LGBTQ news and entertainment
Matt performing a medley of shows he did on Broadway and his NYC years. Those shows include A CHORUS LINE, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, THE WHO’S TOMMY, CATS, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, CHICAGO, and CHESS.
This was part of Matt’s show, MATT ZARLEY: BROADWAY TO BILLBOARD, filmed live @ Rockwell in LA on AUGUST 27, 2012.
Available today, new music from Tony Award-winning Broadway star Betty Buckley: AH MEN – THE BOYS OF BROADWAY, based on her critically acclaimed concert of the same name.
Like Betty, I’m from Fort Worth, Texas, and we both attended the same high school – although not at the same time. But in the 1970s – with successes on Broadway and TV already – she made a stop by Arlington Heights High School and spoke to our drama class. She spoke about acting and then, in an impromptu moment, sang for us unaccompanied. I was transfixed, and a fan of her voice (and acting) from that moment on.
When I was appearing on Broadway in Hello, Dolly!, Betty was giving her breathtaking performance as “Norma Desmond” in Sunset Boulevard. During the run of Dolly! many stars came backstage to say ‘hello’ to Carol Channing. I’d see them meet her on the stage after the curtain came down after the show as I had to cross the stage from my dressing room to the stage door. The only time I ever stopped and stuttered a ‘hello’ to anyone was when Betty Buckley came backstage. It was my chance and I took it. And she was as gracious then as she is today.
I recently discovered that Tennessee Williams admired Betty’s work. On the blog “Follies of God,” James Grissom shared with his readers that Tennessee had this to say about Betty Buckley:
Her singing voice is a wonderful example of that intercourse that exists only with a singer: When a singer is in possession of a great talent and an honest intensity of purpose, nothing can prevent the relationship between song and singer from taking place, with all of us voyeurs to the consummation.
She owns her material, but she doesn’t grasp it so tightly that we can’t also share in it, love it, feel to it. I find her a radiantly pure singer.
She helps me to the fog. I feel she belongs to me now.
I recently had the chance to interview Betty about her new CD, her current appearances around the country and her upcoming UK premiere of Jerry Herman’s Dear World at Charing Cross Theatre.
You can listen to the interview tomorrow night on The Candi & Randy Show, but here are just a few of Betty’s thoughts on the new CD:
• The inspiration for the new CD goes back to her young crush on Russ Tamblyn in the movie of West Side Story: “When I first saw the movie of West Side Story, I was about 14 and I was just in love with Russ Tamblyn who played “Riff.” Everything about him as “Riff” – I thought he was the coolest guy ever. And it went way beyond a crush. I wanted to dance like him, walk like him, talk like him. I wanted to be a Jet.”
• Betty had a short list of songs she knew she wanted to sing in this show/CD: “I knew I wanted to sing “I Can See It” from The Fantasticks, I knew I wanted to sing “Hey There” from The Pajama Game, “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin… I knew I wanted to sing “Venice” from Elegies and “Maria” from West Side Story, and I knew I wanted to sing “I Won’t Dance.”
• When asked if there’s a male role in the music theatre catalog she’d like to do, she doesn’t hesitate: “I think I could be a really dangerous Sweeney Todd.”
• On heading to London to star in the UK premiere of Dear World: “I’m really excited about it. I’ve known about this for about a year and a half. It will be a revised/new version of the show. It’s going to be really beautiful, I think. I’m really excited.”
I reached out to Broadway legend Jerry Herman for his thoughts on Betty starring in the new production and Jerry had this to say:
“Dear World requires a superb singer; Dear World requires a superb actor; and Betty Buckley is both. I so look forward to the London premiere with Gillian Lynne at the helm.”
Betty has been appearing across the country singing songs from the new CD. Find the nearest concert date on her website – www.BettyBuckley.com.
Lucky for me, she’ll be performing at The Smith Center here in Las Vegas November 15-18. Can’t wait to see her sing these great songs.
You can hear the full interview and several of the songs from the new CD by listening tomorrow night on The Candi & Randy Show – 9pmEST/6pmPST.
Congrats on a very funny and creative video.
And yeah, I’ve been there guys… Out on the road while your friends on Broadway go to work then get to head HOME. Sigh.
Ah, life on the road.
I saw this two days ago, but the video wasn’t embeddable at the time.
Clever lyrics and great voices on a parody of One Day More from “Les Miserables” in support of President Obama.
Broadway and musical theatre performers Sean Smith, David Burnham, Kim Huber, Christina Saffran Ashford, Damon Kirsche, David Engel, Jennifer Shelton, Emma Ashford, Matthew Ashford, Ali B. Olmo, Johnny Pastor, Bubba Dean Rambo, William Martinez, Flora Rubenhold, Takako Gregg, Teri Yates, Mason Keane, and Paula Keane sing from their heart with the lyrics of Don DeMesquita.
For more info and facts, go to www.OneTermMore.com
Sheryl Lee Ralph (via Instagram)I couldn’t be happier to hear the news. I worked with Sheryl Lee in a production of Applause in Los Angeles where she played the iconic “Margo Channing” and was fantastic. This is a real talent. Sheryl Lee Ralph, who played Dreamgirls‘ Deena Jones on Broadway in 1981, has been tapped to guest star on the second season of NBC’s Broadway drama, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. As first reported by Vulture, Ralph will guest star as Cynthia, the mother to Hudson’s Veronica Moore. Hudson’s Veronica is described as a Tony-winning Broadway star who impacts the lives of Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy (Hilty). The former Dreamgirls Oscar winner will appear in multiple episodes of Smash’s second season, which is set to return midseason. Broadway legend Bernadette Peters played mother to Hilty’s Ivy on the first season of Smash, appearing in a pair of episodes to support her daughter as she struggled with the demands of Bombshell, the play at the center of Season 1. In addition to Dreamgirls, Ralph’s stage credits also include 2002’s Thoroughly Modern Millie and features Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. On the small screen, her résumé includes “Hunter,” “Designing Women” and “Moesha.”
Playbill is reporting that Marvin Hamlisch, who achieved theatre immortality as the composer of the iconic musical A Chorus Line, died Aug. 7 following a brief illness. He was 68.
Mr. Hamlisch’s other theatre works included They’re Playing Our Song, Jean Seberg, Smile, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success. His latest musical, The Nutty Professor, recently opened in Tennessee.
But it was with the groundbreaking A Chorus Line, which told of the frustrations and worries of a group of anonymous dancers trying out for a Broadway musical, that he made his mark as a theatre figure.
He was already famous as an all-around wunderkind when he began work on A Chorus Line. A child prodigy, he was accepted into Juilliard before he was seven. Before he was 30, he had received Oscars for his score and song to “The Way We Were” and his adaptations of Scott Joplin ragtime tunes in “The Sting,” which helped usher in a Joplin revival.
Mr. Hamlisch is one of only 11 people to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. On top of this, he also won the Pulitzer Prize for A Chorus Line.
I did 2 National Touring companies of A Chorus Line and due to that, I was fortunate to perform with Marvin a few times at benefit galas when the cast would be invited to perform the finale “One” and the most famous song from the show “What I Did For Love.” Marvin was always very easy to be around, but it was clear that he was a genius. And not in a cranky or showy kind of way. He was just brilliant at what he did and made things look easy – even when you knew they were not.
In an interview in July, Mr. Hamlisch talked about the emotional investment he put into each piece of music he composed.
“I’m not one of those people who says, ‘I never read reviews,’ because I don’t believe those people,” Mr. Hamlisch said. “I think they read ‘em. These songs are my babies. And I always say, it’s like having a baby in a hospital, taking a Polaroid and going up to someone and saying, ‘What do you think?’ And he goes, ‘I give you a 3.’ That’s what criticism is like. You’ve worked on this thing forever – ‘I give you a 3.’ And it’s part of you. That’s the bargain you’ve made.”
For years we’ve all seen Marvin do “celebrity music director” duty on major television specials and galas. And there was good reason for that. He really was “one singular sensation.”
Rest in peace Marvin Hamlisch.
I love when theater people can laugh at themselves.
In this video, Christiane Noll (RAGTIME, CLOSER THAN EVER) tells the story of her first NY audition for Broadway’s “PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and how it went a bit wrong.
Then she sings the end of “Back To Before” from RAGTIME with a few ‘extra’ notes. Stay on for the last note. Pretty funny…
From Broadway’s Hunter Foster on Facebook: “I just posted this on an anti-gay marriage/pro Chick-Fil-A blog and I wanted to share.”
I live in New York City. The majority of my friends, neighbors and colleagues are gay. My wife’s maid of honor at our wedding is gay. One of my best friends in the world is gay. We have traveled to Europe with gay friends, attended gay weddings and seen our gay friends adopt babies, buy houses and now, thankfully, get legally married in the state of New York. We know gay couples who have been together in long term loving relationships of thirty years or more and seen the joy of gay parents with their newly adopted children.
Unfortunately, I have also seen how the argument against gay marriage affects my friends. How it makes them feel like second class citizens. It may seem trivial to those who can get married, but what if you were told you were not allowed to stand up in front of your friends and family and commit your life legally to the love of of your life. How would that make you feel? Cathays comments are hurtful because he reiterates this. You can read between the lines in his comments: same sex relationships are “inferior” to heterosexual relationships.
I believe marriage is more than just the statement: one man/one woman. I believe it’s about love, its about two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together. Who want to create a family. Who want to build a home and a life together. Why does that have to be one man/one woman? Great families are born out of love regardless if it’s gay or straight
And I know this has a lot to do with religious beliefs. But, why would God want to deny love to exist in the world? Why would He want to deny certain people the same opportunity for happiness as everyone else? I believe people need to search their own hearts and find the truth about where this prejudice comes from, and maybe see the world as it truly is from a human point of view and not just a world influenced by scripture.
From the cast of the Broadway revival of ANYTHING GOES which closes today at the Stephen Sondheim Theater in NYC.
This is a great answer to the question “what’s it like performing on Broadway?”
Besides being able to live the dream of appearing on Broadway, the camaraderie and sense of family can be amazing. Take a look. This tells a great story.
Congratulations to all on a successful journey.
From the YouTube notes: ANYTHING GOES opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on April 7, 2011 and closed on July 8, 2012. From Rehearsals, to Sitz Probe, to Tony Awards, to all the backstage craziness, it has been a pleasure sailing on the SS American with this amazing cast & crew.
“Good Life” sung by OneRepublic
(compiled from a year and a half’s worth of iphone, camera, and digital footage)