Category Archives: Music
“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
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
Dick Clark: Rock & Roll Icon
If you were born after 1970, you may not remember the Dick Clark that I remember. You might remember the Dick Clark of “TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes” or “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”.
And if you were born after 1980, your primary image of Dick Clark is likely the elderly, diminished, post-stroke Dick Clark who showed up after young Ryan Seacrest carried the bulk of “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”. You might have winced at the sight of him. You might have wondered why he was still on TV.
But for the kids of my generation, born in the 1950’s – and the kids 10 years older than me – Dick Clark was a pop culture icon second to none.
At a time when the personal tastes of a single popular radio disc jockey could still make or break a musical artist, Dick Clark was the most influential DJ of them all.
And with “American Bandstand”, Dick Clark brought the best of rock & roll to television every week. If it was good rock & roll music, and you could dance to it, he showcased it on “American Bandstand”. Dick helped make the kids jump to bands and artists we might otherwise have never known — a lot of African-American artists, too. In the incredibly uptight 1950’s, he wasn’t hung up on “race music”. From Little Richard to Chuck Berry, it was all rock & roll to Dick Clark.
Now, I know there are those people – especially some rock & roll historians — who still harbor a grudge against Dick Clark because of the 1950’s Payola Scandal and how Dick got away relatively unscathed and Alan Freed’s career was basically destroyed.
Freed, the man who coined the term “rock & roll” took the fall – and Dick Clark rose above it.
Google the payola scandal, study the history, and reach your own conclusion. As a Clevelander, you might imagine I’d be in the pro-Freed, anti-Clark camp — but as I figure it, young Dick Clark did what he had to do. And “American Bandstand” helped to keep America rocking for more than 35 years.
(Ironically, I attended Northwestern University in the late 1970s with Dick Clark’s son and Alan Freed’s daughter. Strange but true.)
Farewell to Dick Clark.
His passing is truly the end of an era.
I give him a ten.
Because back in the day, he championed the music you could dance to.
Riffmaster & The Rockmes in No Cal: Rock & Roll Rebels for a Good Cause.
Poster by Ron Crawford, of course!
Filed under Music
Ms. Maura Sings the Blues…
The talented and brilliantly bluesy songstress Ms. Maura, backed by her friend and guitarist Lynz Floren, performed at club TRIP in Santa Monica on Friday night, March 9th. I was lucky enough to be there – and here’s a sampler of iPhone video from her very groovy set.
According to Ms. Maura, here’s what you need to know as you listen to this selection from their sultry, soulful set.
“Combining the stylistically-varied vocals of Ms. Maura with the textured guitar-work of Lynz Floren, this acoustic duo performs dynamic original songs along with some token obscure covers. He of large stature, she of large voice, they met in 2001 as students at UC Santa Cruz. They lost touch for several years but recently reacquainted and found themselves on a common musical journey.”
30 Years Ago…
We measure our lives in years, but we experience life moment to moment. Some moments in time are more memorable than others. Some are unforgettable. And yet, even our most remarkable moments become generalized in our memories. Years later, we no longer see them in sharp focus. What we remember becomes wrapped in gauze: kept warm and fuzzy.
And then sometimes, even after three busy, event-filled decades, something can stir the memory of a special time in your life and you relive a moment you thought you remembered well — but hadn’t really seen clearly for a long, long while.
Recently, my good friend and college roommate Rob Mendel brought a wonderful moment in time back to life when he posted a vivid series of photographs he took in and around The Practical Theatre on Howard Street in Evanston, on the northern border of Chicago, in the winter of 1981-82.
The halcyon moment in time that Rob captured with his camera was charged with a mix of creativity and youthful energy that would ultimately – in just six more months – change our lives in an unexpected and dramatic way.
It would be, perhaps, too precious to say that Robbie caught us in the last relatively innocent and naïve moment of our young adult lives. But he did.
Asked for his recollections of how he came to take this trove of photos, Rob replied, “I can hardly remember! It was after traveling back to Evanston from Texas on the Big O with Rush, I think. “Beggars Holiday” was in rehearsal. We took publicity shots for that. But am I mixing it up?”
Not really. Beggar’s Holiday opened at The PTC’s John Lennon Auditorium at 703 Howard Street on November 28, 1981 – so Rob’s publicity photos must have been taken in early November, soon after we (The Sturdy Beggars) got back from our muddy stint at The Texas Renaissance Festival.
“The Rockmes were rehearsing, I had my camera with me. I took pix of the Beggars in Texas and again in Evanston.”
Now, here Rob’s memory begins to fade.
Rob’s photos of The PTC’s house band Riffmaster & The Rockme Foundation in rehearsal at the JLA were clearly taken after Beggar’s Holiday closed and our 1982 season opener, the improvisational comedy revue The Brothers Bubba, was in rehearsal.
You can tell because I’ve shaved my beggar beard.
So, Rob’s photos of the Rockmes in rehearsal must have been taken in the first months of 1982 – exactly 30 years ago!
The band was formed late in the spring of ’81, and had been playing together less than a year when these shots were snapped.
Looking at the eager, earnest, passionate (and hairy) young garage band that Rob got on film that day in the winter of ’82 – it’s deeply satisfying to know that the Rockme adventure has continued.
In fact, the band shown in these pics is the same group of guys that still manage to reunite and rock together to this day.
Next gig? June 8th in Portola Valley, California. The beat goes on…
“Mo was two. I took her to the playground a couple of times… Used to chant, “She’s still a baby!” and she’d respond, “I’m not a baby!” She was the cutest thing!”
Okay, these photos just melt my heart. My daughter Maura was, indeed, the cutest thing. Little Mo was less than two years old at the time. (She turned two on July 3rd, 1982.) Rob snapped her in the lobby of The John Lennon Auditorium – with the “Build-a-Bear” that my mom made for her.
Rob also shot this portrait of Maura in the lobby of the JLA with her Godfather Rush Pearson.
And with Uncle Brad Hall, our mascot Sri Abdul Aziz, and Godfather Rush.
Here’s the delightful toddler Maura with her dad a few doors west up Howard Street from the JLA at the legendary Cottage Restaurant, a classic diner. We’re waiting for old Bob to serve us a couple “chezzies” and a “shooker”. (Six months later, a UPI reporter would interview the cast of The Golden Jubilee at The Cottage to get the story of our sudden, shocking ascent to Saturday Night Live.)
Robbie’s camera also found us in rehearsal for The Brothers Bubba.
In this photo, Gary Kroeger, Jane Muller, your author, Rush Pearson and Brad Hall are rehearsing the musical number, “Macaroni & Cheese.”
In these photos, Brad and I are perfecting our impression of Simon and Garfunkel performing “The Boxer” — another sketch from The Bothers Bubba.
The Bothers Bubba opened at The JLA on April 1, 1982 and became the PTC’s biggest hit yet, playing to sold-out houses that demonstrated our 42-seat storefront was too small to contain our rapidly growing success.
Events were moving quickly, success was advancing swiftly, and as Bob Dylan said, the times they were a-changing.
Less than half a year after Rob’s photos were taken, the Practical Theatre Company, in partnership with Bernie Sahlins, owner of The Second City, opened our new cabaret theatre space at Piper’s Alley with The Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee — a collection of our best sketches and songs performed by Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and your humble author.
Robbie Mendel’s camera caught the spirit and drama of an unsuspecting cast of characters doing what they love – with no idea of what was to come.
“I remember that I had bought a camera, because the rental house I was working at in Hollywood had a bunch of guys who mentored me to get a camera and learn how to take pictures properly. I was using B&W for publicity pix for the Beggars, I believe, and that’s why they are not in color.”
Who cares about color? The classic black and white format adds to the drama of these memories: a glorious moment in time – just half a year before our lives were transformed — captured so indelibly by Robbie Mendel’s camera.
“When I returned to Hollywood, I landed my PA job on the TV movie with Susan St. James and I laid a publicity packet about PTC on Dick Ebersol there, but I think the PTC got on his radar separately, also. These pix preceded all of that, eh?”
That’s Rob Mendel for you. I never knew (or maybe I’d forgotten) that Robbie had hipped Saturday Night Live Executive Producer Dick Ebersol to The Practical Theatre just months before The Golden Jubilee opened at Piper’s Alley.
It’s another intriguing brick in the wonderwall of that seminal moment in our lives.
Paul's Voyage of Discovery & Etc. 