On Monday night Jamie's show was a "Celebration of Tony Award Winners" and I was honored to be one of the Tony Award winning participants. I was in very talented company. Other than my friend Ron Able, who was the musical director for the show, the only other performer I knew was Rick Lyon.
Rick and I met years ago at an airport baggage claim waiting for our puppet partners to arrive. It is a bonding experience that only puppeteers can truly understand. We remained friends and evetually ended up on Broadway together. Rick was creator and master puppeteer for Avenue Q playing three theaters down from us that season.
In Jamie's Show Rick performed the character Nicky with Jennifer Barnhart as Kate Monster. Later they took the stage as the iconic Bad News Bears (my personal favorite characters from Q). 
Adriane Lenox belted out some Pearl Baileyesque numbers and Karen Ziemba stopped the room with her Tony Award winning voice.
Then Richard Maltby, Jr. sang a song written for a show he called "the worst idea in show business". The show may not have made it to the footlights but the Maltby and Shire song is hysterical. It was hard not to gush around Richard Maltby. I am a huge fan of Richard's work, and I told him that if I have an audition song it is "I don't Remember Christmas" which he wrote. It is a song about a person finally getting over a broken relationship. Richard suggested that I have Bob sing the song to me. It is a very funny idea and I told him that I would work it up and do it for him some day.
Jamie kept the entire show moving with charm and grace as the perfect hostess. She sang a funny twist on a Sound of Music tune, a more up to date version of 16 going on 17... "60 going on 70".
The next day we attended a charactature unveiling at Sardi's for Fran Drescher who is currently in Cinderella. After her ceremony we asked the bartender where my charactature was, he actually knew. He said, "Oh Yeah the ventriloquist. It is down in the main room on the east wall." That was a couple of floors down from the presentation so we went down to visit it. I am honored that they still have it in the main dining room but my actor's inscurity makes me think there is some other reason. Jamie agreed that it looks like Bob but doesn't much look like me. They probably keep it in the main room because they think it is John Tesh and Bob.
Today I am trying to get to South Carolina. My early morning flight was cancelled at JFK. I was rerouted to Cleveland and then to Greenville out of Laguardia. I think it has been a decade since I was at Laguardia. But with this five hour delay... I am soaking it in now.
As you were,
Jay
Oh mY!
ReplyDeleteThat WAS one of Tom's audition songs!
I actually have him singing it from a show he did years ago...
sounds like you had a great time!