Long time, no post!

Hey all! Sorry for the delay in posts...unfortunately, I haven't been getting to a heck of a lot of shows, though! Between finishing up the cd and working on my upcoming Rosemary Clooney show (A Hint of Rosemary: The Songs of Rosemary Clooney, Sunday July 8th at 7 p.m., The Metropolitan Room, 212-206-0440 for reservations - be there or be square!!!), I haven't been left with a lot of time for show-going. I have managed to take in a few things, though. Last Thursday, I finally got to see Company - just in the nick of time, too, since it closed on Sunday. What an amazing show! While not a HUGE fan of the whole cast-being-the-orchestra concept, it did work for this show. What was especially effective about it was that for the entire show, the only character who did not play an instrument was Robert. When he finally took a seat at the piano for "Being Alive" it underlined the whole sentiment of the song - he was making the decision to live, to join everyone else and become one of the company. Very cool. And speaking of his "Being Alive," oh man! If you didn't see it, you missed one of the greatest performances of one of the best songs ever written for the theater! In my humble opinion, that is. :)
Since I was in a show-going kind of mood that evening, after the show, my friend and I headed over to Birdland for the Umbria Jazz Festival, which featured young saxophonist Francesco Cafiso with a chamber orchestra (I Soloisti di Perugia) behind him in "Bird With Strings: A Tribute to Charlie Parker." Well, somewhere, Charlie Parker was smiling, because they paid tribute to him beautifully! With the beautiful orchestrations, I felt like I was magically transported to a nightclub in the '40s...and for a few minutes, I could forget the stresses of everyday life. Particularly beautiful was David Raskin's "Laura,: one of my all-time favorites. It was a perfect way to cap off an already great night.
I'm hoping to catch Christine Pedi's show at the Metropolitan Room this evening. I've only seen Christine in small spurts, but am AMAZED at her talents - she can "do" all of the great ladies - Judy, Barbra, Eartha, Carol, Ethel...just unbelievable. Sure to be an entertaining show - so, if you're looking for something to do at 7 p.m. this evening, head on over and check it out!
That's about all for now - check back for updates soon!