Eda Sorokoff News

You don't have to go to the Cannes Film Festival in France to see to see the best new creations from film makers and mingle with glamorous and creative people. It's happening in the Berkshires at the Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF). Kelley Vickery who founded the festival 12 years ago has brought the best of independent film from around the world to Great Barrington and Pittsfield Mass. movie theaters. It's a four day event of great movies, Q&A, discussions, special events, and parties.  This year's festival paid tribute to Academy Award winning actor, Christopher Plummer, who when accepting BIFF's Lifetime Achievement Award told the audience ' you probably can't realize how much this award means to me'.

If songwriters had to choose the definitive performances of their masterpieces to be placed in a musical time capsule I'm sure last night's cabaret concert by Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley would be selected.  A celebrity filled audience at Feinstein's/54 Below was at times spell bound by the musicianship and sound of their magnificent voices.   Jason and Marin shared songs they introduced on Broadway from shows including Ragtime, Passion, The Full Monty, Curtains, and The Visit.  There were also gems from roles they originated in Broadway revivals like Kiss Me, Kate, and American Songbook Standards from their many TV, cabaret, and concert hall appearances.   Their often used designation of "Broadway's Golden Couple" are a Gold Standard, and who ever opens that time capsule in the future is gonna flip.

If you know Haley Swindal's pedigree you will understand why I will refrain from commenting that her show 'knocked it out of the park'. I will also not say she swung and sung for the fences and hit a home run.  I will resist the temptation to say that 'Team Haley' went to it's talented bench to put together the winning combination of Tedd Firth musical director and Will Nunziata, concert director (who conceived the show).  However I will say that her grandfather George Steinbrenner, who in addition to being 'The Boss' of the New York Yankees, loved music and had a passion for Broadway.  He would have been giving a standing ovation (with the rest of the crowd) to Haley Swindal at the conclusion of her ground breaking new show titled Golden Girl at Feinstein's/54 Below last night. 

The flyers on the seats at Barrington Stage Company's St Germain Stage were from a 1995 college appearance by William Kunstler, They said in bold letters 'BOYCOTT - Kunstler is a sellout and a hypocrite His defense of Traiters; Terrorists; and Rapists is an insult to the causes for what which he once stood.' Well, these flyers were correct about Jeff McCarthy in Kunstler being a 'sell out' (audience-wise) at Barrington Stage with his brilliant portrayal of the famed defense lawyer.

'You were good Antonia' were the first words Tony Bennett said to his daughter after her Cafe Carlyle debut last night.. and father surely knows best in this case. 

The Friars Club's entertainment bench possesses an unbelievable amount of talent and they are called upon to perform at the club's unique in-house weekly dinner/shows.  Luckily, performers who were not famous when they first joined the club are generous with sharing their talents at these events after they become super stars. 

CAGNEY The Musical has played to sold out audiences for 473 performances at the West Side Theatre in New York City. The big question posed to enterprising producer Riki Kane Larimer at the closing night celebration was 'where will Broadway's Robert Creighton, (in the role he was born to play) and cast be bringing the story of James Cagney to next?'  

Last night Le Cirque welcomed it's creator Sirio Maccioni back to the legendary restaurant.  Sirio's many friends turned out for the occasion and enjoyed a Tuscon dinner from the recipes of his wife Egidiana  Maccioni. 

 An Evening With… are three of the most powerful words in the entertainment world and they are so often posted and signify an event that can only happen at the Friars Club.  In the early days of the club it was  an evening with James Cagney, George M. Cohan and other show business greats.  Then came evenings with Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra, and many other legends. 

Further evidence that Yiddish is suddenly hip in 2017 was on flashy display last night at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, as the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene welcomed a diverse and eclectic crowd to celebrate mothers and the mother tongue in grand style. Prominent producer Daryl Roth and nine other women trailblazers in the arts, sciences, business and philanthropy were honored, and a dazzling all-female cast performed one showstopper after another. The evening's mother hen was the fabulous four-time Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh, who delighted the audience with her funny and peppery mix of wisdom and heartfelt cheerleading for the Jewish mothers attending and for the Jewish mother in all of us.

Storm:  Dictionary:  'have great and rapid success in a particular place or with a particular group of people': example: Storm Large took  Pace Universitie's Schimmel Center audience by Storm last night and BroadwayWorld was there.    Using her intoxicating, powerful, beautiful voice, musicianship, and acting ability, she is able to deconstruct some Great American Songbook Standards in a way that unlocks another world of interpretation.  Combined with Storm's breathtaking beauty and complete control of her physicality her performance is as electrifying as it gets.  In fact looking around at the audience folks seemed to be looking at each other and silently saying, 'do you believe how good this is'?  Put Lady Gaga, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Donna Summers, Lauren Bacall and some others in a a cloud and thundering down comes Storm Large.

Gianni Russo best known for his portrayal of Carlo Russo in 'The Godfather' also knows how to do a killer of a music show and helped an important charity save lives at Le Cirque last night.

 Broadway Producer and three time Tony Award winner Jamie deRoy held her annual Jamie deRoy & friends Tony Award show last night and the Red Carpet was rolled out at Birdland for the star studded event.  Jamie's fans and friends had their cell phone cameras at the ready as one by one Jamie introduced her award-winning cast which included, Chuck Cooper (The Life) Penny Fuller (Sunday in the Park with George, Cabaret), Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, In the Heights), Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) with special guest, Patti Cohenour (War Paint, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Doreen Montalvo (On Your Feet, In the Heights) and Paulo Szot (South Pacific) with Billy Stritch.  

The 92Y celebrated Songbook Classics By Unsung Lyricists last night and BroadwayWorld was there.

Last night the non-profit Gold Coast Arts Center and Gold Coast International Film Festival honored  legendary Chef Jacques Pépin at an exclusive fundraising event celebrating his life and career and BroadwayWorld was there.

There was only high comedy and some serious wine from one of the highest mountains in Greece at the Friars Club last night as Laura Slutsky hosted 'Whine Women & Wine'. 

Many organizations protect, defend, and keep the Great American Songbook alive. Corinna Sowers Adler is at the forefront of that noble task with her NiCori Studios Productions.  

Joey Reynolds is far from dead, though rumors have the always creative and playful jock styling himself as 'the late Joey Reynolds'. 

Deana Martin performs this tribute show to her father Dean Martin all over the country, but last night it was something special at The Ciconne Theatre in New Jersey. The evening also honored the Scognamillo family's world famous Patsy's Italian Restaurant, the place that Frank, Dean, and families called their New York City home.

Chazz, or 'C' as his friends called him in The Bronx told some great stories to his fellow Friars in the Frank Sinatra Room last night. It was after an Italian  Buffet Feast in the Milton Berle and Barbra Streisand Rooms at the 'Monastery' on 55th street that Chazz explained that he was doing nothing different then what he used to do as a youngster in The Bronx.  His friend's would say 'let Chazz tell the story.'