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A Stellar Cast of Broadway’s Finest Performers to
Appear
at New York Friars Club
Tribute to Show Business Tour de Force Jamie deRoy
On Her 30th Anniversary as One of the
Club’s First Eight
Female Members
April 11 at The Friars Club, 57 East 55th Street
(New
York, NY – A stellar cast of Broadway’s finest
performers will be on hand Wednesday, April 11, when
The New York Friars Club honors show business tour
de force Jamie
deRoy at a celebration marking her 30th anniversary
as one of the Club’s first eight female members. The
event, Jamie deRoy, 30 Years a Friar, will be
at The Friars Club, 57 East 55th Street,
starting at 6 PM for cocktails, 7 PM for dinner and
8:30 PM for the show.
In 1988,
deRoy joined illustrious performers Liza Minnelli,
Joan Rivers and Brooke Shields; Broadcast Music,
Inc. President and CEO Frances Preston; Filmworld
Television President Beverly Partridge; independent
television commercial producer Jeanne Harrison and
Outer Critics Circle President Marjorie Gunner in
rounding out the eight.
The Friars is the
preeminent members-only club for entertainment
professionals and others involved in show business.
It is dedicated to charitable endeavors and
committed to fostering and promoting strong social
and professional bonds among its members. Perhaps
best known for its famed rollicking roasts, the Club
through its Friars Foundation has historically
raised funds to help entertainers in times of need.
“It is
especially fitting that we honor Jamie, a Friars
Club trailblazer, for her many show business
achievements, including her devotion to the Club and
its Foundation,” Michael Gyure, New York Friars Club
executive director, said.
Gyure
noted her Jamie deRoy & friends cabaret
series has been attracting New York audiences for
28-years. “A three-time Tony® Award
winner, Jamie has produced numerous Broadway and
off-Broadway plays and musicals, is a cabaret,
stage, film and TV performer, recording artist and
humanitarian,” Gyure said. “In addition to her many
contributions to the Friars Foundation, her
acclaimed Actors Fund: Jamie deRoy &
friends Cabaret Initiative assists those in the
cabaret industry who have medical needs and
concerns.”
“The Friars Club is a
truly wonderful organization with which to be
associated,” deRoy said. “The event will be
especially meaningful to me with my multi-talented
friends taking part. I am deeply honored.”
Directing the show
will be Barry Kleinbort with Musical Director Ron
Abel. Hosting will be comedian Judy
Gold, who has had stand-up specials on HBO,
Comedy Central and Logo and has written and starred
in two critically acclaimed off-Broadway hits, The
Judy Show ---- My Life as a Sitcom (Outer
Critics Circle nomination) and 25
Questions for a Jewish Mother (GLAAD Media Award
– Outstanding NY Theater, Drama Desk nomination –
actor). Gold also received rave reviews for
portraying “Gremio” in The Public Theater’s all
female production of The Taming of The Shrew for
New York’s Shakespeare in the Park.
Jamie deRoy, 30
Years a Friar,
will feature special tributes and performances by:
· Craig
Bierko,
Tony Award nominee for lead actor in The Music
Man. He has appeared in Stephen Sondheim’s Company and
in numerous movies and TV shows, including Cinderella
Man with Russell Crowe, The Good Wife, The
Thirteenth Hour, UnREAL, Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit and Murphy Brown.
His accolades include being named Sexiest Broadway
Star by People magazine.
· Chuck
Cooper, featured
in 15 Broadway shows in every theatrical genre from
Shakespeare to musical comedy. He won a Tony Award
for his performance in Cy Coleman’s The Life.
Cooper has guest-starred on TV’s The Good Wife, House
of Cards, Madam Secretary and Nurse
Jackie, among others.
· Jim
Dale, whom
Lord Laurence Olivier once called “God’s gift to
Shakespeare comedies.” He won a Tony for Barnum and
Tony nominations for Joe Egg, Candide, The
Threepenny Opera andScapino. A Grammy
award-winning narrator, Dale recorded seven books in
the Harry Potter series for the United States
and Canadian markets.
· Penny
Fuller, an
Emmy Award-winner for The Elephant Man. She
also appeared in last year’s Broadway revival of Sunday
In the Park with George, Horton Foote’s Dividing
The Estate and Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party for
which she won a Tony nomination.
· Larry
Gatlin, who
with his brothers became country music legends,
racked up hit after hit and won some of the most
prestigious awards in the recording industry,
including the Grammy. After many years of touring
with his brothers, Larry experienced a major turning
point in his career when he took the lead role on
Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical, The
Will Rogers Follies.
· Anita
Gillette, a
Tony nominee for best actress for Chapter Two,
made her Broadway debut in Gypsy and has
performed in 11 shows on the Great White Way, the
hit movie Moonstruck and the NBC series, 30
Rock, in which she played Tina Fey’s mother.
· Julie
Gold, a
singer/songwriter, best known for Bette Midler’s
version of From a Distance which won her a
Grammy for Song of the Year. Her songs have been
performed by artists including Patti LaBelle, Patti
Lupone, Cliff Richard, The Byrds, Kathie Lee
Gifford, Lea Salonga and Jewel, among others.
· Rupert
Holmes, the
first person in theatrical history to solely win
Tony awards for Best Book, Best Lyrics and Best
Music, for his creation, The Mystery of Edwin Drood,
which also won the Tony for Best Musical. Holmes
has written, arranged and conducted platinum albums
for Barbra Streisand and he wrote and sang the
iconic “Pina Colada Song.”
· Frances
Ruffelle, who
originated the role of “Eponine” in Les
Misérables for which she won a Tony. She turned
“On My Own” into one of Broadway’s most beloved
standards. Ruffelle appears frequently on the New
York cabaret scene and has performed in numerous
shows on London’s West End, including her most
recent critically-acclaimed performance in Wild
Party.
· Benjamin
Scheuer,
who won a Drama Desk Award for his solo show, The
Lion. He has been nominated as the 2018
“Man of the Year” by the Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society. A survivor of Hodgkins Lymphoma, Scheuer
credits the Society for saving his life.
In
addition to Tony Awards, deRoy has won eight MAC
Awards; four Back Stage Bistro Awards and 11 Telly
Awards for her extensive work on stage and screen.
She has appeared with luminaries like Joan Rivers
and has headlined at many New York nightclubs.
deRoy has produced nine CDs in the Jamie deRoy &
friends series, all available on Harbinger and
PS Classics labels. Her monthly cable television
show spotlights well-known entertainers and
newcomers. |