Raissa, David Friedman, Lucy Arnaz Photo

From: Photo Coverage: Raissa Katona Bennett Opens at FEINSTEINS

RAISSA KATONA BENNETT BREATHING LIFE INTO KERN" AT FEINSTEIN'S THROUGH SATURDAY The singer-actress Raissa Katona Bennett shows how "actable" the music of Jerome Kern is in her delightful new show, "Can't Help Singing - The Music of Jerome Kern." Each song is a little play, and she's ready to feel every emotion as they occur, bringing us right up the emotional edge with her. At Thursday's premiere at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency, men melted and women swooned when she sang "Long Ago and Far Away," and "Why Do I Love You." An older gent exclaimed "hot dog!" several times at the end of several classics. The singers Lucy Arnaz, Karen Oberlin, Valerie Lemon and Christine Reisner were among the singers there to enjoy this show that plays through Saturday. "Can't Help Singing - The Music of Jerome Kern" is ably backed by music director Don Rebic on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass. The multi-threat actor/director/singer Eric Michael Gillett directs. After the show Bennett who was Christine on Broadway in "Phantom of the Opera," and was in the first national tours of "Cats" and "Parade," told us "Oh, I feel like I performed a two hour play in one hour!" Bennett also produces and is the 2010 Bistro Award-winning host of "The Concerts at Tudor City Greens," an outdoor series that features many of New York's most noted singers.
Date Taken: January 14, 2011