Les Brown News

It's not often when a person is able to develop their own stage show about their idol, but for the past four years, actor/singer Scott Dreier has done that very thing, when, in 2011, he started paying tribute to former actress/singer Doris Day. Dreier has toured all over the U.S. with Doris and Me, playing on the West Coast, where he makes his home, to venues on the East Coast. For many years before Doris and Me, the Southern California native was a performer in voiceovers, in theater, and on television, focusing mainly on family shows on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Scott has also been a featured vocalist with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, has accompanied Barbra Streisand in concert, and has numerous television appearances to his credit. Devoted to charitable causes, Dreier designated the proceeds from his first CD, Scott Dreier, to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. On the album, he sang a duet on 'Suddenly, Seymour' from Little Shop of Horrors with actress Katy Sagal (Married With Children). Dreier has performed in twelve productions of that show. One of his latest efforts, whose proceeds benefit the Doris Day Animal Foundation, is a duet with jazz singer Jane Monheit on Doris Day's hit, 'Everybody Loves a Lover.' Dreier is appearing in Doris and Me at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center this weekend, and we got a chance to visit with him and talk about his idol, who at 91, is living in comfortable retirement in Carmel-By-the-Sea near Monterey, California.

The Millersville Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band will present the 2nd Annual 'Trick or Treat with a Beat!' at the Winter Center tonight, October 30, 7:30 p.m., for a night of betwithing blues, supernatural swing, and Halloween-howling jazz! Costume attire is encouraged and there will be prizes for the best costumes! The Winter Center is located at 60 W. Cottage Avenue, Millersville.

On the second night of this year's 26th Annual Cabaret Convention, Jeff Harnar and Andrea Marcovicci hosted A Sentimental Journey: World War II Songs, inspired by Marcovicci's memorable Oak Room at The Algonquin show, I'll Be Seeing You--Love Songs of World War II. (The CD is highly recommended.) As always with this pair's Convention contribution, the show was a treat in part because of its singular glamour. Much of our audience was exceptionally familiar with and nostalgic about these songs. A few had to be politely quieted for singing along, more than a few took each other's hands. It seems I've heard that song before . . . the co-hosts begin, warming the room.

The Millersville Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band will present the 2nd Annual 'Trick or Treat with a Beat!' at the Winter Center on Friday, October 30, 7:30 p.m., for a night of betwithing blues, supernatural swing, and Halloween-howling jazz! Costume attire is encouraged and there will be prizes for the best costumes! The Winter Center is located at 60 W. Cottage Avenue, Millersville.

OLUWA TONI's debut single (raw version), 'FLY TO L.A' was released on July 1st, 2015 (Canada Day).

Michael Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS open their one of a kind, popular outdoor summer concert series with vocalists Marilyn Maye and Michael Andrew in BIG BAND SWING tonight, June 20th in a show sure to get all ages dancing in the aisles at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

Stars of stage, screen and television came out to celebrate Broadway's Biggest Night at The Actors Fund's 19th Annual Tony Awards® Viewing Party, held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on June 7, 2015.

Michael Feinstein and the Pasadena POPS open their one of a kind, popular outdoor summer concert series with vocalists Marilyn Maye and Michael Andrew in BIG BAND SWING on Saturday June 20th in a show sure to get all ages dancing in the aisles at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

BroadwayWorld.com is sad to report that WICKED actress, Dina Bennett, who had recently toured as the midwife, and understudying 'Madame Morrible' in the show's National Tour passed away after a battle with cancer.

Writer, actress and comedienne Mary Dimino is a FringeNYC Outstanding Solo Show Award Winner for her critically acclaimed solo hit Scared Skinny. Tonight, September 30th, United Solo presents Mary Dimino in her follow up hit one woman show Big Dummy, me and my old man written by and starring MAC Award winning comedian Mary Dimino at The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (42nd Street) as part of the 5th Annual United Solo Festival. Christine Renee Miller directs.

The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts (PTPA) will present THE TOMMY DORSEY ORCHESTRA: TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA on Sunday, November 2 at 3:00 PM.

Writer, actress and comedienne Mary Dimino is a FringeNYC Outstanding Solo Show Award Winner for her critically acclaimed solo hit Scared Skinny. This September 30th, United Solo presents Mary Dimino in her follow up hit one woman show Big Dummy, me and my old man written by and starring MAC Award winning comedian Mary Dimino at The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (42nd Street) as part of the 5th Annual United Solo Festival. Christine Renee Miller directs.

Actor/singer Scott Dreier is, by self-description, consumed with Doris Day. He has been a fan since a tender age, watching every Doris Day movie and listening to every Day album hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. We all love Day. Who doesn't? She symbolizes all that is sweet and good in life! Because of her genuine spirit, it became OK for actresses like Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper to have their own shows, representing ordinary yet intelligent young middle-class women and their problems. Because of her, four legged creatures have more organizations looking out for their total welfare. Because of her, our overall lives are a whole lot happier. Scott Dreier, like Day, is genuine, warm with a strong lilting vocal instrument and possessing an infectious charisma, with that famous 'sparkling smile' that will not quit on or off stage. He is the perfect entertainer to extol Doris Day and to sing her unforgettable music.

Chicago, Illinois

Las Vegas, NV

I was just a little more than a year into my new side career as a cabaret show reviewer when I first saw a Karen Oberlin show. It was Valentine's Day night 2012 and Oberlin—with guitarist Sean Harkness and guest violinist Aaron Weinstein—would be performing her romance-laced set, Stringing Along With Love, at the Metropolitan Room. At the time, all I knew about Oberlin was that she was considered among New York's best female cabaret singers, and I hadn't researched her performing history pre-show. About a third of the way into her set I leaned over to my wife (it was Valentine's Day after all) and whispered, “You know, she has a real Doris Day quality in her voice and in the way she delivers some lyrics.” This immediately ratcheted up my appreciation for Oberlin since there are four passions I inherited from my Dad—baseball, reading the morning papers, sports writing and Doris Day (well, also Sophia Loren, but that's for another column). Since Dad had grown up during the prime of the Big Band Era of the 1940s, I heard the sultry sounds of a young Doris Day singing songs like “Sentimental Journey” on the family stereo more than a few times. Once I saw Day's strikingly adorable blondness on a record cover and her rocking body in one of her films, I knew what Dad was talking about. As popular, famous, and near iconic as Doris Day became, in my book, as a singer and screen beauty she's always been vastly underrated. Little did I know that Karen Oberlin had been doing a Doris Day tribute show so since 2001 at places like Firebird, Iridium, and the late Danny's Skylight Room, and produced a CD, Secret Love: The Music of Doris Day, in 2002. Karen Oberlin had instantly become my secret love.

Chicago, IL

Las Vegas, NV

Columbia Records has announced the release of the About Last Night soundtrack, accompanying the insightful romantic comedy starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant. The original motion picture soundtrack, About Last Night, was released digitally on February 11 th, 2014 with the physical release set for today, March 4, 2014. About Last Night ht theatres nationwide on Valentine's Day, February 14 th, 2014.

Columbia Records has announced the release of the About Last Night soundtrack, accompanying the insightful romantic comedy starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant. The original motion picture soundtrack, About Last Night, will be released digitally today, February 11 th, 2014 with the physical release set for March 4, 2014. About Last Night will be in theatres nationwide on Valentine's Day, February 14 th, 2014.