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Inside Broadway's Beacon Awards honored
two wonderful Broadway performers, Daniel
Dae Kim The
King and I and Andrea
Burns On
Your Feet! at the JW Marriott Essex House. After
a glorious reception with delicious food and fine
wines, champagne, and other strong drinks, that took
place in the elegant hotel with the area expanded
into the lobby, Executive Director Michael
Presser presented
the awards to the honorees, and a live performance
with the cast of On
Your Feet!
followed. Scott
Nadeau, General Manager of the New York Marriott
Marquis was also honored, and many of his colleagues
attended to congratulate him. Among the guests was
one of my favorite Broadway stars, Bernadette
Peters. I have seen every Broadway show in which
she has appeared. She is a theatrical treasure.
The 2016 Off Broadway Alliance
Awards were
presented at Sardi's Restaurant. After indulgng on
wine and hors d'oeuvres, Peter
Bregger introduced
the winners. Among them were director Alex
Timbers for The
Robber Bridegroom, Lois Smith,
Merle Debuskey, and the children of Anne Meara and Anne
Jackson, who received their
late mothers' awards. The three children of Eli
Wallach and
Anne Jackson were present, as well as Amy
Stiller and Ben
Stiller, who was accompanied by his wife, Christine
Taylor. It was a joyous event.
Off-Broadway, Out
of the Mouth of Babes, by Israel
Horovitz, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, features a
cast of four excellent actresses, directed by Barnet
Kellman. A 100-year-old Frenchman dies in Paris,
and four of the women in his life reunite in his
loft in Paris, and recall the years they spent with
him. Estelle
Parsons, Judith Ivey, Angelina Fiordellisi and Francesca
Choy-Kee are
hilarious with their acerbic wit and caustic
remarks, especially their comments about the
opposite sex. ,
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) presented Romeo
and Juliet, choreography by Sir
Kenneth MacMillan, music by Sergei
Prokofiev, with magnificent scenery and costumes
by Nicholas
Georgiadis, one of the highlights of this
production. The two leads were superb. Hee
Seo looks
and acts like a 14-year-old Juliet, and her dancing
was splendid, especially, in the balcony scene,
which closes the first act. Roberto
Bolle was
a brilliant Romeo, and together with Seo, they were
the perfect couple. In the balcony scene, he carried
her like a feather. Jeffrey
Cirio, as Mercutio, who has been marvelous the
entire season in every role, won a well deserved
ovation with his Mandolin
Dance in
the second act. He is an excellent addition to the
company. The orchestra was conducted byOrmsby
Wilkins.
The most delightful afternoon I have
spent this year was at the elegant penthouse of Paula and Al
Miller. I was invited to be a panelist with five
other artistic professionals from the world of opera
to listen to the final recital by seven singers, who
hope to pursue a career in opera. The singers were Nichole
Cosentino, Roberto Borgatti, Bo-Kyung Kim, Mark
Cotton, Holly Gash, Jose Heredia and Rachel
Anne Hippert. They
all displayed splendid voices, and were accompanied
at the piano by Saffron
Y. Chung.
The
other five panelists were two from Artists
Management, Sarah
Stephens and Gabriel
Couret, and three voice teachers, Dr.
Dana W. Talley, Ph.D. (formerly a singer with
The Metropolitan Opera), Ira
Siff (for
the past 10 years a Guest Commentator
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on
all the Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera radio
broadcasts) and Arthur
J. Levy (professor
of music at Mannes College of Music and CCNY
Graduate Center Doctoral Music Program). They all
gave superb advice to the performers. This
was followed by a wine and cheese reception, where
the panelists were able to engage each singer
individually. This truly remarkable afternoon was
brought about by Maestro
Peter Mark, who presents opera masterclasses
from a conductor's perspective for emerging
professional singers.
I attended the closing night
party for the magnificent Broadway play Eclipsed,
by Danai
Gurira, at the Lambs Club. The cast and creative
team were all present, and were congratulated for
their excellent work. We were served delicious hors
d'oeuvres and drinks. I hope to see all five superb
actresses soon in other plays, and I eagerly await
Danai's next production. She is a splendid
playwright.
I went to the Fran
Drescher's Cancer
Schmancer Movement 2nd Annual Sunset Cabaret Cruise on
the SS Hornblower Infinity at the dock, 353 West St.
Fran introduced the cabaret artists, and among the
guests were George
Takei and Rosie
O'Donnell with
two of her daughters, Chelsea and Vivienne.
A buffet dinner was served with an open bar, before
the cruise began, sailing around the tip of
Manhattan. It was a very festive affair.
I attended the opening night
reception for the Film Society of Lincoln Center and
Subway Cinema's 15th
New York Asian Film Festival June 22-July 9, 2016 that
took place in the Furman Gallery. A music group
performed, and wine and beer were served. The
opening night film was a world premiere of Kazuya
Shiraishi's Japanese crime epic Twisted
Justice.
Good Enough to Eat,
520 Columbus Avenue at 85th Street, is the perfect
name for a wonderful restaurant, with delicious food
and marvelous cocktails.The bread, biscuits, cakes,
pies and cookies are baked daily in their kitchen,
as are the soups and sauces. All ingredients are
bought from farmers and merchants mentioned on the
front page of the extensive menu. Breakfast is
served daily from 8am-5pm Monday-Friday and at 9am
Saturday & Sunday. Lunch 11:30am-5pm Monday-Friday
and dinner 5:00pm-10:30pm. Each day a special menu
is added. On the evening we ate there, it
consisted of Quesadilla of the Day, two soups,
Pumpkin and Split Pea with Bacon, and 4 special
entrees. My wife chose Grilled Salmon with Burre
Blanc sauce served with Baked Potato and Sauteed
Broccoli with house salad as a starter. I chose from
the traditional menu Charcoal-Grilled New York Strip
Steak with mushrooms and red wine reduction, mashed
potatoes and broccoli. I also chose Grilled Corn
Bread with whole kernel corn with a side of honey as
a starter. It was unbelievably scrumptious. The
manager, Michael,
insisted we also try Beer-Battered Shrimp with honey
mustard, and an avocado salad with their own potato
chips. The dishes were enormous, and sadly we had to
forgo desserts, which from the counter looked
luscious. Among the special cocktails were a Martini
named Bittersweet with Dorothy
Parker Gin.
She was the wittiest lady at the famous Algonquin
Roundtable. She was quoted as saying that she likes
one martini, or two at the most. After three, she is
under the table, and after four, she is under the
host! I decided that I had better drink a rum and
coke. You cannot enjoy a better dining experience,
and all the food is good enough to eat. |