Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: September 25, 2022
By: Laura Deni
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CELEBRITY FIRST RESPONDERS

Penny Lancaster

The press exploded last week with discovery that rocker ROD STEWART's wife is not only on the police force, but was on duty at St James Cathedral during the memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II.

Sir Rod's wife, PENNY LANCASTER was among the lines of police guarding Queen Elizabeth's coffin as it was driven to Buckingham Palace. Penny serves as a part time special constable.

Stewart was flooded with requests for comment, while his wife was busy checking her police schedule. The mother of two, who has been married to Stewart since 2007, normally works only on Fridays. In emergencies she pulls whatever duty is assigned to her.

She has been a special constable for the City of London Police since April 2021 having joined the force in 2020. She went through the entire training academy, including passing all tests.

"I have extreme pride to serve on the streets of London on Friday and I will again on Wednesday and on Monday, which is a historic moment. I'll be very proud to be able to serve," she told Good Morning, Britain.

She was one of 18,000 police to participate in the services for Queen Elizabeth.

Lancaster added, "It was a great privilege to work at the Queen's memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral on Friday."

Stewart was bursting with pride about his wife's participation and didn't seem worried about her safety. Throwing quips at the press Stewart reasoned that "my wife is 6 feet 2 inches. Nobody is going to mess with a big blonde."

In related news: Sir Rod Stewart older brother Don, died aged 94, two days before the passing of Queen Elizabeth. "It has been a devastating 48 hours," Rod wrote. "My brother Don passed on Tuesday at 94 and today Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at 96.

He performs at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on September 28, 2022 and September 30, 2022.

The entertainment industry has a long standing employment relationship as first-responders.

JAMES GARNER who appeared in more than 50 films but was best known for his role in Maverick and The Rockford Files died at age 86 in 2014, While he played a detective in The Rockford Files his daughter GRETA "Gigi" actually became a licensed private eye in Tennessee. Her father was terrified that she would be hurt on the job. Fortunately, she never was and even penned The Cop Cookbook. She went on to operate her father's production company and start her own talent agency.

One actor who did get hurt on the job as a policeman was KEN OSMOND, who played the role of Eddie Haskell on the 60s sitcom TV show Leave It to Beaver. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1970 as a motorcycle officer after he determined he had become typecast by Hollywood and experienced a tough time getting acting jobs that didn't mirror his Leave It to Beaver character.

He grew a mustache in an effort to remain relatively anonymous among average citizens, although not his co-workers. Ten years after he joined the force - on September 20, 1980 - Osmond was struck by three bullets while in a foot chase with a suspected car thief. He was protected from two of the bullets by his bullet-resistant vest, with the third bullet ricocheting off his belt buckle. The shooting was later dramatized in a November 1992 episode of the CBS series Top Cops. Osmond applied for a disability pension in 1984, but after an evidentiary hearing in 1986, the Los Angeles Board of Pension Commissioners denied his request by a 4–2 vote. Osmond appealed the determination to the Superior Court and in 1988 a judge overturned the Board's denial and awarded Osmond a lifetime pension, and he retired from the force.

He died May 18, 2020 in Los Angeles at age 76.

Sam Springsteen with mother Patti Scialfa and father Bruce at Jersey City, N.J Fire Department Swearing In Ceremony. Photo: City of Jersey City

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN's son SAM, 26, was sworn in as a Jersey City, New Jersey firefighter on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. Both of his proud parents (Mom is PATTI SCIALFA) attended the ceremony at the City Hall, watching as their youngest son, one of 15 new firefighters, took the oath to help protect New Jersey's second largest city.

"It's my son's day, so I'm staying out of it," rocker Bruce Springsteen said at the ceremony.

In the early 70s, BOBBY SHERMAN was a teen idol and heartthrob. When Sherman guest-starred on an episode of the Jack Webb television series Emergency! ("Fools", season 3, episode 17, aired January 19, 1974), he found a new calling. Eventually, he left the public spotlight and became an emergency medical technician (EMT). He volunteered with the Los Angeles Police Department and officially became a technical Reserve Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1990s. For more than a decade he served as a medical training officer at the Los Angeles Police Academy, instructing thousands of police officers in first aid and CPR. He was named LAPD's Reserve Officer of the Year in 1999.

Sherman also became a reserve deputy sheriff in 1999 with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, continuing his CPR/emergency training of new deputy hires. Sherman retired from the sheriff's department in 2010.

"There's not a better feeling in the world than when you're responsible for saving someone's life," Sherman told Entertainment Weekly in 1993. "It's real life. You can't say, 'Take two.' It's now."

DAVID LEE ROTH has worked as an EMT in New York City since 2004. He has saved several lives including using an AED on a woman who was having a heart attack.

The medical profession has produced a significant number of celebrities.

Comedian/actor KEN JEONG, M.D. with a specialization in Internal Medicine is a licensed physician in California.

It almost sounds like a joke - that KATE GOSSELIN who became a television personality when profiled raising her atypical family of sextuplets and twins, is a registered nurse completing a diploma program at the Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. and then working as a labor and delivery nurse in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. On June 30, 2021 she obtained her multi-state, registered nurse license in North Carolina.

Television star ADRIAN HOLMES is best known for his roles in Smallville or on Fox's Fringe and Human Target studied nursing at Langara College, in part to appease his mother, who felt he needed a backup plan if his acting career was unsuccessful.

Emmy nominated BONNIE HUNT was an oncology nurse for many years working at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She reportedly auditioned for Rain Man on her lunch break and moonlighted at the Second City Improv troupe. A strong advocate for the nursing profession, she kept up her credentials and frequently stressed how she loved all of her patients.

ROBIN QUIVERS, the formidable sidekick to radio talk show host and "shock jock" Howard Stern, obtained her nursing degree from the University of Maryland and then enlisted in the Air Force. She served as a trauma nurse and rose to the rank of captain. Three years later she became the news anchor on Stern’s show.

TINA TURNER worked as a nurse’s aide at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She had plans to become a practical nurse but her singing career took off. Others who worked as a nurse's aid are the late NAOMI JUDD and PIER ANGELI.

LUANN DE LESSEPS was a licensed practical nurse working with geriatric patients. During the worst part of the COVID epidemic she answered an ad for someone with nursing experience to help an elderly woman in the Hamptons.

Shaquille O'Neal in his Florida police uniform.

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL The 7-foot-1-inch sports legend, regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and centers of all time, was sworn in as a deputy marshal in Lafayette, Louisiana, a sheriff’s deputy in Clayton County, Georgia, and a reserve officer in California, Florida and Arizona.

Shaquille O’Neal has always had a desire for a career as a cop. In 2005, he was sworn in as a reserve officer with Miami Beach, after successfully completing all of the tests.

According to Bleacher Report, a city spokesperson said, “If he passes, he will then have to do everything else to be certified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, just like any of our other officers, reserve or no reserve.“

In 2019, he became an auxiliary sheriff with Broward, Florida Sheriff’s Office earning a reported $1 a year.

On January 20, 2021 a press release was issued stating that "Dr. Shaquille O’ Neal is announced as Henry County Sheriff’s Office Director of Community Relations."

On March 3, 2021 Dr. Shaquille O' Neal was sworn in. McDonough, Ga. Henry County Sheriff Reginald B. Scandrett did the honors.

STEVE BUSCERNI started his working life as a firefighter joining the FDNY's Engine Co. 55 in Manhattan's Little Italy section from 1980 to 1984 before turning to acting. Buscemi returned to volunteer with his old Engine Company No. 55 following the 2001 terrorist attacks to assist in search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center.

"The next morning, I grabbed my old gear, got a lift to the site and found a place on a bucket brigade," he wrote in an essay published by TIME in September 2021.

ERIK ESTRADA played a California Highway Patrol officer in his career-defining role on CHiPs, before he became a reserve police officer for the Muncie (Indiana) Police Department in 2008. From there, Estrada moved to Virginia, where he was an I.C.A.C. (Internet Crimes Against Children) investigator for eight years in Bedford County, Virginia. In 2016 he was sworn in as a reserve police officer in St. Anthony, Idaho. In the course of his duties, Estrada has been filmed patrolling on a police motorcycle.

Estrada also devotes time to protecting kids from online predators – an extension of his work with the Safe Surfin' Foundation.

OK fnf's I'm now a police officer with the ST ANTHONY POLICE DEPT.
— ERIK ESTRADA (@ErikEstrada) July 2, 2016

DEAN CAIN who played Superman on the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the mid-90s, traded in his Superman cape for a police uniform in 2018. He was sworn into the St. Anthony (Idaho) Police Department as a reserve officer. Cain took an interest in an initiative that Estrada actually launched, "All About Kids," which focuses on preventing teen suicide, bullying and internet crimes. The initiative, Cain said, also protects children from online predators.

DAVID ZAYAS is a Puerto Rican actor who was raised in The Bronx. He is best known for his roles as Angel Batista on Showtime's series Dexter and Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama series Oz. Before he worked the homicide unit in Dexter he was a real New York City Police Department cop for 15 years. "I went to an acting school while I was a cop," Zayas told NPR. "The moment I was involved in that world, it electrified me and I realized that it was something that I wanted to do." He reportedly ran lines with his partner during the midnight shift before auditions. His experience as a police officer allowed him to develop as a character actor, leading to a series of acting jobs on television and film, mainly playing law enforcement officers, but playing characters on the other side of the law, as well, such as Enrique Morales on HBO's long-running prison-drama Oz. Zayas played a corrupt police officer in 16 Blocks (2006) and an NYPD officer in Michael Clayton (2007).

DENNIS FARINA who died July 22, 2013 was an American actor who was frequently as a mobster or police officer. Before becoming an actor, Farina spent 18 years in the Chicago Police Department (1967 to 1985), during which he advanced from patrolman to detective. His role of Detective Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer, assigned to the U.S. Justice Department. Farina's Law & Order character, Detective Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. In art imitating life, Fontana shared numerous characteristics with the actor who played him since they came from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school and had the same tastes in clothes and music and were fans of the Chicago Cubs.

LOU FERRIGNO who gained world wide fame as The Incredible Hulk, is the son of a police lieutenant, so it should surprise no one that he serves as a reserve deputy in California and Texas.

“People assume it’s just an honorary thing,” Ferrigno told KSBY of his time going through the LA County police academy. “It isn’t, because I’m certified and I have police powers, which I’m very proud of. So, I went through all the driving, the shooting, the studying, and it changed my life and I’m very happy to be a real-life hero, protecting life and property.” I love Texas. Very proud to be sworn in today as well as have the opportunity to meet all of these great officers and children. — Lou Ferrigno (@LouFerrigno) March 15, 2018.

EDDIE MONEY the rock icon who saw his songs run up the charts during the ’70s and ’80s had a previous life. Before he changed his name from Eddie Mahoney to Eddie Money he worked NYC’s streets as a cop. "My father was very pissed off at me because I quit the police force, and moved out to California,” Money told the Broward Palm Beach New Times.

RONNIE COLEMAN is lauded as one of the world's greatest bodybuilders. Before he pumped up his muscles, he attended Grambling State University, majoring in accounting. Because he couldn't find an accounting job, he decided to become a police officer instead. He served with the Arlington Texas Police Department from 1989-2000. After that, he was a reserve officer until 2003. A fellow officer took Coleman to Metroflex Gym, where owner Brian Dobson tried to convince Coleman to take up bodybuilding. He did and is an eight-time Mr. Olympia.

STEVEN SEAGAL was a martial arts instructor in Japan before he became an actor. He later moved to Los Angeles and made his acting debut in 1988. In 2009, he came out with a reality TV show called "Steven Seagal: Lawman." It followed him around as a reserve deputy chief in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, as well as a reserve deputy in Maricopa County, Arizona. "I've been working as an officer in Jefferson Parish for two decades under most people's radar," Seagal said in the series' premiere episode. In 2011, he was also sworn in as a deputy sheriff in Hudspeth County, Texas, a department responsible for patrolling the Texas-Mexico border.

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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

HI! NI HAO! HSIAO CHU-FANG SOLO EXHIBITION

Hi! Ni hao!

is a continuation of the artist's years of painting works, using charcoal sketches as manuscripts and works on canvas to record the whims and emotions of life, like a dramatic single-frame comic strip there is joy or suffering, bitterness or self-deprecation.

Hsiao's recent creations are more of a searching process, unlike the previous painting techniques of using computer software to configure colors and acrylic flat painting.

For example, she stretched out the length of the painting process, hesitating between restraint and passion, making the picture more thoughtful and giving more rhythmic textures to the flat picture.

The artist uses Hi! Ni hao! as the title of the exhibition, and divides it into four sub-topics.

A common greeting could be expressed or felt differently depending on the situation or context. Through this exhibition, the artist will convey her personal state in life and how she responds to the world.

Born in Chiayi, Taiwan in 1980, Hsiao Chu-Fang graduated from the Tainan National University of the Arts College of Visual Arts in 2008. She belongs to a new generation of artists in Taiwan. The subjects of her work are inspired by her astute observations of changes in a networked society. "Employing simple, comic-like lines the artist ingeniously sketches out estrangement and indifference in all their manifestations in interpersonal relationships. Her oeuvre is marked by her consistent humor and KUSO style," according the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

On display through November 13, 2022 at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

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SWEET CHARITY

A TECTONIC CABARET annual benefit cabaret takes place Monday, October 3, 2022 at Chelsea Factory in New York City.

Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winner Billy Porter is set to host. Cocktail hour precedes the performance.

Directed by Timothy Koch, an all-star cast, lead by Tony Award-winner Joaquina Kalukango and Michael Urie will take to the stage to perform a variety of popular musical selections.

The evening will honor the late James Catherwood Hormel with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Amy Stursberg with the Inaugural James C. Hormel Award. Hormel was the first openly gay U.S. ambassador and a philanthropist who funded organizations to fight AIDS and promote human rights. Stursberg is the CEO of Schwarzman Scholars and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation and the Chair of the Board of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation after 14 years as Executive Director. Both Hormel and Stursberg have been longtime supporters of Tectonic Theater Project.

Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company’s trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, and the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations. Tectonic Theater Project’s newest world-premiere play, Here There Are Blueberries, just completed a critically acclaimed run at La Jolla Playhouse.

JAMIE DE ROY & FRIENDS ACCLAIMED CABARET SHOW takes place at Birdland in New York City on Monday, October 3, 2022.

The event benefits The Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund).

Special Guests include: Santino Fontana, Clint Holmes, Jason Kravits, Karen Mason and Luba Mason.

The one-night only show is part of the club’s Broadway at Birdland Concert Series.

Proceeds from the event, produced by Ms. deRoy, will benefit The Entertainment Community Fund which assists those in the cabaret industry who have medical needs and concerns. The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs honored her with a MAC Award for her many shows that have benefited her signature initiative. The Jamie deRoy & friends cabaret series has been attracting New York audiences for over 30 years.

THE GREAT BRITISH DOG WALK started August 27 and lasts through October 23. Occurring in a variety of locations, this sponsored dog walk helps transform deaf people's lives Thanks to a virtual walk, anyone in the world can take part in this fun-filled sponsored walk, with (or without) your dog and raise vital funds to help deaf people.

There are 14 structured walks across Great Britain, and a virtual walk which you can do anywhere. The organization states: "We are passionate about raising awareness of the life-changing work our clever hearing dogs do and how much they impact the lives of deaf people." By taking part and fundraising for Hearing Dogs, you will help train more life-changing hearing dogs that will transform deaf people's lives. HRH The Princess Royal serves as the patron in the UK.

GIBSON GIVES the purpose-driven charitable arm of the iconic American instrument brand Gibson - launched TEMPO-Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose. The TEMPO program works with non-profits to provide both life-saving training for using the drug Naloxone (Kloxxado Narcan), which is used to prevent opioid overdoses, and offer a support network for recovery from opioid addiction. Through TEMPO, Gibson Gives is training musicians, crew members, music industry professionals, and non-profits on how to properly administer Kloxxado giving them the ability to reverse opioid overdoses and save lives.

Gibson Gives’ TEMPO program has announced a generous commitment of 16,000 doses of Kloxxado (Naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray 8 mg from Hikma. The three-year commitment titled TEMPO, Powered by Kloxxado is valued at $1 Million, marking the largest single donation to Gibson Gives and its TEMPO program, so far.

Kloxxado by Hikma contains a higher dose of 8 mg of Naloxone per spray--double the dose per spray of Narcan (Naloxone HCl) Nasal Spray 4 mg. With increasingly stronger amounts of illicitly manufactured fentanyl being discovered in substances including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and counterfeit pills (CDC, Drug Overdose – Other Drugs), 78% of opioid overdose reversals now involve at least 2 doses of Naloxone (DEA, One Pill Can Kill).

“We are beyond grateful to Hikma for their recent donation of Kloxxado to TEMPO,” says Erica Krusen, Senior Director of Cultural Influence at Gibson Brands. "Opiate overdoses persist as a major public health problem, contributing to over 100,000 U.S. deaths just last year (CDC, Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 annually). These deaths are preventable through the timely administration of Naloxone--a safe, effective, and easy to administer medication that reverses opioid overdoses and helps save lives."

Gibson Gives’ TEMPO program is now 12 non-profit members strong including MusiCares, The Scars Foundation, The Clinic (Roadie Advocacy Group), Sandgaard Foundation, Sims Foundation, Harbor Path, Musicians For Overdose Prevention, Life By Music, Passenger Recovery, National Harm Reduction, and Solace For Hope. The TEMPO program believes it is important not only to save a life, but also to aid in recovery from opioid addiction. Select TEMPO partners will provide counseling for those suffering from opioid addiction, and to family members who have lost a loved one to overdose. Each non-profit member of the TEMPO Network is recognized as an official TEMPO program training center.

MusiCares--which provides a safety net of critical health and welfare services to the music community in Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services, Health Services, and Human Services--will be the first TEMPO partner to launch in the artist area during this weekend’s Pilgrimage Music & Culture Festival in Franklin, TN. Pilgrimage Festival will mark TEMPO’s first distribution of and training sessions for Kloxxado via MusiCares whose mission is to serve musicians and the music industry.

SPREADING THE WORD

INCREDIBLE ILLUSIONIST DAVID BLAINE appearing on James Corden's Late Late Show last Wednesday mesmerized and baffled by burning a hundred dollar bill and then having Corden drink a bubbling liquid containing the ashes - only to make the bill reappear. Corden first cautiously sipped the rolling liquid. When the liquid calmed down Corden then drank it. Blaine will soon be astounding Las Vegas audiences. He opens September 30th at Resorts World. As a side bar - why does Corden keep a black crow in his dressing room?

HIRSCHFELD'S BROADWAY a new multi-media presentation illustrating and celebrating some of the most loved moments in American theater as drawn by Al Hirschfeld. Hosted by the Al Hirschfeld Foundation’s Creative Director, David Leopold, this world-premiere presentation will feature backstage stories of Hirschfeld’s interactions with theater legends, nine decades of Hirschfeld’s iconic artwork and searches for the hidden "Nina"s within.

Hirschfeld’s Broadway takes audiences from a rehearsal of On the Town, to the third row, on the aisle, of the opening of Hairspray. Leopold will reveal firsthand fascinating accounts of Hirschfeld’s encounters with the biggest names in the business. Patrons will encounter some of the most influential productions of the last sixty years, such as Hello Dolly!; Fiddler on the Roof; Funny Girl; Cabaret; Annie; Sweeney Todd; Cats; Les Misérables; Fences; Phantom of the Opera; Chicago and Rent, through the eyes and pen of The Line King. Leopold will tell the remarkable stories of what Hirschfeld witnessed at Barbra Streisand’s audition for her first Broadway show, to the vivid description of all of Broadway coming out for the dedication of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. He will also show and tell how NINA entered Hirschfeld’s pictures, and how this fun game has been used in war and peace.

Be the first to see the presentation before it heads to New York later this fall! September 28 at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA.

SHYLOCK WITH F. MURRAY ABRAHAM takes place Monday, October 3rd - Online Only – Free!

The new season of Red Bull Theater's RemarkaBULL Podversations, intimate conversations with great artists, begins with this presentation. These Podversations are informal, livestreamed conversations that investigate approaches to essential passages from the Shakespearean and Jacobean canon and beyond.

Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham will join host Nathan Winkelstein, Red Bull’s Associate Artistic Director, for a conversation focused on Shylock from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. They will take your questions too.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN: A CONVERSATION WITH WENDELL PIERCE, SHARON D CLARKE, ANDRE DE SHIELDS AND MIRANDA CROMWELL WITH SALAMISHAH TILLET In Person and Online, Monday, October 3, 2022.

In a co-presentation with NYPL’s Schomburg Center, the stars of the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman - Wendell Pierce (Willy Loman), Sharon D. Clarke (Linda Loman) and André De Shields (Ben Loman) - discuss the play’s legacy and their new production alongside its director Miranda Cromwell.

"So many of the elements of the play are fundamentally questioning of the American dream, and when you put that through the perspective of the Black experience, that enriches it," said Cromwell. "The obstacles are harder, the stakes become higher."

This 92NY event takes place at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NYPL).

STORY/TELLER ARTS: LYNN NOTTAGE ON MLIMA'S TALE WITH DAMON TABOR takes place September 29 at The Center for Fiction, Brooklyn, NY, and via livestream.

Continuing Nottage’s tradition of crafting thought-provoking, socially conscious dramas, her play Mlima's Tale tells the story of an elephant struck down by poachers for his magnificent tusks. Nottage is joined by journalist Damon Tabor, whose work focuses on conflict, drug trafficking, black markets, and the environment, and whose article, "The Ivory Highway," inspired Mlima’s Tale.

Presented by The Center for Fiction, a 200-year-old literary nonprofit that has created an immersive home for readers and writers in downtown Brooklyn, and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre.

HARTFORD STAGES' SCENE AND HEARD on their next episode, Hartford Stage Artistic Director Melia Bensussen welcomes director Jackson Gay, costume designer Fabian Fidel Aguilar, and actor Sam Morales from The Mousetrap. Bring your questions for this interactive conversation with the team behind the production, learn more about what happens during the rehearsal process, and get excited for what you'll see on the Hartford, CT stage.

Wednesday, September 28 at 7:00PM ET. This is a virtual event held on Zoom.

HERE COMES THE SUN: SINGING THE SHADOWS AWAY takes place October 1 and 8th at the Triad Theater in NYC. Featuring Matthew Schermerhorn, Andy Rice, and Kara Masciangelo who will "present a harmonious evening of optimistic music and hopeful messages as they sing the shadows away through a variety of genres, including the works of The Beatles, Elton John, Tina Turner, Fleetwood Mac, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary, Kander & Ebb, David Yazbek, Pink Martini, and more."

Joining the show are guest vocalist Daniela Masciangelo, and music director David Shenton and his cabaret band – including Jerry DeVore on bass, Peter Sachon on cello, Micah Burgess on guitar, Eric Halvorson (10/1) and Ray Marchica (10/8) on drums, and David Shenton doubling piano and violin.

GOODSPEED MUSICALS has proudly announces that due to popular demand, additional performances on October 11 and 25 have been added to the blockbuster tap dancing extravaganza 42nd Street which now runs through November 6 at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

APPLE MUSIC replaced Pepsi as sponsor of the Super Bowl's halftime show. Specific financial terms of the multi-year deal were not revealed, but a New York Times report said the NFL had been seeking roughly $50 million.

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SIR ELTON JOHN performed Friday night on the lawn of the White House before President Joe and Dr. Jill Biden. The iconic rocker was asked to entertain to honor "everyday history makers." Afterwards Biden surprised Elton by awarding him the National Humanities Medal. Considered one of the nation's highest awards, it is bestowed by the president of the United States to individuals to have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

John was brought to tears and responded by saying he was "flabbergasted and honored."

THE LATIN RECORDING ACADEMY has announced the nominees for the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, the preeminent international honor celebrating excellence in Latin music, and the only accolade awarded by music industry professionals. This year's Record Of The Year category features an exceptional group of genres, creators and artists that reflect the diversity within Latin music and its growing cultural influence worldwide. In addition, the Best New Artist category showcases a unique set of nominees: Angela Álvarez, Sofía Campos, Cande y Paulo, Clarissa, Silvana Estrada, Pol Granch, Nabález, Tiare, Vale, Yahritza y Su Esencia, and Nicole Zignago. The vast diversity of this group reaffirms The Latin Academy's commitment to providing opportunities for all artists. The 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards nominees were selected from more than 18,000 entries across 53 categories, and reflect an expansive range of artists who released recordings during the eligibility period (June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022). All songs that are considered for nominations must be new songs, and contain a minimum percentage of lyric content (51%) in Spanish, Portuguese or any of the indigenous dialects of our region.

The final round of voting to determine Latin Grammy winners will begin on September 30. The Latin Academy will host the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday, November 17, 2022, from the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The telecast will air live on Univision. Preceding the telecast is the Latin GRAMMY Premiere ceremony, a long-established afternoon "full of unforgettable performances and heartfelt acceptance speeches, where the winners in most categories will be announced."

CLIVE BARNES AWARDS WINNERS were announced and the presentation of the awards took place on Sunday, September 18, at the Martha Graham Studio Theater at Westbeth, in Greenwich Village New York.

NY1's Frank DiLella served as host.

The winner of the Theater Artist Award was Justin Cooley for his performance in Kimberly Akimbo which will be transferring to Broadway later this season. This year's Dance Artist Award winner was Mira Nadon of New York City Ballet. She will dance Jerome Robbins's Piano Pieces and George Balnchine's Raymonda Variations during the first two weeks of City Ballet's Season.

Each winner received an award of $5,000.

Throughout his professional life, Clive Barnes was caring and generous to his colleagues and friends; always ready to advise and listen. After his death, many condolence letters spoke of his generosity and practical help, especially to young people. In this spirit, The Clive & Valerie Barnes Foundation was formed to create Annual Awards giving recognition, encouragement and financial support to two talented young professionals and, thus, honoring the memory of the many years of critical work and the warm personal generosity of Clive Barnes.

AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE published by Theatre Communications Group (TCG), has released Top 10 Most-Produced Plays and Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights for the new season. Based on the 2022-23 season programming submitted by TCG’s Member Theatres (current membership stands at 551), as well as on credits from Broadway productions, these lists customarily omit various stagings of The Christmas Carol and works by Shakespeare.

This year’s 13 most-produced plays include six works by playwrights of color, while the 22 most-produced playwrights list includes nine playwrights of color, the most racially diverse it’s ever been. American Theatre has been creating these annual lists since 1994, but put them on pause after the 2019-20 season due to COVID shutdowns.

American Theatre’s Top 10 Most-Produced Plays (13 due to ties)

Clyde’s, by Lynn Nottage (11 productions)
Chicken & Biscuits by Douglas Lyons (8 productions)
Clue, adapted by Sandy Rustin from the film by Jonathan Lynn (7 productions)
Once, by Enda Walsh, Glen Hansard, and Markéta Irglová (7 productions)
Sweat, by Lynn Nottage (7 productions)
The Chinese Lady, by Lloyd Suh (6 productions)
Fairview, by Jackie Sibblies Drury (6 productions)
Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine (6 productions)
The Lifespan of a Fact, by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell & Gordon Farrell (6 productions)
Little Shop of Horrors, by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (6 productions)
Native Gardens, by Karen Zacarias (6 productions)
The Play That Goes Wrong, by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields (6 productions)
Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling (6 productions)
Trouble in Mind, by Alice Childress (6 productions)

American Theatre’s Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights (22 due to ties)

Lynn Nottage (24)
Lauren Gunderson (24, 9 of them co-writes)
Matthew López (16)
August Wilson (14)
Dominique Morisseau (11)
Ken Ludwig (10, 4 of them adaptations)
Lucas Hnath (9, with 1 co-write)
Jonathan Larson (9)
Karen Zacarías (9)
Kate Hamill (8)
James Lapine (8)
Henry Lewis, Henry Shields & Jonathan Sayer (8)
Douglas Lyons (8)
Lloyd Suh (8)
Enda Walsh (8)
Alice Childress (7)
Jackie Sibblies Drury (7)
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (7)
Duncan Macmillan (7, with 5 co-writes)
Sandy Rustin (7, adaptation)
Lauren Yee (7)



COMPLICITY Written by Diane Davis.

Directed by Ilana Stein.

The cast will feature Tonia E. Anderson, Katie Broad, Christian Prins Coen, Ben Faigus, Christian Paxton, Nadia Sepsenwol, and Zach Wegner.

Complicity tells a story about women holding women accountable amidst the pervasive sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood.

In 2018, three women negotiate surviving the system of complicity that supported a Hollywood predator. One woman, actress Tig Kennedy, seeks justice by upending the status quo. Her sister, Sima, works as Tig’s agent supporting her recovery and career. While Sima works to promote her own successes within the Hollywood system, she crosses paths with Lilia Gordon, a top female producer. All three women try to navigate the in-between as they claim power in the competitive and compromising world of producing movies. The further each woman goes in disrupting the status quo of systemic abuse, the more they must confront their own complicity.

In the wake of #MeToo hundreds of stories about sexual abuse in Hollywood came out. Everyone says that it was an open secret. But if they knew, why didn’t they put a stop to it? Who was complicit in the abuse? Partially inspired by the Weinstein scandal, the women who supported him and those that survived his abuse, Diane Davis’ play Complicity explores an untold side of the story.

The creatives are: Set Design by Cassandra Paras and Johnny Sacko, Lighting Design by Betsey Chester, Costume Design by Janet Mervin, Sound Design by Jimmy Anthony, Projection Design by Lana Boy, and Intimacy Director Lexi Orphanos.

Presented by the Eden Theater Company September 26-October 16 at The New Ohio Theatre in New York City.

THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI written and directed by Tony Award-winner and MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient Mary Zimmerman.

Comprised solely of text from the surviving notebooks of the 15th century renaissance man.

This acclaimed production explores the mind and writings of one of the Western world's greatest thinkers.

The ensemble cast features Adeoye, Christopher Donahue, Kasey Foster, John Gregorio, Anthony Irons, Louise Lamson, Andrea San Miguel, and Wai Yim.

September 29–October 23 at the Klein Theatre in Washington, DC.

EVERYTHING'S FINE by Academy Award and BAFTA nominee Douglas McGrath's world premiere of his autobiographical one-man show.

Directed by two-time Tony Award and six-time Emmy Award winner John Lithgow who returns to directing for the first time in over 40 years.

Everything’s Fine recounts McGrath’s life as a 14-year-old in Midland, Texas - the town most famous for the disappearance below ground, and the recovery above ground, of "Baby Jessica." McGrath shares remembrances of the courtship of his one-eyed father and his mother, who worked at Harper’s Bazaar for Diana Vreeland and became pals with Andy Warhol, and most intriguingly, an eighth-grade teacher who would change his life in the most unexpected way.

The creative team features set design by two-time Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner Linda Cho, lighting design by Caitlin Smith Rapoport, and sound design by Emma Wilk.

Everything’s Fine opens on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at the DR2 Theatre in New York City with previews beginning Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE* (*SORT OF ) by Isobel McArthur.

Directed by Simon Harvey.

Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is a unique and audacious retelling of Jane Austen’s most iconic love story. Men, money and microphones will be fought over in this irreverent but affectionate adaptation where the stakes couldn’t be higher when it comes to romance. The show features a string of pop classics including Young Hearts Run Free; Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You’re So Vain. Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is told from the perspective of six servants who are tired of being overlooked and undervalued.

The play is designed for a cast of five or six women, each playing a servant and one or more of the main characters. This production features: Tori Burgess, Christina Gordon, Leah Jamison, Hannah Jarrett-Scott, and isobel McArthur with understudies Lucy Gray and Emmy Stonelake.

The creatives are: Design by Ana Ines Jabares-Pita; Lighting Design by Colin Grenfell; Comedy Staging by Jos Houben; Musical Supervision and Sound Design by Michael Hogb McCarthy; Choreography by Emily Jane Boyle; Sound Design by Niamh Gaffney for Autograph Sound; Casting Director is Sarah Bird; A Tron Theatre Company, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Blood of the Young’s production with co-producers Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Leeds Playhouse, Northern Stage and Oxford Playhouse.

The world tour, direct from its triumph in the West End where it won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, had kicked off at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, England with performances until October 6, 2022. The comedy closes ot the UK tour at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House in April 2023 followed by the American tour.

E-Book

Soft back Book

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

DAME HILARY MANTEL award winning novelist who the penned Wolf Hall saga died at a hospital in Exter, England on September 22, 2022 from complications of a stroke that had occurred three days earlier. She was 70.

During her twenties, Mantel had a debilitating and painful illness. She was initially diagnosed with a psychiatric illness, hospitalized, and treated with anti-psychotic drugs, which reportedly produced psychotic symptoms. Consequently, Mantel refrained from seeking help from doctors for some years. Finally, she consulted a medical textbook and realized she was probably suffering from a severe form of endometriosis, a diagnosis confirmed by doctors in London. The condition and (at the time) necessary surgery – a surgical menopause at the age of 27 – left her unable to have children, and continued to disrupt her life. She later said "you've thought your way through questions of fertility and menopause and what it means to be without children because it all happened catastrophically". This led Mantel to see the problematical woman's body as a theme in her writing. She later became patron of the Endometriosis SHE Trust.

Mantel won the coveted Booker Prize, an annual prize for the best novel written in the UK, twice. The first was in 2009 for Wolf Hall, her fictional account of the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII. Wolf Hall spawned two sequels, Bring up the Bodies in 2012 and The Mirror and the Light in 2020. She won her second Booker Prize for Bring up the Bodies while the third chapter was also longlisted for the prize.

Her publisher Harper Collins said Mantel was “one of the greatest English novelists of this century."

“Her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed," it said in a statement.

The Wolf Hall saga has sold more than five million copies and been translated into 41 languages.

She was given two of the UK’s highest honors. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2014 for her services to literature.

She is survived by her husband Gerald McEwen whom she wed in 1972. They divorced in 1981 but remarried in 1982. McEwen gave up his career as a geologist to manage his wife's business.

THE COMMITMENT CEREMONY which took place last week for Queen Elizabeth II was something Broadway To Vegas had never before seen. Profoundly moving. As the torch is passed, may King Charles and Queen Camilla be given all the strength they need to fulfill their many duties; plus time for themselves, so that they may enjoy each other, their families and the little every day pleasures that are so often taken for granted.

Next Column: October 2, 2022
Copyright: September 25, 2022 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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Laura Deni

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