ERV RAIBLE / Executive Artistic Director / Master Teacher

Erv is the Executive Director of Erv Raible Cabaret & Concert Artists International, and is a NYC based director, coach, publicist, consultant and talent representative. Erv owned and booked The Duplex Cabaret & Piano Bar (1978-1985), Brandy's Piano Bar (1980-1985), Don't Tell Mama Cabaret & Piano Bar (1982-1989), the legendary Eighty Eight's (1988-1999), was the Entertainment Director/Public Relations Liason for the FireBird Cafe (1999-2001), was the Entertainment Director/Public Relations Liaison, and design consultant for Staten Island’s Lorenzo’s (2005-06), and through these venues presented over 4,000 performers to the public. Erv currently serves on the Back Stage Bistro Award Selection Committee. Erv co-founded the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs, served as President for 11 years and producted the first 9 MAC Award ceremonies. Erv currently serves as the Advisory Board Chairman for the Washington, DC Cabaret Network and on the Advisory Boards of the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists, Chicago Cabaret Professionals and Cabaret West/ Los Angeles. Erv is the recipient of the 2004 Back Stage Bistro Award for Outstanding Director. Erv received a 2002, 2003 and 2004 MAC Award nomination for Director, received a 2000 Back Stage Bistro Award for the legendary Eighty Eight's, a 1992 MAC and Back Stage Bistro Award for conceiving, producing and directing the musical revue Here's To Our Friends ... The AIDS Music Revue, a 1992 MAC Award nomination for Special Musical Material for the song I Wish I Might with Emmy Award winning composer Brian Lasser, a 1991 Back Stage Bistro Award for promoting cabaret and founding the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs, and the 1989 Piaf d'Honneur from the french government for promoting, producing and directing cabaret internationally. Erv was a Master Teacher for the O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret Symposium for 12 years, and served as the Associate Producer for 7 years before becoming the Producer in 2000 at its untimely demise. Erv has taught cabaret classes for Talent Ventures, Inc. (TVI), Dreams Come True (DCT) Enterprises, and currently teaches a weekly adult cabaret class at BizKidsNYC/Pier Studios, and does Master Classes nationally. As benefits for the Twin Towers Fund, following the attack on the World Trade Center, Erv conceived, produced, directed and narrated September 11, 2002 ... The Musical Response and with long-time associate John Hoglund co-produced the Heart Song benefits in NYC, Detroit (with Marnie Baumer) and Washington, DC (with Wendy Lane Bailey). Erv has written the book and lyrics, and is currently developing Wallis & Edward: The Love Story of the Twentieth Century? for the musical stage. Erv is currently developing a holocaust music documentary, Silent Voices: Words & Music of the Holocaust, Hate, Hope and the Human Spirit for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Prior to moving to New York City, Erv co-founded the internationally acclaimed Cincinnati, Ohio School for Creative & Performing Arts, the first public alternative arts school, where he served as the head of the Studio Art and Art History departments; and was the resident set, costume and graphic designer for the schools numerous drama, music theater and dance productions including Babes in Toyland, Cinderella, The Music Man, A Streetcar Named Desire, Carnival, Mame, La Boutique Fantasque, Little Mary Sunshine, and Ahmal and the Night Visitors. Erv's illustrious students include: Rocky Carroll (CBS televisions Chicago Hope / Tony Nominee for The Piano Lesson), Cy Voris (Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight / Bulletproof Monk), Rosa Curry (Broadway's Chicago and Steel Pier / George C. Wolfe's Harlem Song), and Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City).

PAM TATE / Associate Director

Pam is an actress, award-winning writer, songwriter and recording artist. She has performed from small clubs to stadiums of 50,000, and has opened for such talents as The Doobie Brothers, Hall & Oates, the Go-Go’s, Stray Cats and Joan Jett. As a BMI songwriter Pam has produced two CDs of original music, the bluesy Die Happy, the pop-rockish Dancing On The Pyramids - both to international rave reviews, and her debut cabaret CD Something Wonderful which has received critical acclaim! Her cabaret shows included: Love Lost and Found, Pam Tate Sings Pam Tate, Something Wonderful and September 11, 2001 - The Musical Response. Pam is currently adapting the Katherine Anne Porter novel Ship of Fools for the musical stage. As an award-winning writer Pam has written full-length plays, one-act plays, screen plays and dramatic monologues. Her full-length stage play Pure Art: A Play About Leni Riefensthal, now known as Darling of the Third Reich won The National Women’s Playwriting Award, was a finalist at The O’Neill Center’s National Playwright’s Conference and has had readings at Chicago’s Famous Door, California’s Aurora Theatre, Woodstock Fringe and Pulse Ensemble Theatre in NYC; four feature length screenplays including: The Mill Girls (Semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival and selected for the IFP Film Market in NYC), Faith, Hope and Rock & Roll (selected for the IFP Film Market in NYC), Behind The Mask, an adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novella (finalist at Houston’s WorldFest Film Festival), and Shattered; and dramatic monologues including Rogue Women: Pirates, Soldiers and Spies, for The National Museum of Women’s History. Pam was most recently seen in John Patrick Shanley’s Defiance, and has performed leading roles in New York City and regionally in Blood Brothers, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well …, John Patrick Shanley’s Women of Manhattan, Major Barbara, Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, The Last Flapper and The Immigrant to name a few. Pam is a member of Equity, SAG, BMI, The Dramatists Guild and is represented by Literary Agent, Mitch Douglas.

RON ABEL / Master Teacher / Pianist

RON ABEL is a multi-award winning composer, producer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor and musical director. The scope of his music mastery includes film, television, Broadway, recording, as well as live special events. Film and television credits include: Musical direction for ‘I Love Lucy’s’ 50TH Anniversary TV Special (CBS); Composing the television theme songs for Animal Court (Animal Planet) and the late night talk show, Nitecap (ABC). Ron was featured as the on-camera musical director for Nitecap, as well as the syndicated musical TV game show, Name That Tune. His film work includes composing, arranging and/or orchestrating for both Michelle Pfeiffer and Kim Basinger; and for a TV special for Lily Tomlin; and work for Bea Arthur and Carol Burnett. Most recently he produced and arranged albums for Deborah Gibson (Colored Lights: The Broadway Album) and Valarie Pettiford (Hear My Soul). Under the sponsorship of the Ford Motor Company, Ron served as musical director, arranger and conductor for the gala opening ceremonies of the new 60,000 seat stadium, Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. This event was headlined by Gladys Knight. In addition, the annual Dream Foundation fundraiser in Los Angeles starring Drew Carey, Cindy Crawford, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Priscilla Presley and Joely Fisher, had Ron at the helm as arranger, conductor and musical director. Tap Your Troubles Away, A Tribute To Jerry Herman, was an historic evening in Los Angeles benefiting the Actors Fund. Ron conducted and served as musical director for this event, bringing together Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Rita Moreno, Tyne Daly, and Sam Harris, as well as other Broadway luminaries, including a finale performance by Jerry Herman, himself. Ron also co-produced the album for this evening. On the heels of this wildly successful tribute, Ron was asked to recreate the evening for Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, gala opening of their new multi-million dollar facility. Ron is the co-creator and arranger of the Broadway musical, Blame It On The Movies. As a leading composer, Ron’s own score for the musical, Twist Of Fate, was awarded both the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle and L.A Weekly Theatre Awards, for "Best Musical of the Year". His other musicals produced in Los Angeles include, Is This Your Life?...a musical comedy expose’; Rockwell: Life On A Pallette; and To Sir, With Love. His latest project, the musicalization of the Dumas classic Camille, had its pre-Broadway premiere at the York Theatre Company in New York (August 2004). Close to his heart are the annual S.T.A.G.E. Benefit Musical Tributes, the oldest AIDS fundraiser in the world, for which Ron has musical directed, arranged, orchestrated and conducted for the past fifteen years. The tributes which feature the works of a different composer every year have been recorded by MCA, Varese Sarabande and L & M Records. Other arrangements by Ron can be heard on the albums of Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Lucie Arnaz, and Dorian Harewood. As arranger/conductor, Ron has appeared live onstage with Bette Midler, Johnny Mathis, Liza Minnelli, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Michele Lee, Jason Alexander, David Hyde Pierce, Rita Wilson, Loretta Devine, Lucie Arnaz, Craig Bierko, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nancy Dussault, Shirley Jones, Valarie Pettiford, Tim Curry, Donna McKechnie, Sarah Brightman, Joe Williams, and never last, l'opera diva Julia Migenes.

TEX ARNOLD / Master Teacher / Pianist

Tex is a pianist, arranger, conductor and composer, whose credits include music director, arranger and conductor for the legendary Margaret Whiting’s radio, television, recording and symphony orchestra performances, for over 25 years. Tex has also played and/or conducted for Larry Adler, Sally Mayes, Ruth Brown, Sally Ann Howes, Marilyn Michaels, Julius LaRosa, Rita Moreno, Four Girls Four (Rose Marie, Helen O’Connell, Margaret whiting and Rosemary Clooney), Carol Hall, Dick Shawn and most recently Melissa Erico. After leaving Michigan State, Hubert “Tex” Arnold began his professional career in the late 60s as a staff arranger for the US Military Band at West Point, while subbing on keyboard for the Broadway musical Company, joining the national tour following his leaving the military. Tex served as the musical supervisor, vocal arranger and orchestrator for the London production of The Betrayal of Nora Blake. Prior to this Tex was the 2001 musical director for the Off-Broadway show Pete ‘n’ Keely, the musical director for the 2000 O’Neill Theater Center’s concerts in St. Petersburg, Russia, featuring the songs of Johnny Mercer performed by a company of American artists including Sally Mayes and Julie Wilson. Tex has written orchestrations for the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series and the Carnegie Hall tributes to the songwriting teams of Comden & Green and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and arranged and conducted the Johnny Mercer Tribute at the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists series for Margaret Whiting, Julius LaRosa, Carol Woods and Marlene VerPlanck. Tex's concert music has been commissioned and recorded, including performances of his trumpet concerto by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the CBC Enterprise release of a work commissioned by the New York Saxophone Quartet.

TOVAH FELDSHUH / Master Teacher

Tovah began her career when she won the McKnight Fellowship in acting to the Guthrie Theater where she created over 20 roles in two seasons. She made her Broadway debut in Cyrano starring opposite Christopher Plummer, went on the star in Yentl (Tony nomination), and two additional Tony nominations for Sarava! and Lend Me A Tenor. Tovah has also received 3 Drama Desk, 4 Outer Critics Circle, the OBIE and the Theater World Awards. Tovah’s lead roles in New York productions include: She Stoops To Conquer and Mistress of the Inn for the Roundabout Theater, BAM’s Three Sisters with Rosemary Harris and Denhem Elliot and Broadway’s Rodgers and Hart and Dreyfus In Rehearsal. Two seasons ago Tovah starred in her one-woman off-Braodway show Talullah Hallelujah! for 4 months at the Douglas Fairbanks Theater; and was chosen one of USA Today’s 10 Best Plays of the Year. For Hartford Theaterworks Tovah starred as Diana Vreeland in Full Gallop, for the Cornell University’s Center for Theater Arts Tovah starred in The Prime of Miss Jean Brody. Tovah has portrayed Sarah Bernhardt, Stella Adler, Sophie Tucker, Katharine Hepburn, 3 Queens of Henry VIII, and 9 Jews from birth to death off-Broadway in Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. Tovah’s television credits include the NBC miniseries Holocaust (Emmy nomination), has starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in The Amazing Howard Hughes, James Wood in Citizen Cohn and Bill Cosby in The Cosby Mysteries and The Bill Cosby Show, among others. Tovah has a recurring role as Danielle Melnick on Law and Order played Richard Dreyfus’ sister Sharon in The Education of Max Bickford, Robert loggia’s love interest Marie Badalamenti in Queens Supreme and appears as Dr. Bethany Rose on As The World Turns. Tovah’s film credits include A Walk On The Moon (Miramax) and the critically acclaimed Kissing Jessica Stein (Golden Satellite Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress), Happy Accidents with Marisa Tomei, Friends and Family, 3 Little Wolffs, Toll Booth and Old Love which was selected for this year’s Venice Film Festival. Tovah has also appeared in The Corruptor with Mark Wahlberg, Nunzio, Cheaper To Keep Her, Daniel, Brewster’s Millions, The Idolmaker, The Blue Iguana, A Day In October and The Believer. Tovah made her cabaret debut at the Algonquin’s Oak Room with Tovah! Crossovah! From Broadway To Cabaret, and the off-Broadway Tovah: Out Of Her Mind which has toured internationally, with Tovah making her London West End debut at the Duke of York’s Theater. Tovah was seen with Billy Crystal in Concert in Los Angeles this past March. Tovah’s charity work has been acknowledged with the 2002 Jewish Image Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award, Hadassah’s Myrtle Wreath and the Israel Peace Medal.

JASON GRAAE / Master Teacher

Jason Graae is probably best known for his recurring role as Dennis in HBO television’s 6 Feet Under. Jason has been seen in the “mockumentary” film, On Edge, about Amateur Women’s Figure Skating – with Jason Alexander, John Glover, and Wendy Mallik – which premiered at The Aspen Comedy Festival. This past year Jason received rave reviews as Njegus in Los Angeles Opera’s acclaimed production of The Merry Widow, as Marcellus in The Music Man at the Hollywood Bowl, and as Moonface in the acclaimed revival of Anything Goes! Also in LA, Jason was featured in Forbidden Broadway Y2KLA!, for which he received an LA Ovation Award and an Ovation nomination for Forbidden Hollywood. This past year, Jason toured the country with his award-winning, critically acclaimed one-man show, as well as touring with Hello, Jerry! with the magnificent Jerry Herman, featuring Karen Morrow, Paige O’Hara and Don Pippin. Jason has appeared as a guest artist with the Boston Pops on two broadcasts of Evening Pops on PBS. He has recorded over thirty original cast albums and studio CDs, including his two solo CDs You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile – Jason Graae Sings Charles Strouse and Jason Graae LIVE at The Cinegrill. He hung upside down for a year as Harry Houdini in the US Premiere of Ragtime at the wonderful and soon to be demolished Shubert Theater in LA. For Reprise!, he starred as a twin opposite David Hyde Pierce and Lea DeLaria in The Boys From Syracuse and played The French Ambassador in Of Thee I Sing. On Broadway Jason starred in A Grand Night For Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy, and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Jason’s Off-Broadway credits include the original cast of Forever Plaid and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (Drama Desk nomination), Olympus On My Mind, All In The Timing, and many more. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Twyla Tharp’s Everlast with American Ballet Theater and performed several shows at New York’s Rainbow & Stars. Jason’s television appearances include Chad on Showtime’s Rude Awakening with Lynn Redgrave and many guest-starring roles on Hidden Hills, Maybe It’s Me, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Friends, Frasier, Providence, Caroline In The City, Living Single, Coach, and many more. Jason was featured in two Movies Of The Week: Disney’s Gepetto and The Dukes Of Hazzard Go To Hollywood. Jason will be heard in the up-coming Disney feature Sweating Bullets. For five years Jason was the voice-over for the Western Union Money-Grams and Lucky, the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms Cereal. Jason will be heard on the up-coming Disney animated feature Home On The Range.

CAROL HALL / Master Teacher

The first person ever to record one of Carol Hall’s songs was the young Barbra Streisand. Subsequently, her songs were performed by such extraordinary singers as Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Margaret Whiting, Julie Wilson, Chita Rivera, Michael Feinstein, Mabel Mercer, Amanda McBroom, Lari White, Olivia Newton-John, Maureen McGovern, Miriam Makeba, RuPaul, David Campbell, Frederica von Stade, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird. Among others.

She’s also one of the few songwriters to have a hit Broadway show. Her classic musical THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS entertained Broadway audiences for almost five years, received a Grammy nomination for its cast album, and became a popular film starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Dolly’s recording of Carol’s song “Hard Candy Christmas” won an ASCAP Most Performed Country Song Award, and the film generated an OSCAR nomination for Charles Durning, singing “The Sidestep” as the slippery Governor of Texas. A recent national tour of WHOREHOUSE starring the entertainment legend Ann-Margret, enjoyed a run for over a year and a half.

Carol also does a lot of writing for children, (Her “It’s All Right To Cry,” and “Parents Are People” continue to be favorites of generations of children). Recently she created the score to the theatrical version of the popular children's series MAX AND RUBY. Four tours of the show are presently playing across the country, after a successful debut opening Off-Broadway in December 2007.

But her recent delight has been the making of her CD “Hallways,” which features many of her most loved and wonderful songs – both old and brand new — such as the hit “Hard Candy Christmas,” as well as the timeless classic “Jenny Rebecca” — and a number of premier performances.

As Carol says in the CD’s booklet, “a song is not a song until somebody sings it…”

And what an array of singers she has here! In addition to Carol, performing on the CD are Amanda McBroom, Johnny Rodgers, Scott Coulter, Tim Dipasqua, Tom Andersen, Lesley Gore, Susannah Blinkoff, Farah Alvin, Steven Lutvak, Laurel Massé, Bobby Gosh, Rick Jensen, Carol Woods and the Broadway Inspirational Voices.

“Hallways” was also co-produced by Tex Arnold, who was its musical director, responsible for the exquisite arrangements.

And it was spectacularly engineered by Bill Moss at the famous NOLA Recording Studios, NYC.

A welcomed addition to the world of song, Carol Hall’s CD is not to be missed. Hallways: The Songs of Carol Hall is available on LMLMusic.com, Amazon.com and iTunes.

GEORGE HALL / Master Teacher

George was trained from 1948-51 at the Old Vic Theater School under Michel St. Denis, George Devine and Glen Byam Shaw. During the 1950’s Mr. Hall appeared at the Old Vic Theater and in various repertory theaters, as well as in vaudeville and cabaret. He also composed incidental music for a number of plays in the theater and on television, directed musicals, and wrote and staged cabaret acts, as well as spending 3 years in BBC Light Entertainment. In 1961 he worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, composing music for the Michael Elliott / Vanessa Redgrave As You Like It. In the 1962-63 season at the Old Vic he was resident composer and voice coach and during this time he composed two film scores. From 1963 until 1987, he worked full-time at the Central School of Speech and Drama as Director of the Acting Course. He worked with Litz Pisk and Vanessa Redgrave on the film Isadora, directed the Royal Exchange Company in Manchester, and was responsible for vocal coaching on a number of West End musicals, notably Andre Previn’s Good Companions and The Black Mikado. Mr. Hall composed scores for the film Private Potter, starring Tom Courtney, the BBC-TV production of She Stoops To Conquer, starring Sir Ralph Richardson, and a large number of productions at the Royal Exchange, Manchester including the Albert Finney / Leo McKern Uncle Vanya. Ha has worked as a voice coach/singing teacher with a great number of actors, notably Dame Edith Evans, Sir Laurence Olivier and, more recently, Leslie Caron. Since leaving Central in 1987, he has returned to acting and performing after a 30 year gap. In addition to running his cabaret group, The Swell Party Company, he has taught and lectured in America, Sweden and Holland, as well as working at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, RADA and the British American Drama Academy.

LAUREL MASSÉ / Master Teacher

Laurel Massé, is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Manhattan Transfer, and toured internationally for seven years with the group and recorded five albums. Laurel has toured her solo concerts in the US and Europe. She has released four solo CDs. The first two, Alone Together and Easy Living, both hit the Billboard Jazz charts; the third Again, was a People Magazine Pick. Feather and Bone, her 2000 release was picked by audiophile magazine The Absolute Sound as “a recording of extraordinary musical and sonic value.” In the course of her career Laurel has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium, Salle Pleyel de Paris, the Hollywood Bowl, the Smithsonian Institute; jazz festivals in Montreal, Chicago, Syracuse, Detroit and Saratoga Springs; Birdland and the Blue Note in New York City, the Roxy Nightclub and the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, Chicago’s Green Mill, and Harrah’s, Caesar’s Palace, MGM Grand and the Hilton in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Laurel has taught Master Classes nationally in jazz and cabaret. Since 2002 Laurel has been host and resident artist of The Laurel Massé Jazz Show, a monthly live concert performance program broadcast by WAMC Northeast Public radio to a listening audience of 500,000; also available on line at www.WAMC.org In 2004, Laurel and the current line-up of Manhattan Transfer received the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Lifetime Achievement Award.

SALLY MAYES / Master Teacher

Sally's most recent critical acclaim comes from Broadway's Urban Cowboy (Drama Desk Nomination). Sally has appeared on Broadway in She Loves Me (1993 Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk nominations), Welcome To The Club (Theater World Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination), and the national tour of Dirty Blonde. Off-Broadway she has appeared in Pete 'N' Keely (2001 Drama Desk nomination), Closer Than Ever (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Das Barbecue, and most recently in the revival of David Zippel's It's Better With a Band in Philadelphia. Sally has received the prestigious Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs and Back Stage Bistro Awards as Outstanding Jazz Vocalist. Sally was a Master Teacher at the O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret Symposium. Sally has four solo recordings: Boys and Girls Like You and Me, The Story Hour, The Dorothy Fields Songbook, and Our Private World: The Comden & Green Songbook; and an upcoming release of her original songs. Her film credits include: City Hall and Bye Bye Birdie. Her cast recordings include: Pete 'N' Keely, Closer Than Ever, Bye Bye Birdie, Lost in Boston, Unsung Musicals, and Unsung Sondheim.

AMANDA McBROOM

She has been called "...the greatest cabaret performer of her generation, an urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match." Her name first came to the attention of the music public when Bette Midler's version of Amanda's song THE ROSE hit number one all over the world in 1979. But it was Amanda's performance of her own song on the Golden Globes (she won), Grammys (she didn't) and The Tonight Show that launched her career as a singer as well as songwriter. Her songs have have been recorded by the likes of Bette Midler, Leanne Rimes, Barry Manilow, Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Anne Murray, Harry Belafonte, Betty Buckley, Stephanie Mills, The Manhattan Transfer, Donny Osmond, the Chipmunks, and the Baby Dinosaurs in LAND BEFORE TIME (she wrote all the songs for 11 Universal Cartoon videos). But growing audiences worldwide became convinced that the best interpretations of McBroom songs are by McBroom herself and applaud her in concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall in New York, the FORD Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, Wolftrap and Kennedy Center (where she sang with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch) in Washington D.C., Angel Recital Hall in Sydney, Meyer Hall in Melbourne where she headlined the Festival of the Arts and Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan and Pizza on the Park in London. Amanda's concert career was documented over two evenings high atop Manhattan's RCA building for release as AMANDA McBROOM LIVE AT RAINBOW & STARS by the DRG label in 1995 and remains her only live concert recording. Her love of and background in musical theatre (she starred in the New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and European productions of JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS, on Broadway in SEESAW, and in SWEENEY TODD, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and MAME) compelled her to create a musical based on her songs. HEARTBEATS made its debut in 1989 in Los Angeles and the play has enjoyed over 15 regional theater productions around the U.S. The original cast recording was released in 1994 on Varese Sarabande Records. The musical is represented by the Rogers and Hammerstein Music library.

SHARON McNIGHT / Master Teacher

Sharon made her Broadway debut in 1989 in Starmites creating the role of Diva, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress In A Musical, and was the recipient of the coveted Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, which was presented to her by Carol Channing. Sharon has since developed her one-woman musical Red Hot Mama, about Sophie Tucker, which was work shopped at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and Lucille Lortell’s White Barn Theatre, had a successful three-month run Off-Broadway at the York Theatre, and was seen as Baroness Greta von Keepsomfromfloppen in Murder At Rutherford House. Sharon’s regional credits include: Amanda McBroom’s Heartbeats at the Pasadena Playhouse, and an award-winning Dolly in Hello, Dolly! at the Peninsula Civic Light Opera, Sister Hubert in Nunsense in Los Angeles and San Francisco where she was presented with the Bay Area Critics Award for Best Performance In A Musical, and Audrey in Little shop of Horrors in Pittsburgh. She is the narrator of the documentary There That Night the story of the Provincetown, Massachusetts fire, the film Guinevere with Stephen Rey and Sarah Polly, and was featured in the recent A&E documentary It’s Burlesque for her research on Mae West and Sophie Tucker, as well as episodes of Seinfeld, Silk Stalkings and The Five Mrs. Buchanans. Sharon was recipient of the first Manhattan Association of Cabaret & Clubs Award (MAC), for Outstanding Female Vocalist of the Year, a Back Stage Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist, six San Francisco Cabaret Gold Awards, and has had six, critically acclaimed, three-month tours of Europe including performances in Germany, Switzerland, Belguim, France, England, and the Netherlands. Sharon’s recordings include: Offensive Too, Songs To Offend Almost Everyone, The Sophie Tucker Songbook, Now and Then, In The Meantime and The B&B Years. Miss McNight received her Masters of Arts degree in direction from San Francisco State College in nineteen … none of your business. Sharon has been in the forefront in the fight against AIDS since the early eighties, and was featured in Randy Shilt’s book And The Band Played On.

Michael Orland / Master Teacher / Pianist

Michael is currently the pianist, arranger and associate musical director for American Idol, the hit FOX-TV series. Through this amazing opportunity, Michael has appeared on Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, and The Wayne Brady Show, and has collaborated with music industry giants such as Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka and Diane Warren, to mention a few. Michael also served in the same capacity for the successful summer series American Juniors and has Associate Produced two hit singles God Bless The USA and What The World Needs Now for American Idol as well as the hit compilation CD from American Juniors. In addition to playing and conducting for Lucie Arnaz, Kaye Ballard, Deborah Gibson, Shecky Greene, Jennifer Holliday, Lainie Kazan, Sally Kellerman, Gladys knight, Barry Manilow, Chita Rivera, and the late Nell carter and Wayland Flowers & Madame, Michael played for the hit shows Forbidden Broadway, Ruthless!, and When Pigs Fly in Los Angeles. He made his Hollywood Bowl debut playing for the legendary MGM star Ann Miller. Television appearances have included The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Leeza, The Maury Povich Show, and Geraldo. He also appeared on the hit sitcom The Nanny performing an original song. Look for an upcoming appearance in the UPN sitcom Half & Half. An accomplished songwriter, his songs have been featured on several daytime soaps and primetime shows. On recordings, he can be heard on Debbie Gravitte’s Alan Menken Album and MGM Album; Rita McKenzie’s Ethel Merman’s Broadway, Ruthless! The Musical, and produced and arranged Roslyn Kind’s Come What May album. Michael is currently working on a solo piano album due out soon!

Alex Rybeck / Master Teacher / Pianist

Pianist, composer and arranger well-known for his work in theater, cabaret and recordings. Alex’s Broadway credits include: Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, Tommy Tune’s Grand Hotel and the hit revival of Damn Yankees. Highly praised by Burt Bacharach, Alex conducted the New York workshop and San Diego premiere of What The World Needs Now. Alex’s concert and cabaret credits include working with: Tommy Tune, Faith Prince, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Lee Roy Reams, Debbie Gravitte, Tovah Feldshuh, Metropolitan Opera star Roberta Peters, Rita Gardner of Fantasticks fame, the legendary Kitty Carlisle Hart, Jeff Harnar, Anna Bergman and the “voice of Hollywood,” Marnie Nixon. Alex’s original songs include: What A Funny Boy He Is, recorded by Nancy LaMott and Sing Out, premiered by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus at Carnegie Hall. Alex includes among his mentors: Leonard Bernstein, George Abbott, Comden & Green, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Schwartz.

PAUL TRUEBLOOD / Master Teacher / Pianist

Paul appeared with Michael Feinstein on two programs at Carnegie Recital Hall last season. He also arranged and conducted two new CDs with Metropolitan Opera star Youngok Shin (Samsung Classics) and with Broadway legend Sally Anne Howes. Paul accompanied Betty Comden and Adolph Green in their highly successful run at Joe’s Pub (New York Shakespeare Festival) and played the Florida condo circuit with Dody Goodman. In 1996-97 Paul toured the world with Marianne Faithful in a Kurt Weill program and their CD together 20th Century Blues, recorded live at the New Morning Jazz Café in Paris is available on RCA Victor. Paul has been musical director for Anne Francine, Karen Akers, Nancy Dussault, Matthew Broderick, Judy Kaye, and Jose Ferrer, among others. During their lifetimes, Paul was the personal pianist for legendary director Joshua Logan and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. He has written special material for Radio City Music Hall, Martin Charnin’s Upstairs At O’Neal’s, numerous cabaret performers, and two scores for the American Methodist Bicentennial – A Church Is Born (Carnegie Hall, 1985) and Aldersgate’88 (Avery Fisher Hall, 1988). Paul conducted the New York Company of the Drama Critics Award Musical Your Own Thing, the 1986 Brodaway revival of Oh’ Coward, as well as The Chosen, Dancing In The Dark, Red, White and Maddox, and Joshua Logan’s re-mounting of Annie Get Your Gun. Paul provided vocal arrangements and direction for the Elektra/Nonesuch restoration recordings of Girl Crazy and Strike Up The Band.

JULIE WILSON / Master Teacher

Barely enrolled at Omaha University, Julie grabbed a chance to join Earl Carroll’s Vanities. This eventually led to the chorus line of New York’s Latin Quarter, and finally the Copacabana. It was war time, and after a Copa USO Tour in Europe, Julie was promoted to a singing spot in the lavish Copacabana production numbers. Miami and Hollywood club dates followed, including the famous Macambo. Lured back to New York Julie fine-tuned her stagecraft in Broadway musicals like Kiss Me Kate, ultimately replacing Lisa Kirk as Bianca. When the play moved to London in 1951, Julie went along. She remained in London for four years and appeared in South Pacific and Bells Are Ringing while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, giving up the chance to open on Broadway as Babe in The Pajama Game. Two years later she went into the role as a replacement. In 1955 Julie returned to Broadway in Kismet and then toured in Show Boat, Panama Hattie, Silk Stockings and Hi Fidelity. In the 1950s Julie recorded and appeared in films: The Strange One and This Could Be The Night. With the nightclub crash of the 60s Julie began performing in the small clubs that opened in NYC, and had in stage roles in Follies, Company and A Little Night Music, falling in love with the music of Stephen Sondheim. In 1967 Julie appeared in Broadway’s Jimmy before returning to Omaha to raise her two teenage sons. In 1983 Julie triumphantly returned to NYC with a Cole Porter show at Michael’s Pub – her legendary shows of the 50s were remembered – nightspots in NY, Los Angeles and Chicago opened their doors to her; PBS ran special of her cabaret show in 1992; and Peter Allen wrote a part for her in his Broadway musical Legs Diamond for which Julie received a Tony nomination. In 1999 The Mabel Mercer Foundation spotlighted Julie’s 75th birthday with a special evening in her name. Julie is the recipient of numerous Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs, Back Stage Bistro, Board of Director and Life Time Achievement Awards, and was USO Woman of the Year.

Matt has just finished working on tour and on Broadway with Bea Arthur’s Just Between Friends which most recently played in Canada and Australia, after its run at the the Booth Theater on Broadway. Matt has designed concerts, shows and/or cabaret acts for Sam Harris, Polly Bergen, Faith Prince, Karen Mason, Cyndi Lauper, Liza Minnelli, Jane Olivor, Melba Moore, Ann Hampton Callaway, Billy Stritch, Cybill Shepherd, Kathie Lee Gifford and the late, great Nancy LaMott. Matt has designed internationally for Bea Arthur, La Gran Scena Opera Co., Miss Coco Peru, Cybill Shepherd and Anna Sokolow’s Players Project. Nationally, Matt has designed shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regionally, and in all but 8 of the United States. Matt’s industrial and corporate credits include: Loreal, American Theater Wing, The Mayor’s Dinner (Guilliani), National College Board, ASCAP, Israel Cancer Foundation, National Alzheimers Foundation, The Chemotherapy Foundation and Town & Country Magazine. Matt has installed the technical facilities for The FireBird Café, rainbow & Stars, Eighty Eight’s, The Algonquin, Caroline’s Comedy Club, and Davenport’s in Chicago, to mention a few. Matt is the recipient of an unprecedented 8 Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs Awards for Outstanding Technical Achievement.

DAVID FINKLE

David Finkle is a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications over 40 years--including The New York Times, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, The New York Post, The Daily News, Mirabella, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He is currently the cabaret critic for Back Stage and chief drama critic for Theatermania.com. He also worked for many years in cabaret and industrials as one-third of the award-winning team Weeden, Finkle and Fay.

MICHAEL A. KERKER / ASCAP Director of Musical Theater

Michael has been Director of Musical Theater and Cabaret for ASCAP (American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers) since 1990. In addition to coordinating ASCAP’s Musical Theater Workshop in New York, Michael works with Walt Disney Feature Animation to produce the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theater Workshop in Los Angeles. Michael also co-produces with the Kennedy Center a development program for new musicals entitled In The Works. Together with Michael Feinstein, he produces a regular series of concerts featuring contemporary songwriters at Carnegie hall. Michael has produced showcases and concerts featuring contemporary Theater and Cabaret songwriters and singers at Town Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the FireBird Café and at UCLA. Michael serves as Vice President of both the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) and the Johnny Mercer Foundation. In addition, Michael is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Society of Singers and serves on the Boards of the Washington, DC Cabaret Network, Boston Association of Cabaret Artists, Chicago Cabaret Professionals, and Cabaret West/Los Angeles.

FRED VOELPEL / Image Consultant

Master Teacher in Design 1967-1992. Fred has been designing for the theater and television since 1953 at Camp Tamiment and Green Mansions. His first Broadway show in 1960 starred Hermione Gingold. Since then he has been nominated for two Tony's (No Strings, Seascape) and received an honorary Tony for the National Theater of the Deaf, won OBIE's, and major awards for his design work in New York and regional theater including Esquire Magazine's Dubious Achievement Award for Oh Calcutta! Fred has designed original Broadway productions of such artists as Edward Albee, Richard Rodgers, Tennessee Williams, John Guare, Michael Stewart, Israel Horowitz, Charles Strouse, Paul Zindell, Woody Allen and Lorraine Hansberry. For over 25 years Fred was associated with the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT, and The National Theater of the Deaf in Chester, CT where he designed their most recent touring production of Peer Gynt. Fred was a Master Teacheer with the O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret Symposium from 1989-2000. In 1992 Fred received the 25 years citation and the Great Teacher's Award from the NYU Alumni Association Prior to his retirement from the Tisch School of the Arts.