It's ...a Musical Comedy Star!

 

 Brad Oscar was born on September 22, 1964,

in Washington, D.C.

He got his BFA degree from Boston University,

then hustled to NYC,

where his Broadway debut awaited him in 

Aspects Of Love, in 1990. 

 A stint in Jekyll & Hyde and Dreamgirls followed, 

but it was his work in The Producers in 2001

that really brought him notice.

 However, just try to find a photo of Brad as Franz Liebkind,

the role he originated! 

Impossible,

though he did receive a Tony nom for that role.

After playing Franz,

and understudying every male charactor in that musical,

Brad took over for Nathan Lane, in the role of Max Bialystock.

Above Brad center with Steven Weber and Gary Beach,

and below with Hunter Foster

(yup, Sutton's brother).

 Brad's regional work has included

Cabaret (above) as the Emcee,

Fiddler On The Roof (below) as Tevye,

and Barnum (below that!).

 As part of the replacement cast for Spamalot
(on Broadway) in 2007. 

Brad played Sir Belvedere (and Dennis' mom).

 In the national tour of Young Frankenstein,

Brad played Inspector Kemp (above)

and The Hermit (below with Shuler Hensley).

 In 2011, Brad replaced Kevin Chamberlain

as Uncle Fester,

above with Jackie Hoffman and Roger Rees.

 Taking his opening night curtain call in

Big Fish, 2013.

 In 2015, Brad would originate the role of 

Thomas Nostradamus

in Something Rotten!

(above with Brian d'Arcy James).

...his 2nd Tony nomination

(he would lose to cast mate, Christian Borle).

 That "Rotten" cast...

Christian, Brian, Brad, and ???

And below in rehearsal for that big

"A Musical" number. 

Brad met his husband to be,

actor Diego Prieto,

when they worked together in Damn Yankees.

They married in 2012. 

Blow, Gabriel, Blow!

Yup, I was a no-show on Sunday (2/24/19). The wind (and my wimpy self not wanting to impersonate Mary Poppins and billow there) kept me home, with hatches battened. My station manager played a recorded, middle-aged 2 On The Aisle (from 2016?) instead, so the airways weren't Broadway-less, but I know you'd all prefer LIVE action, right? So last week's show will be this week's show. I will be there (unless the next few days bring locust mumurations), and by then February 2019 will be no more, thank the gods! (It sorta sucked.)

Stuff to look forward to in March: Time changes, Spring (well, sorta), Lawn Chair Ladies rehearsal start-up (Season 7! Huzzah!), a jaunt to Philly, and ...pledge drive season! Campaign Sunday is March 17, when I'll guest host with Otto Bruno (providing phone support and irritating commentary) and Carol Peterson will guest host with me. Why not give us a call (if not $$$, too :)) to bolster our fund-raising resolve? Always great to hear from a Broadway-phile.

And February, that will be quite enough of that! 

Lenny St. Hubbins

 Michael McKean, a native New Yorker,

was born on October 17, 1947.

His mom was a librarian,

his dad, one of the founders of Decca Records.

And yes, like the Spinal Tap band that he would later "lead" 

in a Christopher Guest movie,

he was part of The Left Banke,

a baroque pop band in the late 60s.

 Michael met David Lander (soon to be Squiggy)

at Carnegie Mellon,

where they formed a comedy team with Harry Shearer

"The Credibility Gap".

In 1976 Michael and David were cast in Laverne & Shirley,

and later recorded Lenny & The Squigtones,

an album with Christopher Guest guesting as Nigel Tufnel.

 Above with Gary Marshall and Sean Young,

in the soap opera spoof, "Young Doctors In Love",

from 1982.

 Also from that year,

Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael

in This Is Spinal Tap. 

This trio (and supposedly Director Rob Reiner)

wrote the music for the band.

\

  Above (and with the full cast below) in

Clue (1985).

More movies followed, like Used Cars,

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,

and Earth Girls Are Easy.

Below...Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull,

Madeline Kahn, Michael, Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd

and Eileen Brennan,

in various rooms, with various weapons.

 Once in a Christopher Guest movie,

always in a Christopher Guest movie!

Above with John Michael Higgins in Best In Show,

and below with Harry Shearer and Christopher 

in A Mighty Wind. 

A song from the later,

"A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow" that 

Michael co-wrote,

received a Grammy for Best Song Written For A Motion Picture.

 In a Star Trek: Voyager episode, "The Thaw".

 A reunion appearance with his Spinal Tap band.

In the 2006 revival of 

The Pajama Game

as Hines with Roz Ryan as Mabel.

Below, the pajama-ed curtain call

with Megan Lawrence, Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara.

With Harvey Fierstein in a revival production of 

Hairspray, 2004.

As a cast member of Better Call Saul...

Michael has appeared in over 70 films,

in over 100 television shows,

as well as 12 major stage productions.

With his wife, Annette O'Toole.

They met on the set of Laverne & Shirley back in 1997.

They've been married since 1999.

Michael is 71 years old

and still very active in the performing arts.

Playlist For Sunday, February 24, 2019: Another February

I need something NEW. The wasteland that is February in upstate NY has got me down. I won't go into my myriad complaints about this month (always my least favorite), but suffice it to say that I shouldda planned a Bora Bora cruise or penny whistle workshops or picked up that bag-pipe cozy knitting pattern...some BIG THING to get me thru it. But no, unplanful me. I just rinse and repeat.

So I looked for a NEW musical...and I found one: Triumph Of Love, performed back in the 90s. Based on a commedia dell'arte play (from 1732 to be exact), made into something like 8 films (some German, some silent, some with Mira Sorvino), so it's sorta OLD, and BORROWED. Just not too blue. Cuz I don't need blue right now!!! So there's that. Plus The Rink, which I ordered thinking it was the Chita/Liza production, but nope, it's the London production with 2 ladies I don't know. Well, we're going to meet them on Sunday! Whatever!

Yma Sumac? Yes, and she DID do Broadway (Flahooley). Jason Alexander? Yes, quite the Broadway star...won a Tony for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Brad Oscar as Bert Lahr? Kevin Chamberlain (Uncle Fester) as a Henchman? And a little Michael McKean (Lenny of Lenny & Squiggy, Spinal Tap, Best In Show, and on and on) getting jealous in pajamas, and Christine Ebersole, who really knows how I feel, wintering "Another Winter" in Grey (grey!!!) Gardens.

 Join me. Let's get outta this month in one piece, and together. :)



Slap That Bass (Harry Groener, Ensemble, Crazy For You)
Have A Little Faith (Susan Egan, Nancy Opel, Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlain,
      Triumph Of Love)
The Sad And Sordid Saga of Cecile (Susan Egan, Christopher Sieber,
      Roger Bart, Triumph Of Love)
Henchmen Are Forgotten (Roger Bart, Kevin Chamberlain, Nancy Opel,
      Triumph Of Love)
You're A Builder Upper (Christopher Fitzgerald, Jessica Stone, Life Begins
      At 8:40)
Quartet Erotica (Brad Oscar, Christopher Fitzgerald, Graham Rowat, Philip
      Chaffin, Life Begins At 8:40)
Things (Faith Prince, Brad Oscar, Life Begins At 8:40)
Colored Lights (Diane Langton, The Rink)
Under The Roller Coaster (Diane Langton, The Rink)
Wallflower (Josephine Blake, Diane Langton, The Rink)
Upstairs At O'Neals (Ensemble, Upstairs At O'Neals)
Stools (Bebe Neuwirth, Douglas Bernstein, Richard Ryder, Upstairs At O'Neals)
Theatre Party Ladies (John Driver, Jeffrey Haddow, Roger Neil, Scrambled Feet)
Gopher Mambo (Yma Sumac)
Carnival Tango (Instrumental, The Boyfriend)
Mambo Java (Carol Channing, Quat' Jeudis, Show Girl)
Mu-Cha-Cha (Judy Holliday, Peter Gennaro, Bells Are Ringing)
Temptation (Instrumental, Some Like It Hot)
Dance At The Gym (Instrumental, West Side Story)
Prologue (Company, Natasha, Pierre, And The Great Comet)
You'll Be Back (Jonathon Groff, Hamilton)
Everything Changes (Jessie Mueller, Waitress)
I'll Never Be Jealous Again (Michael McKean, Roz Ryan, The Pajama Game)
I Still Get Jealous (Jason Alexander, Faith Prince, Jerome Robbins' Broadway)
Another Winter In A Summer Place (Christine Ebersole, Mary Louise Wilson,
      Grey Gardens)
Winter Song (Leslie Odom, Jr., Simply Christmas)
Winter's On The Wing (John Cameron Mitchell, The Secret Garden)
The Real American Folk Song Is A Rag (Cowboy Trio, Crazy For You)
What Causes That (Bruce Adler, Harry Groener, Crazy For You)
Shall We Dance (Harry Groener, Crazy For You)

That's so Chita!

 This is Chita on Random...

no way can I do justice to her performing achievements. 

So consider this an out-of-order,

image (not info) heavy tribute

to a great musical theatre star.

 Chita was born

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero

in Washington, D.C. in 1933.

At the age of 15, she auditioned (and was accepted)

to the School of American Ballet in NYC.

Then the old story...she went along to support a friend

who was auditioning for a spot in Call Me Madam.

Chita got the part. :)

 Now the randomness starts...

Above (and below on the right)

with Sammy Davis Jr. in Mr. Wonderful (1956).

(If you can believe the scuttlebutt,

Chita and Sammy had a romantic thing!

At least for the length of the show...)

 

 With Dick Van Dyke in 

Bye Bye Birdie (1960).

Chita would lose out on the movie role

to Janet Leigh.

 Gotta be a TV variety show,

late 50s or early 60s!

 As Anita in the Broadway production

of West Side Story (1957).

Rita Moreno was cast in the movie version.

 Sweet Charity!

Chita appeared in both the stage (1967)

and film (1969) versions.

Above with Paula Kelly and Shirley MacLaine.

 Rehearsing with Liza Minnelli in 

Kander and Ebb's The Rink (1984).

 With Gwen Verdon 

in Chicago 

(Chita would do 5 different productions of that musical,

from 1977 to 1999).

 In Jerry's Girls 

(a salute to the musicals of Jerry Herman)

in 1985,

with Dorothy Loudon and Leslie Uggams. 

 In Kiss Of The Spider Woman

(1992).

 With Tommy Tune (above).

In 2003, Chita performed in the revival of Nine,

directed by Tommy.

Chita was cast in Kander and Ebb's The Visit,

which began "life" in 2001,

with productions in Chicago, Virginia, an in-concert version,

and finally Broadway in 2015.

 Plus another score (or 7) of musicals,

movie and TV appearances by this talented lady!

Chita has been nominated 10 times for a Tony

(a record she shares with Julie Harris).

She's received 3 Tony Awards, one of them a 

Lifetime Achievement Award,

as well as a Presidential Medal Of Freedom

from President Obama in 2009.

 She is 86 years old.