Ervin Drake News

Though Ervin Drake's 'The Friendliest Thing (Two People Can Do),' from his 1964 hit What Makes Sammy Run?, has been called the first song from a Broadway musical to be directly about having sex, Suzanne Carrico employs no vampy winks or purring vocals as she observes with heightened intellectual interest the unnecessity of foreplaying drinks and dances when a couple in lust could simply get right to it.  (Yes, I just made up two words in that sentence.  Deal with it.)  Her new show at The Metropolitan Room, opening less than three weeks afters winning the MAC Award for Outstanding Debut, is named for this suggestive showtune but the self-described geek cleverly treats the song as a subtext to Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' 'Welcome To Holiday Inn,' sandwiching the cerebral sexuality between slices of broader, comical pass-making.  This is either the smartest show about sex or the sexiest show about smarts in town.In outstanding company both offstage (Mary Cleere Haran is her director) and on (she's got music director/arranger Tedd Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass), Carrico has the kind of sunny, uncomplicated voice that can fill Harold Arlen and Leo Brown's 'Hooray For Love' with perky glee, matched with the kind of acting skill that can explore the dark dramatic longings of Arlen and Johnny Mercer's 'I Had Myself a True Love,' climaxing in an anguished belt that is far more about the woman she portrays than her ability to vocally shine.She calls this her hanky-panky show and most every number has something to do with sex.  There's the sweet simplicity with which she approaches Jimmy Roberts and Joe DiPietro's 'I Will Be Loved Tonight,' where a woman who has gone too long without a lover's touch anticipates how the evening's date will end, and the wry exasperation of 'Toothbrush Time,' William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein's tense contemplation on why last night's lover is taking so long to get out of the apartment.  She savors the snazzy jazz jauntiness of Michael John La Chiusa's 'The Thief' and turns George Gershwin and B.G. DeSylva's 'Do It Again!' into a lopsided debate between the mind and the libido (guess who wins).The very funny sexpot character song, 'Femininity' (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans), is given an interesting personal twist as she introduces it with some of her own feelings as an adolescent girl surprised by the different way boys would look at her once she started developing.  Her admiration for the romantic passion expressed by Alan and Marilyn Bergman fuels her detailed story-telling in 'Like a Lover' and 'The Island.And for those who believe that hanky-panky is never complete without a bit of cuddling after, she finishes the evening with a very satisfied and satisfying 'Embraceable You' by the Gershwins.

On Monday, November 17th at 8 PM, The Town Hall stage thundered with the sound of Broadway's greatest voices in the 5th Annual Broadway Unplugged. After the concert the cast 'unplugged' at the party to celebrate the successful evening.

On Monday, November 17th at 8 PM, The Town Hall stage thundered with the sound of Broadway's greatest voices in the 5th Annual Broadway Unplugged. The thunder was provided without any microphones; just with just terrific singers singing great Broadway show tunes.

On Monday, November 17th at 8 PM, The Town Hall stage will thunder with the sound of Broadway's greatest voices in the 5th Annual Broadway Unplugged. The thunder will be provided without any microphones; we do it with just terrific singers singing great Broadway show tunes.

More than a dozen Broadway and Cabaret Stars will be shaking the rafters in the 5th Annual Broadway Unplugged concert at Town Hall on Monday night, November 17th. Aaron Lazar, late of Tale of Two Cities will be joining a stellar cast that already boasts Broadway's Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown, as well as Marc Kudisch, Jeff McCarthy, Julia Murney, Matt Cavenaugh, Cheryl Freeman, Christiane Noll, William Michals, Lorinda Lisitza, Chuck Cooper, Erin Denman, Bill Daugherty, and Ron Bohmer.

Broadway's Boy George Euan Morton hosted the 2008 Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence on Tuesday October 21, 2009 at New York City's famed Players Club in Manhattan. Chairman of the Board of Trustees Stewart F. Lane and President Helen Marie Guditis opened the evening with a welcome to the honorees, presenters and guests at this fifth anniversary of The Theatre Museum.

Broadway's Boy George Euan Morton hosted the 2008 Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence on Tuesday October 21, 2009 at New York City's famed Players Club.

Broadway's Boy George Euan Morton will host the 2008 Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence on Tuesday October 21, 2009 at New York City's famed Players Club located at 16 Gramercy Park. Cocktails and Silent Auction at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Awards Ceremony at 8 p.m.

Broadway's Boy George Euan Morton will host the 2008 Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence on Tuesday October 21, 2009 at New York City's famed Players Club located at 16 Gramercy Park. Cocktails and Silent Auction at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m. Awards Ceremony at 8 p.m.

On Monday, November 17th at 8 PM, The Town Hall stage will thunder with the sound of Broadway's greatest voices in the 5th Annual Broadway Unplugged. The thunder will be provided without any microphones; we do it with just terrific singers singing great Broadway show tunes.

The glorious experiment that began five years ago with a concert featuring great singers, singing great songs, but without microphones in a 1,500 seat theater, has blossomed into a annual celebration. The concert is attended every year by musical theater lovers who crave the sound of the pure human voice and the opportunity to hear great Broadway music the way it was originally performed, with nothing between the singer and the audience except the truth.

On Sunday, February 10 2008 at 12:30 pm Musical Mondays honors songwriter Ervin Drake and his wife Edith ( the 'Love Couple' ) at a Luncheon and Silent Auction at Sardi's.

Rose Billings & the Board of Governors of The National Arts Club presented the medal of honor to legendary stage designer, Tony Walton, at their cocktail and dinner ceremony 'A Night the Shining Stars Come Out' on Sunday November 18.

The fourth annual 'Broadway Unplugged' concert - featuring Broadway stars performing without microphones - will be presented Monday, November 19 at 8PM at The Town Hall.

The fourth annual 'Broadway Unplugged' - featuring Broadway stars performing without microphones - will be presented Monday, November 19 at 8PM at The Town Hall, with Sarah Uriarte Berry, Darius deHaas, Max Von Essen, Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, Michael McElroy, Sarah Jane McMahon, William Michals, Paul Schoeffler, Emily Skinner and Martin Vidnovic.

Richard Skipper not only looks and sounds like the original star of Hello, Dolly! and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but his knowledgeable and loving portrayal gives us a realistic glimpse at the woman's passion for performing and desire to make a personal connection with the strangers who flocked to see her.

1968 was a year of great transition (ask your parents!), and nowhere was that change better reflected than on Broadway.

Elaine Stritch and Brian Stokes Mitchell will perform at the 2006 Nightlife Awards on February 6th, while other celebrities such as Michael Cerveris, Karen Ziemba, Marin Mazzie and William Finn will also appear

Twenty-seven critics and experts voted on the best performances they saw this past year in the clubs of New York City. The results of their voting (below) leave no doubt that this year's Nightlife Awards at Town Hall on Monday, February 6th.