Forest Trace

Entertainment

December 12, 2012   THREE TENORS AND A DIVA

The Tenors, Antonio Buonauro, James Gafgen and Thomas Bethman and the Diva, Donna Buonauro, have entertained audiences across every continent in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Met and La Scala.   Together, they offer a refreshing and entertaining mix of toe-tapping pop, Broadway tunes and well-known arias.   From Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables to classics by Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli, the voices of the three Tenors will steal your heart while the soprano musical talent of the Diva will guarantee you a night of melodic magic and pure delight.

 

January 16, 2013 Little Anthony & The Imperials

“Little Anthony” started out as Anthony Gourdine and originally was part of “The Duponts” before joining “The Chesters” as lead singer. In 1958, the group was discovered and renamed “The Imperials.”

Their first record for End Records was a double-sided ballad smash. The “A” side, “Tears on My Pillow”, instantly launched their career into musical history, with more than one million copies sold. The flip side hit, “Two People in The World” made this one of the most popular double-sided ballad records in vocal group history. The name “Little Anthony” was given by WINS DJ Alan Freed and the group was official renamed “Little Anthony & The Imperials.”

After a 17-year hiatus, Little Anthony & The Imperials have taken the concert stage by storm again.  Their successful reunion has already brought the group to sold-out appearances at concert halls and performance venues throughout the U.S., including Madison Square Gardens in New York and the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.  Most important of their many awards was their induction into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame on April 4^th, 2009.

 

February 20, 2013   Hal Linden   

Hal Linden is an actor, singer and musician who earned three Emmys and a Tony, Broadway’s highest accolade, for his lead role in The Rothschilds.  A native New Yorker, Linden began his show business career as a clarinet player and later toured as a singer with the Sammy Kaye, Bobby Sherwood and Boyd Raeburn bands.  As a member of the U.S. Army band, he became involved in army revues, which piqued his acting career.

After his discharge, Linden enrolled at New York’s American Theatre Wing and studied with Paul Mann and Lloyd Richards.  His first major break came in 1958 when he was signed to understudy Sydney Chaplin in Bells Are Ringing.  Five days later, he made his Broadway debut, opposite Judy Holliday.

Linden also appeared in Broadway productions of Cabaret, The Gathering and The Sisters Rosensweig.  He starred on the TV shows Come to Papa, Jack’s Place, Law and Order, The Boys are Back and the enormously popular series, Barney Miller.

Some of his other accomplishments include:  44 weeks on Broadway as a cantankerous octogenarian in I’m Not Rapport, critical kudos for his role as Alan Alda’s sexy, shallow sidekick in the Paramount feature, A New Life,  a starring performance with  Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in Out to Sea, a nine-city tour in Man Of La Mancha and concert dates ranging from performances with the Dallas, St. Louis and Atlanta Symphonies (he plays Mozart on the clarinet) to appearances in Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City.

 

March 12, 2013     Melissa Manchester

Grammy award-winning and native New Yorker Melissa Manchester was born with music in her blood!  Her dad was a bassoonist for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and he introduced her to all the classics.

Melissa studied acting at the High School for Performing Arts and took a songwriting class taught by Paul Simon at NYU.    After meeting Bette Midler, she worked as a backup singer for her and fulfilled her childhood fantasy of playing New York’s Carnegie Hall.  Six months later she signed with a major recording label and was headlining at Carnegie Hall performing for  sold-out audiences.

Her songs have become radio classics.  She is the first artist in Academy Awards history to have two movie themes nominated in one year, with both performed live during the award show.  She has received numerous nominations for Grammy awards and received the honor for Best Female Vocalist in 1982.

Her talents are boundless. She has appeared on TV in the hit series, Blossom, co-starred with Bette Midler in the film For the Boys and in the musical Sweeney Todd with Kelsey Grammer, wrote the musical I Sent a Letter to my Love, and also composed and recorded the score for Lady and the Tramp II.

 

April 24^, 2013 Freddie Roman

A master entertainer, Freddie Roman started as a teenage comic in the Catskills and then as a young actor at NYU and other New York stock theaters. He switched gears and ran a successful retail store to provide a steady income for his family. But Freddie still longed to return to the applause he earned during his early years as a struggling comedian and actor.  With the support of his wife and family, Freddie returned to the world of comedy and rapidly became a hit in the New York area including Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel, where he was one of the most requested performers.

The turning point in Freddie’s career came when Totie Fields watched him perform and offered him the opportunity to join her on her nationwide tour.   Freddie soon developed a national following and has maintained his comedy status throughout the country, performing for audiences in all of the major resorts from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to Harrah’s in Atlantic City.

Freddie’s many accomplishments include the creation of the show Catskills on Broadway, his own show at Trump Castle in Atlantic City, a motion picture debut in Sweet Lorraine,              co-starring Maureen Stapleton, and a TV special, The Big Room, on Comedy Central.  He is also Dean of the New York Friars Club, the oldest brotherhood in show business.