Category Archives: Art
“The Vic & Paul Show” Plays the Best Location in the Nation…
This summer, July 12-15th at the 14th Street Theatre in Playhouse Square, I’ll be performing again in my beloved hometown — 36 years after my last turn on a Cleveland area stage as Broadway song and dance legend George M. Cohan in the Euclid Shore Center of the Arts’ Bicentennial production of George M!
I began my stage career as a freshman at Cleveland Central Catholic High School when director Dennis Behl cast me as Og the Leprechaun in the spring ’77 musical, Finian’s Rainbow.
Since I played football and wrestled, I was only able to do the spring play. (At Cleveland Central Catholic there was, thankfully, no dividing line between the jocks and theatre folk.)
In my sophomore year at CCC, the fabulous Mary Ann Zampino took over the Central Catholic theatre program – and I won the role of Coach Bart Bascom in You Were Born on a Rotten Day.
It’s still hard to imagine I wrestled at 126 pounds – and that Bart Bascom could wear such a tight t-shirt with complete confidence. (Those were the days, my friend.)
You Were Born on a Rotten Day was certainly not a classic theatrical property, but in the two years that followed, I had the opportunity to play two great American musical theatre roles: Marrying Sam in Li’l Abner (originated on Broadway by the famed Stubby Kaye) and, in my senior year, Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man.
Now, 36 years after playing the title roles in The Music Man and George M! – and, after a decade of work in Chicago theatre, a brief but memorable stint at Saturday Night Live, and a productive two decades in the television industry in Los Angeles, I’m thrilled to be returning to Cleveland with my very funny wife Victoria and my great friend and musical director Steve Rashid to perform our hit improvisational comedy revue The Vic & Paul Show from July 12-15 at The 14th Street Theatre in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square.
The Chicago Tribune calls The Vic & Paul Show “Old school sketch comedy done right” – so go to the Cleveland Playhouse Square website to purchase tickets for an unforgettable evening of comedy, music, marriage and martinis.
This is going to be a very funny homecoming.
To all my Cleveland family, friends, and fellow Central Catholic alumni – I promise you an evening of laughs well worth the 36-year wait.
And, hey! The Tribe’s in first place – so, it’s all good!
Here’s the whole “Vic & Paul Show” Summer 2012 Tour…
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music
Just One Month until “The Vic & Paul Show” @ The Beverly Arts Center…
There’s only one month left to get your tickets for The Vic & Paul Show at The Beverly Arts Center on Chicago’s South Side at 2407 W. 111th Street from June 15-24th. For more info about the show and the Beverly neighborhood — Victoria’s childhood home — click here.
See you at The Beverly Arts Center in June!
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music
“Vic & Paul” Go Hollywood!
“The Vic & Paul Show” is coming to Hollywood.
Yes, that Hollywood.
Tinseltown.
The Entertainment Capital of the World
For one weekend only this summer, August 9-12, 2012, we’ll be performing “The Vic & Paul Show” at The iO West Theatre at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard — not far from those famous handprints and footprints in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and all the stars underfoot along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
My very funny wife Victoria Zielinski and I will be joined, as ever, by our musical director Steve Rashid for what we call an “Evening of Comedy, Music, Marriage and Martinis” – a show The Chicago Tribune proclaimed “Old school sketch comedy done right.”
When we brought our show to Chicago last year, WGN Radio personality and veteran Chicago newspaperman Rick Kogan said, “One of the theatrical events of the year is the return of Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski to the Chicago stage with ‘The Vic & Paul Show’…the new Nichols & May… It’s a not-to-be-missed engagement.” So, listen to Rick, and don’t miss our engagement at iO West.
Our four performances in Hollywood this August will give our friends and comedy lovers in Southern California their first chance to see the show since it opened in June 2010 at Push Lounge in Woodland Hills.
The iO West Theatre is a perfect venue for “The Vic & Paul Show” – an intimate cabaret space devoted to improvisational comedy. (Sort of like The Practical Theatre Company’s fabled John Lennon Auditorium with a full bar and more than twice the seating.) Formerly known as the “ImprovOlympic West”, iO West has been operating at its Hollywood location since October 2001.
The i.O. was founded by the legendary Second City veteran and eccentric improvisational comedy genius Del Close and Charna Halpern. Fittingly, there’s a Practical Theatre connection here: a connection that began, as so much did, in Chicago in the early 1980s. That’s when we first met Del and Charna.
Through our long association with Second City director Sheldon Patinkin (our comedy guru since 1981) and our brief partnership with Second City owner Bernie Sahlins in the Piper’s Alley Theatre, we Practical Theatre folk got to know the talented denizens of Chicago’s comedy institution at North & Wells, including the infamous Del Close.
Del’s portrait adorns a wall of the iO West main stage, where we’ll be performing.
By the time we met Del Close in the early 80s, he had already performed and directed for Second City, then moved to San Francisco where he directed another classic improv comedy group, The Committee, and toured with Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. Del spent the early 80s in New York, as “House Metaphysician” at Saturday Night Live, coaching the cast and further burnishing his reputation as a major influence on modern American comedy.
I got to know Del better when we were both cast in a 1984 Goodman Theatre production of A Christmas Carol. I was the Ghost of Christmas Past and Del was the Ghost of Christmas Present. Around this time, I tried to develop a Practical Theatre show with Del – a project we called The Secret Show: a revolutionary new revue to be written and performed by Rush Pearson and me as humorous henchmen in the service of a mad comic scientist to be played by Del.
The Secret Show never happened, but Del was enshrined as an honorary member of The Practical Theatre ensemble in 1985 at a ritual in which Del dipped his feet in red paint and stomped his iconic footprints into the sidewalk in front of The John Lennon Auditorium at 703 Howard Street in Evanston.
At the time we were contemplating The Secret Show, Del was busy teaching improv and collaborating with Charna Halpern. Close was working with Charna at the ImprovOlympic Theater, which she’d founded and briefly run with David Shepherd, one of the founders of the Compass Players (the forerunner to The Second City). We got to know Charna when we were both doing shows at the late, lamented, counter-cultural nightclub, CrossCurrents on Belmont in Chicago.
More than a quarter of a century later, Victoria and I reconnected with Charna when we both made presentations at The Chicago Theatre Symposium in the spring of last year – and again when she came to Rogers Park during the holidays see “The Vic & Paul Show” at Mayne Stage.
The rest is much more recent history.
So, join us at the iO West Theatre August 9-12th.
You can check out those famous hand and footprints at Grauman’s before the show.
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation
Ms. Maura Plays The Viper Room & Other Musical Highlights!
My daughter, Maura Murphy-Barrosse (aka Ms. Maura) and her musical partner, guitarist Lynz Floren have just released their first single, “I Can’t Complain” – and it’s now available on iTunes and other online music sites. Get it today.
Ms. Maura and Lynz are also inviting friends and fans to help them make their first music video.
All you have to do is send Ms. Maura a photo of you holding a sign stating why you can’t complain. (See the charming samples at right.)
Then, you and your fabulous photo will be featured in the music video.
But that’s just where the musical fun begins. Ms. Maura & Lynz are also playing a gig at The Viper Room Lounge THIS THURSDAY, May 10th at 7:45 PM. And if you come to the show, they promise a special surprise!!
The Viper Room Lounge is located at 8852 W Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. Tickets are $10.00. And remember to mention Ms. Maura & Lynz at the door!
You can also “Like” Ms. Maura on Facebook.
And check out her EP, “Reversible Lobotomy”.
If you haven’t discovered Ms. Maura yet, check out what the National Music Examiner has to say about “Reversible Lobotomy”.
“LA’s talented sassy mama, Ms. Maura is laying down some serious tracks on this EP. Proving that if you’re going to do an EP, you should cut the fat and give ’em your best, this lady proves to have the talent and skill to do just that. If you enjoy Shirley Bassey’s style, Adele’s throaty range, and some textured, complex musical arrangements that traverse through jazz/classical/world rhythms. Each track melds beautifully into the next and yet each packs a powerful punch unto itself. “I don’t wanna” exudes truth, beauty, and honesty expressed with a rich soulfulness. These 5 songs have been on repeat rotation since first hearing this EP for it’s a fresh, timeless, deep cohesive effort by a deserving to be called “Diva”, Ms. Maura.”
And an iTunes Review by IndieIsGood said:
“At first you think, “Oh, she’s a little like Annie Lennox,” then you think, “No, she’s sort of a torch singer,” then you think, “Whoa! That’s a BIG voice — like Etta James Big,” and then you just stop thinking and sit back and say, “It’s just GOOD.”
Your Pop Filter said:
“Ms. Maura’s voice has SO MUCH range and expression. The record is a tidy 5 tracks long, but these 5 tracks feel so much bigger. Throughout the first listen, the songs seem to vary a great deal, but something unspoken ties them together. Subsequent listens serve only to pull you deeper into her world… I heartily recommend that you buy it.”
Visit “Mr. Olsen’s Neighborhood”!
Our very funny friend Dana Olsen, a fellow Northwestern University and Mee-Ow Show alum, is hosting “A Comedic Variety Show for the Middle Ages” at The Wilmette Theatre on June 14th. If you’re anywhere near Chicago’s North Shore, you won’t want to miss it.
Dana is comedian and screenwriter whose works include The ‘Burbs, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, George of the Jungle and Inspector Gadget. Dana is one of the funniest people I know — and I know lots of funny people: intentional and unintentional. With Dana, the humor is definitely intentional.
I’ve known Dana since we were both NU freshmen in 1976. He was a brilliant and captivating raconteur back then – and he’s even more fun to listen to now. Plus, he was recently named one of North Shore Magazine’s “Eligible Bachelors of the North Shore.” It’s truly groovy in Mr. Olsen’s neighborhood.
Victoria, Steve Rashid and I will be joining Dana on the bill that evening – just one night before we open “The Vic & Paul Show” on Chicago’s South Side at The Beverly Arts Center on June 15th.
Comedic chanteuse Shelly Goldstein, another fellow Northwestern and Mee-Ow Show alum (and the original director of “The Vic & Paul Show”) will also be appearing with us in “Mr. Olsen’s Neighborhood.”
“Mr. Olsen’s Neighborhood” is the place to be on June 14th.
Then, after enjoying some laughs at The Wilmette Theatre on the North Side, come down to The Beverly Arts Center on the South Side for more laughs.
June in Chicago will be a very funny month.
Filed under Art, Comedy, Improvisation, Music
Paul's Voyage of Discovery & Etc. 