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It’s a sure bet that Linda Lavin is best remembered for her acclaimed TV series Alice [1976-1985; Emmy nominee], however she’s no stranger to the boards. The Tony-winning actress-singer has been Tony-nominated six times and Drama Desk-nominated eight times [with two wins], and is an Obie winner. Now, she’s not only a recording artist with her first solo CD Possibilities [Ghostlight Records], which comes very late in her encompassing career, but also, as she has proven in several engagements here recently of  Linda Lavin…Now, a cabaret star.

On September 23, she’ll do an encore matinee of her much-raved-about show, which she performed Monday night. It’s not to be missed.

Before her big leap, in her third Broadway outing, stealing It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman [from Jack Cassidy, and that had to be some superwoman achievement], the Strouse/Adams/Newman/Benton musical, where director Hal Prince plucked Lavin out of the ensemble and gifted her with a major featured role and two showstoppers: “You’ve Got Possibilities” and “Ooh, Do You Love You,” Lavin toiled from the mid-60s in cabaret and Off Broadway [The Mad Show, Little Murders, Shakespeare] for 10 years.

Being considerate of her giant talent, it might be said that Lavin’s a far better actress. As a vocalist, the spirit is very willing – and often sassy, sensuous, and sexy – but some high notes are not so. However, the majority aren’t going to go see Lavin for her stellar singing, but for the entertaining spell she casts.

Lavin says she thrives on being in front of audiences. It must be true, because in the last two years, she’s certainly been in front of them and in diverse roles. She was seen onstage recently in the original Lincoln Center Theatre production of Other Desert Cities, the Kennedy Center revival of Follies, and Off Broadway at the Vineyard  and on Broadway in The Lyons.

Regarding her CD, Lavin says, “I wanted to record songs I grew up with and songs I’ve sung in my act. They are tunes that mean a lot to me in terms of telling the story of who I am.”

The 12 tracks feature a mix of Broadway and standards, including “Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)”, “Hey, Look Me Over, ” “In Love Again,” “It Might As Well Be Spring,” “Rhode Island Is Famous for You,” “The Song Remembers When,” “Two For the Road” and “You’ve Got Possibilities.”

But the 54 Below concert is much more than tracks from the CD. Songs include several of  the above and the madcap “The Boy From…,” a parody of the Brazilian samba hit “The Girl from Ipanema” by Mary Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim (featured in The Mad Show), “My Foolish Heart,”  “So Many Stars,”  ”There’s a Small Hotel,” “You Better Love Me (While You May),” and, surprising the audience with her proficiency on the piano, a medley of  ”It Amazes Me”/”Long Ago and Far Away.”

Billy Stritch, on piano and dueting with Lavin, is music director, accompanied by a quartet, which includes drummer Steve Bakunas, her husband.

In addition to copies of Possibilities, which Lavin will autograph for purchasers at 54 Below, the CD is available at www.sh-k-boom.com/lindalavin.shtml.

54 Below tickets are $30-$40 plus a $25 minimum. For reservations, call (866) 468-7619 or visit 54below.com. Entrees from the first-class kitchen range from $15-$32, with appetizers from $10-$18.

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In new honors created for this milestone 50^th New York Film Festival, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman and Festival sponsor Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC)’s longtime program director Richard Peña will be saluted at a galas during the Festival,  September 28 – October 14, in Alice Tully Hall. The honors were announced Wednesday by Film Society executive director Rose Kuo.

Kidman will take part in an onstage conversation at the screening of director Lee Daniels’s much-acclaimed film The Paperby, which has been added to the Festival’s Main Slate. The film co-stars Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Matthew McConaughey.

Daniels was a producer on Monster’s Ball and producer and director of the acclaimed Precious…, which was nominated for Best Picture, 2009. Of it’s six nominations, it won for Adapted Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Mo’Nique..

Peña, who’s served the Festival for 25 years, is leaving his role as FSLC program director to head the Festival’s Selection Committee.

The tributes were created “to celebrate the work of those in film who’ve made significant artistic contributions to film culture in the past and will continue to do so in the future.”

In The Paperboy (Millenium Entertainment), Kidman plays the sultry fiancée of a death row inmate (Cusack). Working with a local journalist (McConaughey), she gets to know the writer’s younger brother (Efron), and the rest, as they say, is history.  The film became one of the most talked about entries at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“Nicole Kidman is one of our finest contemporary actresses,” says Peña, “Since her breakthrough performance in To Die For and her bold and provocative appearances in Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, as well as her awarding-winning portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry’s The Hours [for which she received the Oscar], Nicole has insisted on finding roles that are complex, bold and demanding.”

Peña, who possesses a vast knowledge of film history as they who watch THIRTEEN’S Saturday night triple film series and who’s always accessible to media and film buffs, joined FSLC. Before long, his name became synonymous worldwide with that of the NYFF. Over the years, he’s gained immense respect across the board throughout the film industry.

Ms. Kuo noted that Peña “has guided the festival’s artistic vision. He also helped the Festival to discover such visionary directors as Pedro Almodovar, Abbas Kiarostami, Olivier Assayas, Lars Von Trier and Hou Hsiao-hsien. His contribution has been indelible.”

At the golden age of 50, the NYFF is keeping things fresh with a new Midnight Movies series with screenings of films “best experienced at the witching hour, and which will have you cringing, cheering, and shrieking.”

 General tickets for the 50th New York Film Festival go on sale September 9. For more information, visit the NYFF Tickets section of www.filmlinc.com/nyff2012.

Bargain Film Society Memberships

Join one of New York’s best movie-going programs. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the New York Film Festival, FSLC is offering $50 memberships for a limited time. Benefits include a subscription to Film Comment magazine, bi-weekly e-newsletter, discounts from Film Society partners, merchandise discounts, concession freebies, annual cocktail party, advance ticket purchase, invites to special events, and complimentary tickets to screenings. To join, visit members@filmlinc.com or call (212) 875-5620.

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She was an original. Tempestuous. Tormented. Talented. A trailblazer. Triumphant even in defeat.

Patsy Cline was one of a kind. Today, on the occasion of what would be her 80th birthday, September 8, and the exhibition Patsy Cline: Crazy for Loving You in her honor, mounted at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, is an opportunity to look back at the life of this legendary and innovative recording artist.

Sadly, just when the best of her life began, it ended: March 5, 1963, when on the journey home from Kansas City, after performing at a benefit, she, her manager Randy Hughes, and Grand Ole Opry stars Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas were killed outside Camden, Tennessee, in the crash of Hughes’ four-seater airplane.

For 18 years after her death, following the impact of such a great loss to country music and the entertainment world, virtually nothing was written of this unique personality. Then came Vicksburg, Mississippi, native Ellis Nassour’s first biography on Patsy Cline. He’s devoted a good deal of his career keeping the legend alive and growing.

Though she died shortly after turning 30, Patsy left behind a rich personal and musical legacy. She has developed cult followings around the world, especially among young fans who are mesmerized by the hurt in her voice that, many agree, is yet to be equaled.

Patsy is more famous in death than she was during her lifetime. It seems the world cannot get enough. Nassour had a brand new Collector’s Edition hardcover Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline published in 1993. Others have attempted to tell her story. From the acclaim for Nassour’s biography, published in an expanded edition in 2008, it’s considered the best and the most definitive.

“I was blessed to be the first to write about Patsy,” says Nassour, “and the only one to interview so many intimates, including her two husbands and her mother.”

According to Nassour, Patsy was “a good ole country gal, very used to getting her way any way she could get it. She was equipped with talent that even she didn’t know she had and raw ambition to become a star on the Grand Ole Opry.”

From her early Virginia days, Patsy struggled to make a name for herself. “As sweet as her music could be,” observes Nassour, “her personal life was as passionate as it was reckless. She was a rebel and a homewrecker. She wanted fame so badly she let nothing and no one stand in her way.”

Born Virginia Patterson Hensley near Winchester, she possessed from the earliest age a self-assurance that made her believe not only that she could be the best female singer in country music but also that she was. Nothing could daunt her. A saying sprang up about Patsy: “She’s not conceited, she’s convinced.”

Patsy never had lessons; but from age eight, when she began singing on street corners and in her church choir, she had the most incredible voice. She had aspirations of being the youngest star ever on the Opry. She sang anywhere she could: as a child on street corners; then, in church; and later, “tired of waiting so long to be discovered,” bursting into a radio station at the age of 14 to demand they put her on.

“They did,” explains Nassour, “and she didn’t make a fool of herself. Locals laughed at her dreams, which didn’t faze Patsy. Her goal almost came true when, at age 14, she auditioned for the Opry. It was a lost opportunity for many reasons, but Patsy returned home more determined than ever.”

So determined, in fact, that she made costly mistakes, such as allowing the older bandleader she worked for (and with whom she was having an affair) to sign her to a self-defeating record deal in the late 1950s. In the male-dominated country arena of that era, women were part of a show or sang with their husbands. “That wasn’t for Patsy,” notes Nassour. “She wanted to be accepted as a solo female artist, which didn’t go down too well with the male stars, but she eventually won out. ‘Overnight fame’ helped.”

Though she’d starred on Jimmy Dean’s regionally-syndicated variety show out of Washington, Patsy’s breakthrough came in 1957 on CBS’ Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, which showcased budding professionals and amateurs. She won with a decidedly non-country song, “Walkin’ After Midnight,” which had been passed over again and again, that her label made her record.

“She hated it,” says Nassour, “and not just because it was crammed down her throat. She told friends it made her feel like a streetwalker. Godfrey liked the tune, however, and refused to budge when she wanted to sing country and yodel.”

 Godfrey felt he’d discovered the real thing and hired Patsy. They clashed constantly. He fired her two weeks later!

 “Walkin’ After Midnight” was huge and, in a first for a country female, crossed over to the pop charts. Patsy got to tour solo. You can’t argue with success. She proved a country female could draw audiences and, as Nassour observes, “not be window dressing for some male artist. It also led to her first album. The male stars and many in the industry considered her a fluke. The gals not only looked down on Patsy, who could be, to say the least, one of the guys; but also found her outfits distasteful.”

Patsy Cline - Looking Glamorous

“Patsy dropped the de rigueur ‘cowgirl’ look,” continues Nassour, “for what she considered New York glamour. That actually meant sexy, which got her into a lot of trouble with the family-oriented Opry. Before long, however, the gals who gossiped behind her back began copying Patsy. None had her success, but Patsy befriended them all.”

Patsy was soon an Opry star. Her song sold well for over a year. Due to the constrictions of her contract, stipulating she could only record what the label dictated, it was followed by four dry years. If Patsy could not lay claim to birthing what became known as the Nashville Sound, she brought it out of diapers. And, not willingly. She loved pop and rock music, but preferred to record country – the hillbilly kind. Enter big bandleader and pianist and Nashville Decca Records producer Owen Bradley, who introduced her to up-and-coming songwriters Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, and Willie Nelson.

Nassour notes that Patsy had “the ability to segue from hayseed to heartbreaking ballads. Bradley coerced her to record songs from the 20s to the 40s, which he gave a new spin. He claimed Patsy could sing anything and discouraged her from her desire to yodel.” He surrounded Patsy with Nashville’s best musicians as well as backup singers such as the Jordanaires, who were associated with Elvis’ early work.

Bradley knew he had a star; he had to convince her. He pushed Patsy – sometimes screaming and fighting – where she never thought she could go. He broke Nashville taboos, adding strings and drums and soaring arrangements to her sessions. “To get his way,” explains Nassour, “he’d select tunes he wanted to record; she selected those she wanted. He’d get one, she’d get one! This kept her popular with country fans while expanding her pop audience. Then, artists were either country, rock, or pop. Today, where lines are easily crossed or merged, it’s hard to image the impact Patsy and Bradley had.”

Patsy hated “I Fall to Pieces,” which took six months to begin its ride up the country and pop charts. She hated “Crazy.” “But,” laughs Nassour, “when they became hits, earning big money, Patsy, always struggling financially, grudgingly admitted she warmed to them. She wanted to sing up-tempo, but Bradley convinced her ballads were her bread and butter.”

According to Nassour, vocally, Patsy Cline had a majesty and poignancy many say have never been equaled. “She could produce extended Western yodels, but also sweeping high notes. She had amazing dexterity, switching from a country hoe-down to vintage Irving Berlin or Cole Porter and torch ballads written for her.

Patsy was on the charts, selling albums, touring, headlining with Johnny Cash, doing TV, and making money. She was generous to the gals coming up the ranks, helping Loretta Lynn and Dottie West, as they began their careers, and being a big sister to her beloved Brenda Lee, who, reveals Nassour, credits Patsy with teaching her words her mother didn’t approve of.

Patsy Cline’s impact on the industry was such that “Faded Love,” recorded days before the fatal crash and which had been a huge hit for a number of country male stars, became a posthumous hit. Today, it’s only remembered for Patsy’s poignant rendition.

In 1973, in tribute to her incredible popularity and artistry, she was the first solo female named to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She left behind a great musical legacy, honored in 1995 with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Patsy Cline influenced legions of performers. In 1997, People Magazine named her to its list of The Most Intriguing People of the Century. Patsy took her crossover appeal to New York’s Carnegie Hall, Las Vegas, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, and even to the TV teen dance show Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. She won countless music awards with her landmark hits “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” and “She’s Got You.”

“She brought happiness to millions,” Nassour points out, “but had a difficult time finding it in her personal life. Though Patsy and second husband Charlie Dick were deeply in love, as her fame increased they made recriminations against each other. He couldn’t cope with her success and long absences. A heavy drinker, Charlie’d berate her in public, hit her, and Patsy’d famously fight back.

He’d accuse her of infidelity, when he was the guilty one, and being an unfit wife and mother. “Patsy was in a near-fatal automobile crash in the summer of 1961,” continues Nassour, “and had a nervous breakdown as she attempted to get back to work too soon. She was plagued with bouts of depression and felt her terrible scars drove Charlie further away.”

Just as Patsy re-established her place on the charts with “Crazy” and “She’s Got You,” she began contemplating a break from Charlie. Then fate intervened.

Returning from Missouri, fighting thunderstorms all the way, Randy Hughes landed in Dyersburg, Tennessee to refuel for the last leg. Warned against continuing, Hughes, who wasn’t instrument trained, boasted he’d flown the area many times. Within 20 minutes of take-off, the skies darkened. He lost visibility. From the way the plane crashed, the FAA assumed he was flying upside down. Only three albums were released in Patsy’s lifetime, but there were great songs from a session only a month before her death. Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits was on the Billboard magazine album charts for over 900 weeks. “Crazy” is the Number One worldwide jukebox champ.

Patsy’s gravesite outside Winchester, Virginia, is marked with a simple bronze plaque that reads: Death cannot kill what never dies, love.

“Patsy Cline is remembered today,” observes Ellis Nassour, “because of her indelible gift of music. She was a star when she left us, and a star she remains.”

For more information on Patsy Cline, visit www.PatsyClineHTA.com

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To celebrate the launch of the cineplex romance/disaster phenomenon Titanic in Blu-ray Hi-Def 3D and Blu-ray [Paramount Picture; Paramount Home Media], Oscar winner James Cameron, joined by producer Jon Landau, will appear Monday [September 10] at Best Buy [Union Square, 14^th Street and Park Avenue South] at 7 P.M. for a two-hour Q&A followed by a signing. The event is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating will be extremely limited.

Cameron will give fans personal insights from the making of the international blockbuster, which won 11 Academy Awards, the most ever for any film [14 nominations]. The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar nominee Kate Winslet, and Billy Zane with strong support from Kathy Bates, Oscar nominee the late Gloria Stuart, Frances Fisher, Bill Paxton, and Victor Garber. Cameron took home Oscars for Picture and Direction. Other Oscars were for Cinematography, Editing, Special effects, Score [James Horner],  and Song.

Titanic’s run time is a whopping 194 minutes, but the Blu-ray release will include more than 2 ½ hours of new feature content, which makes the disc a must-have for fans. The film was originally released in wide-screen, but for rerelease in April it was adapted into 3D.

Most recently, Cameron, who started his career in 1984 directing The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed the 3D blockbuster  Avatar. which currently holds domestic and worldwide box office records with grosses in excess of $2.7-billion — beating the previous record holder, Titanic, which held the record for 12 years.

Landau holds the distinction of having produced the two highest grossing movies of all-time, Avatar and Titanic.

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One of theatergoers most eagerly looked forward to events is the free theater block party Broadway on Broadway concert in the heart of Times Square. Today Show’s three-time Emmy-winning co co-host, best-selling author, actress, singer, and now playwright Kathie Lee Gifford will host Sunday’s 20^th  concert presented by United Airlines and The New York Times and produced by the Broadway League, Times Square Alliance, and IMG Media.

Showtime is 11:30 A.M., but arrive early for best vantages between 46^th and 47^th streets and Broadway and Seventh Avenue.   A 30-piece orchestra will accompany the stars of long-running favorites and the 2012-2013 season’s new musicals. Times Square will be a big block party with thousands of attendees.

In October, Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, with book and lyrics by Gifford, comes to Broadway, so you can expect a preview of that show at Broadway on Broadway. Gifford made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together in 2000, played Miss Hannigan in a record-breaking run of Annie at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In 2005, she wrote book and lyrics for Under the Bridge, her first musical. She’s also a three-time New York Times best-selling author.

“Kathie Lee’s a Broadway Baby at heart,” says Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, “and not only a true Broadway fan but a constant supporter of New York theater. She sings, she acts, she writes, she hosts, so she’s the perfect headlinert.”

Tim Tompkins, president, Times Square Alliance, agrees and adds, “This year’s Broadway on Broadway is a celebration of 20 years of success of bringing the best of Broadway talent and musicals to millions of New Yorkers and visitors in the  world’s most famous hub of live entertainment.”

For more information and a list of shows performing, visit www.BroadwayonBroadway.com. The Music Performance Fund, WCBD-FM 101.1 and Fresh 102.7 FM, and Clear Channel Spectacolor are Broadway on Broadway media partners. Additional Support is provided by the Theatre Development Fund [TKTS].

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The 50^th New York Film Festival is about to unreel. New York cinema’s biggest annual cinema event, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 17-day New York Film Festival, begins September 28 and runs through October 14 with an ultra impressive lineup of 32 films on the Main Slate.. This year’s Festival will be quite special, since it’s a milestone  celebrating the Festival’s 50^th Anniversary. Tickets go on sale to the general public on September 9.

Main slate works will include films by such notable directors as Noah Baumbach, David Chase, Brian De Palma, Ang Lee, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, and Robert Zemeckis.

Opening Night will debut Life of Pi [Fox 2000] from director Ang Lee [Brokeback Mountain], based on Yann Martel’s best-selling novel, a magical adventure of an Indian zookeeper’s son who finds himself in the company of motley animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger, after a shipwreck – legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu co-stars.

There’ll be gala tributes to Nicole Kidman, whose film The Paperboy, directed by Lee Daniels [Precious] and co-starring  Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Matthew McConaughey; and Richard Peña, who’s served the Festival for 25 years as FSLC program director to head the Festival’s Selection Committee.

Choice packages are available. For automated information, call (212) 875-5600. Purchase beginning September 9 at the NYFF box office at the Walter Reade Theatre, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and online at filmlinc.com [service charges apply]: Major credit cards accepted.      

Cinephile Package: Select 10 Alice Tully Hall screenings from a curated assortment – $180
Early Bird Pass: Enjoy access to NYFF weekday matinee screenings (some exclusions apply) on a first come-first basis Monday – Friday at the Walter Reade Theater (subject to availability) – $100
VIP Lounge Pass: Relax, meet and greet other Festivalgoers in the Hauser Lounge at Alice Tully Hall before or after screenings – $500
Convergence Pass: Explore immersive media unlimited access to NYFF’s first-ever transmedia conference – $125
Discount Passes and Ticket Packages: Various packages are available
Single Tickets: if available. 

In honor of the Festival’s 50th Anniversary, the Film Society asks you to consider adding a tax-deductible contribution to your purchase which will not only invest in the future of the Festival but also new education programs and emerging filmmaker initiatives.

The Festival is known for highlighting the best in world cinema with top films from celebrated and emerging filmmakers. But there’s so much more to keep cinephiles entertained.

Complimenting the Main Slate, there will be special events, star-studded press conferences,  sidebars, panels, and first–time programs, including NYFF’s Masterworks programs and Views from the Avant-Garde.

The Centerpiece gala is the semi-autobiographical Not Fade Away [Paramount Vantage] from director/writer David Chase (The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, The Rockford Files), headlining James Gandolfini and Brad Garrett, about 60s New Jersey friends forming a rock band to make it big.

Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Don Cheadel star in the Closing Night gala,  the thriller Flight (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), loosely-based on 2001’s incident of a pilot guiding a fuel-less superliner from certain crash and becoming a hero until the subsequent  investigation reveals troubling details.

Award winners having New York premieres include the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Amour (Austria/France/Germany-Sony Classics), Michael Haneke’s portrait, co-starring France’s acclaimed Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert, of a couple dealing with the ravages of old age; and the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear Award for Best Director, Christian Petzold’s Cold War thriller Barbara [Germany] about a doctor, played by Nina Hoss, working in 1980s East Germany who’s banished to a country hospital.

The Film Society and NYFF receive support from American Airlines, Royal Bank of Canada, The New York Times, Stella Artois, National Endowment for the Arts, and New York State Council on the Arts.

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The stars are standing up to fight cancer. For Friday’s commercial free telecast of the fundraiser Stand Up to Cancer on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in prime time [8 P.M. Eastern], joining co-founder Katie Couric  and co-host Gwyneth Paltrow will be a Who’s Who celebrity roster that includes Simon Baker, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Coldplay, Dana Delany, Matt Damon, Rocco DiSpirito, Michael Douglas, Chelsea Handler, Tom Hanks, Marg Helgenberger, Felicity Huffman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Alicia Keys.

Joining them will be Tim McGraw, Jeremy Renner, Julia Roberts, Seth Rogen, Ray Romano, Emma Stone, Taylor Swift, Maura Tierney, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Vergara, and Olympic Gold Medalists Gabrielle Douglas and Missy Franklin.

These stars and many other personalities will join Couric and co-producer Paltrow  in performance or relating inspiring patient stories. “Donations from the telecast,” says Couric, “will fund groundbreaking translational life-saving research that delivers new therapies to cancer patients more quickly.”  There’ll be celebrity phone/multi-media banks allowing viewers to interact with participating talent and make donations, “of which,” explains Couric, “100% will go directly to cancer research.”

Viewers will also be able to donate via text-to-give and standup2cancer.org. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are donating the hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime. The program will broadcast live from Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium. geles. In addition, HBO, HBO Latino, ION, Lifetime, Logo, MLB, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STYLE, TBS, and VH1 will carry Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, which is nationally-recognized 501(c)3 charitable organization.

The first two SU2C telecasts took place in September , 2008. To date, more than $180-million has been pledged for SU2C research. Since then, grants have been awarded to researchers and scientists who are undertaking high-risk, potentially high-reward projects. In all, 85 institutions are involved.

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Thursday night David Brenner took the stage at the Metropolitan Room, once again entertaining in a space where a lot of his earlier material had been worked out in the beginning of his career.   Some may remember it as The Gotham Comedy club – and it’s where Brenner developed what was later christened “observational comedy” – a staple of comedians now but completely unique when Brenner first took to the stage in the 70s.

It’s enjoyable to be in this intimate setting with this seasoned performer.  His comedy is comfortable, identifiable with nary a foul word – the bluest of his bits perhaps running to a shade of Tiffany Blue.  Sitting in his audience is like being in the presence of your favorite friend who keeps you continually in stitches – not because he’s trying to, but simply because that’s the way he thinks, and the way he thinks is hilarious.

Brenner – who casually takes the stage and gets into his patter with a little back-story, a little joking, and a little gesturing that sells the joke – frames this time back in New York City as “trying out some new stuff” as he did back in the day. He shares that he views this as a chance to take the stage and work that muscle again.   But when you’re as talented and seasoned as Brenner there’s very little that needs to be tried out, and, as a result, as Brenner picks through his notes for an “oh, maybe you’ll like this one” bit, very little falls flat.  Quite simply, the entire act was laugh-out-loud funny.  Not just smile-broadly funny … not politely-chuckle-funny.  Not nod-in-recognition-funny or look-at-the-person-you’re-with-and-exchange-”that-look”-of-appreciation-funny.  No, Brenner was Laugh Out Loud funny.

His material began  with finding himself at odds not with anyone in general, but with aging. And while he casually tossed off “I’ve always looked younger than I am” this is no idle bragging, aside from the whiter hair there’s nothing to distinguish this Brenner from the one who graced the Carson stage more than any other guest in Tonight Show history.

A joke that starts out quaint but affable (I spent 45 minutes looking for my reading glasses. They were on the top of my head … ) moves solidly forward and delivers. (The next day  when I couldn’t find the bread to make toast I didn’t waste 45 minutes. I went straight to my assistant and said “Do I have a loaf of bread on top of my head?“)  Things like this, imparted in his disarming style, kept the crowd laughing for well over an hour. Try as he might to insist that he was “trying out new material” – when a comic has been as comfortable on stage as Brenner, with a career as successful as his, even misfires and clunkers wind up being funnier and more polished than another comic’s entire set. Because, when you’re David Brenner, you’re not trying to prove anything anymore.

His material ranged from the changing way people absorb their news, to marvelling at how YouTube has pervaded our culture (A little over 8 years ago no one gave a shit if a cat could play the piano …) to random absurd musings (There’s a new pill that grows hair.  What if it gets stuck in your throat?) to stories about the old neighborhood, to wry quips (More men are selling sperm now than ever before.  I’m letting a fortune slip through my fingers).

Truth is, Brenner had us at ‘hello’, but being in the presence of someone who loves what he does is a rare treat and an honor.

Here for three nights only, the final show is tonight.  Grab a ticket while you can.

~~~

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Want someone to put a giant smile on your face tonight right around 11:00pm?

How about a whole band of someones?

And not just “someone”s but Kill The Band – the best someones around.   Get in the middle of the good vibrations and let Kill The Band give you that happy ending they’ve been promising everyone …

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