First,  speaking of "Red, Hot & Blue!", many of you have asked about tickets (which are already selling quickly) – I am happy to report that 42nd Street Moon will once again be offering a discount of 20% off every seat for all performances excluding Sunday matinees!  The discount code is "Red Hot", and can be obtained via phone or window sales only, not online.  The box office number is (415) 978-2787.  Also, please note this is a Limited Availability offer only.  Cole Porter is always a big draw for 42nd Street Moon, so we expect ticket sales to be very heavy.  Something to bear in mind if you're a natural procrastinator...

In the first show of their 2005-2006 season, 42nd Street Moon will present Cole Porter's "Red, Hot & Blue!", starring the incredible cabaret star Klea Blackhurst! Klea is well-known for her one-woman Ethel Merman tribute show, "Everything the Traffic Will Allow" and will be starring in Merman’s original role as “Nails” O’Reilly Duquesne, a New York socialite involved in a delightfully daffy caper with assorted oddballs and eccentrics. The Porter classics include It’s De-lovely, Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor, Ridin’ High, Ours, Red, Hot and Blue, and You’re a Bad Influence On Me.  The show will be directed by Greg MacKellan, Moon's co-Artistic Director (and director of the riotously funny "Minnie's Boys", which we did together last season).   The show will run September 22 - October 16 (a special four week run) on Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 6:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm.  There will be a special early Wednesday performance at 7:00pm on October 12.

42nd Street Moon, based in San Francisco, is one of only four theatre groups in the nation whose mission is to present concert performances of classic Broadway musicals of the 1920s through the 1970s.  After Ian Marshall Fisher’s “Discover the Lost Musicals” series in London, 42nd Street Moon is the next oldest, worldwide, of these companies devoted to the preservation and performance of “lost” musical theater in concert.  They have presented the American premieres of lost musicals such as Jerome Kern’s “Three Sisters”, which was written in 1934 but never produced until their 1995 season – sixty-one years later! Since 1993, the organization has mounted five productions every year, and serves a loyal constituency.

The research required to re-stage these timeless gems involves many hours of locating missing scores and scripts and piecing them together. As a result of both the dedicated research efforts of the Artistic Directors and also their success in putting these restored classics on stage, the organization has developed solid working relationships with the Gershwin Trustees, the Cole Porter Trustees, the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the Kurt Weill Organization, and the families of Yip Harburg, Jerome Kern, and Dorothy and Herbert Fields. 42nd Street Moon’s work has been sufficiently distinguished that Theodore S. Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization of New York, named it one of the most important theatre companies currently staging the masterpieces of the American musical theatre.

42nd Street Moon (so named because during the 1920’s and 1930’s, the bright lights of Broadway were known as “the 42nd Street Moon,” honoring the theatre’s most exciting thoroughfare) present these classic Broadway shows as “staged concert performances.” In staged concerts, actors hold scripts in-hand throughout the performance. There are no sets or elaborate costumes. They do not present their work through digitally engineered sound systems. The material itself is the star. This format allows their audiences to hear the work with remarkable clarity, and to use their imaginations. They allow their audiences to participate in the here and now, the very essence of LIVE theatre.

I just returned from a business trip to Edinburgh, Scotland where I was able to take in several shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Two shows that I saw worth noting were “Piaf”, a musical about the great French chanteuse Edith Piaf, and her incredibly fascinating life.  The actress who played La Piaf was Margaret Griffiths, an amazing English actress who seemed to channel the spirit (and voice) of “The Little Sparrow”. I truly felt as though I had seen Piaf perform live!

The other show of note was called “Judy and Me”, a tribute to Judy Garland performed by a duo from Paris.  Isabelle Georges is a young French actress whose life and artistry has been profoundly influenced by Judy Garland, and she interprets the life of Garland beautifully though song and dance.  Her partner on stage is Frédérik Steenbrink, a Dutch singer/actor/composer who serves as both her on-stage acting & singing partner as well as Musical Director.  It was a very moving and heartfelt tribute.  The parallels between these two women’s lives are numerous, including their well-known struggles with drug addiction that led to both of their deaths at the early age of 47.

I mention my trip to Edinburgh because I’m planning to perform there myself next summer with my cabaret show "A Little Travelin' Music".  The show is making great progress – the final charts were received last week from my arranger, and we have set a December studio date to tape the demo DVD (a marketing tool).  Kelly Park, my Musical Director,  and I will begin rehearsals on the show in October, with a targeted premiere at his club, Kelly's of Alameda, in November.  We will also be heading into the studio around that time to begin work on the CD, which we hope to have completed by the end of the year!  Stay tuned for more details!