has cancelled although their website lists An Evening with Branford Marsalis Oct 2, 2020 - Oct 3, 2020.

Carol Burnett: An Evening of Laughter and Reflection which was slated to have taken place last Friday, June 5 is now rescheduled for Friday, November 6, 2020.

ROLL 'EM California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health announced that film and TV production can resume in the state “no sooner” than June 12, as part of guidelines released by the state.

Those include: Producers need approval from local health officials to restart filming, according to a statement from the California Department of Health. A task force of Hollywood studios and labor unions composed of representatives from Walt Disney Co, Netflix Inc, AT&T Inc’s Warner Bros and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal, plus unions including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Directors Guild of America proposed extensive coronavirus testing, daily symptom checks and other safeguards to allow actors and crew members to return to work.

THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (CES) Las Vegas’ largest annual trade show, is set to return to Sin City with both in person and digital presentations in January 2021.

FORD THEATRE'S CABINET CONVERSATIONS Thursday, June 18 at 4:00 pm. A live streamed event with Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina about practical leadership lessons modern Americans can learn from Lincoln.

Tune in as Ford’s artists, scholars and other thought leaders explore the arts, civics and history. All events are simulcast on digital platforms including the Ford’s Theatre website, Facebook Live, YouTube and Twitter, and include viewer Q&A.

The Abraham Lincoln Institute and Ford’s Theatre Society present an online speaker symposium focused on the life, career and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln on select Mondays now through early August. Authors Dr. Carl J. Guarneri and Dr. Joseph A. Fry headline the June 8 and 22 events, respectively. These lectures include time for viewer Q&A, and will be simulcast on the Ford's Theatre website, YouTube, Facebook Live and Twitter.

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

Bob Hope was a British-American stand-up comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and author. Hope's first Broadway appearances, in 1927's The Sidewalks of New York and 1928's Ups-a-Daisy, were minor walk-on parts. He returned to Broadway in 1933 to star as Huckleberry Haines in the Jerome Kern / Dorothy Fields musical Roberta. Stints in the musicals Say When, the 1936 Ziegfeld Follies with Fanny Brice, and Red, Hot and Blue with Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante followed. Hope reprised his role as Huck Haines in a 1958 production of Roberta at The Muny Theater in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

Additionally, Hope rescued the Eltham Little Theatre in England from closure by providing funds to buy the property. He continued his interest and support, and regularly visited the facility when in London. The theater was renamed in his honor in 1982.

A few of his one liners:

You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.

People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy.

The good news is that Jesus is coming back. The bad news is that he's really pissed off.

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.

I don't feel old. I don't feel anything till noon. That's when it's time for my nap.

I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.

I do benefits for all religions - I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.
She said she was approaching forty, and I couldn't help wondering from what direction.

I love to go to Washington - if only to be near my money.

Kids are wonderful, but I like mine barbecued.

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.

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SATELLITE COLLECTIVE has announced the recipients of its 2020 fiscal sponsorships and mentorship programs for artists, entitled Satellite Fellows.

The inaugural recipients are Nikhil Melnechuk, Moscelyne ParkeHarrison/BodySonnet, ARKAI, Collaborative Arts Ensemble, and Frank Alfredo Barnett Andreu.

Satellite Fellowships are a combination of financial services and fiscal sponsorship at cost, direct support for online advertising, and a professional mentorship program. Satellite Fellowships are an avenue to join Satellite Collective productions.

Satellite plans to grow the program through a regional, city-wide rollout supported by creative programming with the goal of 25 regional fellowships by late autumn of 2020.The company then plans to expand the program to a national level with an ultimate target of fiscal support for 250 artists by the end of 2021.

Under the leadership of Kevin Draper, Satellite has launched young choreographers, composers, film makers, poets and artists with an uncanny sense of timing, tapping into an intense scene of NYC artists from New York City Ballet, Juilliard, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Bowery Poetry Club. Satellite has bridged a global network of artists working in every medium from video games to installation and has fused pop music from members of The Lumineers, San Fermin and the song writing scenes in the Pacific Northwest into arresting short film and stage work.

Founded in 2010, Satellite Collective has produced three evening-length ballets, four hours of original music, and two hours of original film, commissioned eight modern dance works, founded the arts publication Transmission, hosted five annual arts retreats, and launched both Telephone, which simultaneously published the interconnected works of 315 artists from 42 countries, and Satellite Press, a small independent press publishing emerging and established authors and poets.

VINEYARD THEATRE Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern, and actor-playwright-director-producer Colman Domingo announce that York Walker will be the inaugural recipient of the Colman Domingo Award. Seeded in 2019 from the longtime collaboration between The Vineyard and Domingo, the Colman Domingo Award will be bestowed annually to a multi-faceted Black male or male-identifying theatre artist to provide support and resources to create new work. Recipients are selected directly by The Vineyard and Mr. Domingo and receive a cash stipend, workshops and other developmental opportunities, access to writing and studio space, mentorship, and the ongoing support of The Vineyard.

York Walker is an award-winning writer based in Harlem, New York. He is currently a member of Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Mentorship Program. His work includes The Séance (Winner of the John Singleton Short Film Competition, 48 Hours… in Harlem), You're Gonna Be Famous (Atlantic Theatre Company Conservatory), Covenant (Fire This Time Festival, Access Theatre’s 4 Flights Up Festival), White Shoes (Fire This Time Festival), Summer Of ’63 (The Actors Company Theatre’s New TACTics Festival, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville’s Apprentice Reading Series) and Of Dreams To Come (American Conservatory Theatre’s New Work Series). York received his MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

BAFTA NOMINATIONS have been announced. The Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards, celebrate the very best in television of 2020 in front of and behind the camera. Richard Ayoade will host this year's awards on July 31, and Stephen Mangan will return to host the Television Craft Awards on July 17, 2020.

See Complete List of Nominations

GET WELL SOON TO . . .

AMY GRANT the six time Grammy Award winning singer underwent open-heart surgery on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 to fix a rare heart condition called PAPVR which the singer has had since birth.

Doctors discovered Grant, 59, had a heart condition called partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR) during a routine checkup. They report that the surgery "couldn't have gone better."

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR) is a heart defect that is sometimes present at birth, in which one or two of the pulmonary veins of the heart drain blood into the right atrium instead of the left atrium.

Team Amy posted: "with all that is going on in our world that needs our collective prayer, please also join us in praying for Amy this week as she has heart surgery to correct her PAPVR condition," Grant's team shared last Wednesday. A few hours later, there was an update: "Thank you for so many prayers today. Amy is out of surgery and the doctor said it could not have gone better. We would ask for continued prayers over the days, weeks and months to come as she makes a full recovery... xo."

Grant's sold more than 30 million albums. In 2000 she She's married her second husband, country singer Vince Gill.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

FINAL OVATION

JOHN McCORMACK longtime Executive Director of INTAR in New York City, died on Monday May 18, 2020 in his Queens NY home after falling ill with COVID-19. He was 61.

One of the unsung heroes of New York’s not-for-profit theater, McCormack worked tirelessly behind the scenes, nurturing many emerging artists – writers, directors, actors, and designers – over his almost 40-year career. He began his career at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was Producing Director and co-founded the Directors Project with the Drama League, followed by stints at Naked Angels (Artistic Director); the Zipper Theater (co-founded/Artistic Director); Summer Shorts (co-founded/Producing Artistic Director); his own company, All Seasons Theater; and INTAR (Executive Director since 2006). He served as guest lecturer and oversaw student productions at Sarah Lawrence College.

Some of the many careers he championed include Kevin Bacon, Mark Brokaw, Patricia Clarkson, Marian Fontana, Richard Greenberg, Roger Hedden, Lucas Hnath, Wendy Kesselman, Leslie Lyles, Eduardo Machado, Deb Margolin, Rob Morrow, Keith Reddin, Jacquelyn Reingold, Jose Rivera, Will Scheffer, Paul Weitz, and Alan Zweibel. Some of those he nurtured would go on to be artistic directors of their own theatres such as Douglas Aibel, Bernard Telsey and Christopher Ashley. In 2014 he was proud to bring Albert Innaurato and Jack Hofsiss back to NY theater after a long absence (“Doubtless”).

He is survived by his sister Katherine McCormack and her spouse Theodore Kagy, his sister Mary Mazza and her husband Anthony Mazza, his brother James McCormack, and his brother Paul McCormack and his spouse Kathleen McCormack. He is also survived by his beloved niece and nephews: Ryan Kagy and his spouse Laura Goodman, Alex Kagy, Ainsley McCormack and Trevor McCormack. He is predeceased by his father James McCormack, mother Ann Root McCormack, and his brother Roy McCormack.

RUPERT HINE British producer and songwriter who worked with musicians including Tina Turner, Rush, Stevie Nicks, the Thompson Twins, Bob Geldof, the Fixx, Suzanne Vega and Howard Jones, died June 5, 2020. He was 72.

Hine is especially well-known as a producer on Tina Turner’s 1984 album Private Dancer, which proved a huge comeback for the sultry singer following her 1978 divorce from Ike Turner. He produced the Grammy-winning single Better Be Good to Me and also was a co-writer on the song I Might Have Been Queen. He additionally worked with her on subsequent albums Break Every Rule (1986) and Foreign Affair (1989).

Hine produced Stevie Nicks’ fourth solo album, 1989’s The Other Side of the Mirror, for which he also co-wrote several songs. He produced Rush’s 1991 album Roll the Bones and 1989’s Presto.

In 2008, he produced a benefit album, Songs for Tibet — The Art of Peace, featuring artists including Alanis Morissette, Sting, Rush and Duncan Sheik, and produced the 2015 follow-up, Songs for Tibet — The Art of Peace II, which included works by Peter Gabriel, Howard Jones, Kate Bush and Lorde and was a tribute to the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday.

He served as a board member of the Ivors Academy of Music Creators.

Survivors include his wife, Fay, and a son, Kingsley.

Next Column: June 14, 2020
Copyright: June 7, 2020 All Rights Reserved. Reviews, Interviews, Commentary, Photographs or Graphics from any Broadway To Vegas (TM) columns may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, utilized as leads, or used in any manner without permission, compensation and/or credit.
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