Steven Brinberg a?' best known for creating and performing Simply Barbra, the acclaimed all-live homage to the legendary Barbra Streisand a?' will produce and host an all-star tribute to Marvin Hamlisch at Catalina Jazz Club (6725 West Sunset Blvd) in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, October 24 at 8:30 PM. The evening will feature Edie Alyson (Little Shop of Horrors), Alan Bergman (Two-time Oscar-winning lyricist), Herve Coeur (Haitian singer and songwriter), Kay Cole (A Chorus Line, Bye Bye Birdie), Mary Bond Davis (Hairspray), Fay DeWitt (Flahooley), Nancy Dussault (Two-time Tony nominee), Joshua Finkel (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ilene Graff (Grease, I Love My Wife), Natalie Lander (a?oeLegally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woodsa??), Ashley Fox Linton (Wicked), Melissa Manchester (Grammy winning singer and songwriter), J. Elaine Marcos (A Chorus Line), Barbara Minkus (Funny Girl), Jenny O'Hara (The Odd Couple, Promises Promises), Noah Weisberg (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Jennifer Westfelt (Wonderful Town, a?oeYoungera??), and David Zack (Sweet Smell of Success). Michael Lavine serves as Music Director. For tickets and information, please call (323) 466-2210 or visit SimplyBarbra.com.
Astounding actresssinger Barbara Minkus has been delighting audiences for over 50 years on Broadway and on television. Her autobiographical play 18 Minutes of Fame has been a hit with both LA and New York audiences for a few years now and pro that she is, Minkus makes changes to it regularly. In our chat, she tells our audience how it got started, what she's done to improve it for the next remounting in July and how very much the show means to her.
I have seen this wonderful show 18 Minutes of Fame 3 times, and marvel at how you change things each time you mount it. It's about your life from the time you were a little girl. Have you made specific changes for this new production in July? If so, what is different?
Join Broadway, film and television star Barbara Minkus (www.barbaraminkus.com) as she shares an intimate show of personal moments, funny and poignant songs and her remarkable stories working with luminaries like Danny Kaye, Merv Griffin, Jerry Lewis, and Charlotte Rae.
Every family has a secret. They can be embarrassing, dangerous, humiliating, shocking, well intentioned or even wonderful. The first show of Jewish Women's Theatre's 2019 Salon Season will reveal plenty of them in the debut of Family Secrets, opening January 19 at the Braid in Santa Monica and traveling throughout the state until February 13th.
18 Minutes of Fame: A Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus will have its New York Premiere on Saturday, November 10th at 7 PM at The Triad, 158 West 72nd Street, NYC, and continue on Sunday, November 11th at 3 PM and Monday, November 12th at 7 PM This limited NY engagement follows two nights at The Pico in LA. Andy Warhol said everyone would have their 15 minutes of fame. Barbara's had a bit more!
18 Minutes of Fame: A Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus(formerly called I'm Not Famous) will have its New York Premiere on Saturday, November 10th at 7 PM at The Triad,158 West 72nd Street, NYC, and continue on Sunday, November 11th at 3 PM and Monday, November 12th at 7 PM This limited NY engagement follows two nights at The Pico in LA. Andy Warhol said everyone would have their 15 minutes of fame. Barbara's had a bit more!
The Actors Fund and Fraser Entertainment are very proud to announce the 5th annual presentation of CABARET IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN LOS ANGELES. Conceived by renowned director David Galligan, this fifth celebration of Cabaret in L.A. will take place as a series of 3 concerts over 3 evenings at 3 different Los Angeles venues, Friday, October 12, Saturday, October 13, and Sunday, October 14. Proceeds from all 3 shows will benefit The Actors Fund.
The fourth annual CABARET IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN LOS ANGELES, Benefit Concert series for The Actors Fund, conceived by David Galligan and presented by Fraser Entertainment Group, takes place October 6th 8th, with two nights at Tom Rolla's Gardenia, plus Sunday evening at the Catalina Jazz Club.
The fourth annual CABARET IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN LOS ANGELES, Benefit Concert series for The Actors Fund, conceived by David Galligan and presented by Fraser Entertainment Group, takes place October 6th 8th, with two nights at Tom Rolla's Gardenia, plus Sunday evening at the Catalina Jazz Club.
Randie Levine-Miller hosted a megawatt 'Showstopper Divas/Divos' concert at The Triad Monday night. It starred Beth Fowler; Lee Roy Reams; Adam Grupper; Barbara Minkus; Richard Skipper; Susan Vardy, and Kathleen Waters, and it benefited The Actors Fund. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!
Singing impresario Randie Levine-Miller hosts a special edition of her long-running Showstopper Divas/Divos series at The Triad, 158 West 72nd Street, on Monday, September 18, at 7pm.
Barbara Minkus is a dynamically talented singer/actress who commands the stage in I'm Not Famous, her latest and most complete autobiographical show. She just finished a sold-out run at the Santa Monica Playhouse where she got extended twice. I believe the show is slated to travel across country and on to New York. It definitely should, as this story is so well honed, and has universal appeal and great meaning for anyone who has ever gotten stuck along the way to fulfilling one's dreams.
Minkus goes back to age 3 when she sang for the first time in Chicago. Her father owned a famous department store. She called her mother a shoplifter because they had a room in their house named the Instant Gift Room. Mom would fill it with toys, clothes and anything else she could find at the store and keep them on hand for family birthdays, bar
I'm Not Famous - a Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus, a dynamite world premiere musical starring 'tiny, talented terrific Barbara Minkus' (backstage) extends at Santa Monica Playhouse with added days and dates.
I'm Not Famous - a Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus, a dynamite world premiere musical starring 'tiny, talented terrific Barbara Minkus' (backstage) extends at Santa Monica Playhouse with added days and dates.
Santa Monica Playhouse presents 'tiny, talented terrific Barbara Minkus' (Backstage) in a dynamite world premiere musical, I'm Not Famous - a Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus, a funny, poignant and powerful evening of theatre laced with shared private moments, personal tidbits, and a plethora of musical delights from film, television and Broadway star Barbara Minkus. Helmed by renowned performer/director Susan Morgenstern, with musical accompaniment by Ron Barnett, I'm Not Famous opens Sunday,April 23 at 7:00 pm.
There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2015 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed.
(alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed)
(artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)
No set, costume, or technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.
Dancers Over 40's last event of 2015, the 7th Annual Legacy Awards presentation, was its most joyous. This holiday celebration and awards event was held last night, December 7th, at LIPS Restaurant, 227 East 56th Street. This year's event was hosted by Richard Skipper, with live entertainment by cabaret legend Barbara Minkus and Dames at Sea star Danny Gardner along with other surprise guests. Scroll down for photos!
Dancers Over 40's last event of 2015, the 7thAnnual Legacy Awards presentation, is its most joyous. This holiday celebration and awards event honoring our very own members will be held on Monday, December 7th, from 6 to 9pm at LIPS Restaurant, 227 East 56th Street. This year's event will be hosted by Richard Skipper, with live entertainment by cabaret legend Barbara Minkus and Dames at Sea star Danny Gardneralong with other surprise guests.
Proving once and for all that concerts need not be serious or dull, Fraser Entertainment Group's 9th installment of A Classic Evening of Broadway bowed at Rockwell Table and Stage on Monday, August 10 to a packed audience of enthusiastic show tune fans. And it was an uber delightful show! Musical director Brad Ellis, best known for TV's Glee and Broadway's Forbidden Broadway, is outrageous fun and his witty repartee at the piano serving as introduction to each of the guest singers was a big plus to the evening's seemingly spontaneous entertainment. Yes, indeed, the ambiance was so casual in the 90-minute set that it was as if we were all sitting on Ellis's private patio sipping drinks and listening to this musical genius create something fresh, for the very first time. He took lots of risks as in his exuberant opener, Peter Allen's 'Everything Old Is New Again'...and motivated each and every singer to join right in and follow his lead. And what a bevy of super-talented performers were on hand, including Valerie Perri, Barbara Minkus, Kevin Odekirk, Damon Kirsche, Jahmaul Bakare, Elizabeth Hayden and even producer Dianne Fraser, whom Ellis referred to as the series' empresario.
Fraser Entertainment Group's critically-acclaimed ongoing series AN EVENING OF CLASSIC BROADWAY returns to Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Feliz on Monday, August 10 at 8pm, the ninth installment of the successful concert series, produced by Dianne Fraser. Acclaimed musical director Brad Ellis (from the hit television series GLEE, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, etc.) leads a cast of superb singers from Broadway, television, and film.
