Last
Call (con't)
Sidney Myer recalled booking Melissa
Newman to open the newly named room at 55 Grove Street which was attended
by former booking managers, Erv Raible, Jan Wallman and the lady who
brought singing to the upstairs club - Sylvia Syms. Newman's famous
parents, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman attended that opening night
and would return at later dates to support their talented daughter whose
musical director was Ross Patterson. Sidney said, "It was a remarkable
night to have so many personally connected to the history of the room
under the same roof. It was like everything old was new again."
Myer also recalls booking a very
young Steven Brinberg as himself before "Simply Barbra" there as well
as newcomer Jason Robert Brown's first incarnation of "Christopher Columbus:
Songs For a New World," starring Annie Hughes and Amy Ryder before it
moved to Eighty Eight's. Brown, whose first professional job in New
York was at the piano at Eighty Eight's, later went on to win a Tony
award. He also remembered drag actor Clinton Leupp debuting as Miss
Coco Peru in "My Goddam Cabaret," a groundbreaking show that went on
to great acclaim and attention in the press. The list could go on forever.
The history of that address is probably the best-known legend on the
block because of the output of stars that came out of there. Stephen
Sondheim would hang out in the piano bar. Barbra Streisand used to break
in new songs with her short sets upstairs. According to Wallman, "She
never sang in the piano bar there. We accommodated her whenever she
wanted to sing there. She was lovely." Bette Midler's boyfriend lived
above Marie's Crisis next door and she has said she learned all the
latest show tunes through the floor boards. And so it went. One of the
single most profound things about The Duplex and Rose's Turn along with
the other Grove street saloons, is the effect it has had on more than
one generation of cabaret artists who emerged from the clubs and the
piano bars and moved on to the big time. There are hundreds of stories
I couldn't include here. So much to reflect on. So much now forgotten.
Obviously, there's a lot more to be said. And - I plan to. Sorry if
I rambled on a bit here.
I
asked Erv Raible, who still resides in the west village, what he had
to say about the closing of Rose's Turn and what it all means to him.
He said, "It is going to be hard to go on that block. And - if it's
going to be a real estate office, it is definitely the end of an era
- one that I am thrilled to have been a part of."
As for my own personal thoughts
on Rose's Turn and the memorable address that once housed it, I have
a lot to say. But I've said enough fro now. I've chosen to save most
of it for another time and place. For now, let me leave you with these
thoughts that are swimming in my head. Along with a herd of others,
I had a lot of good times there over the years - in the cabaret black
box upstairs and in the piano bar downstairs. I'm sorry to say that
life got in the way and I wasn't able to stop in too often over the
last 2 years. Life took me elsewhere and the times did change. Nightlife
changed.
That
aside, let me also note that given the open field of possibilities that
took place at this fabled address, from the early sixties through last
Sunday's closing, an awful lot that was special happened. A lot that
will live on in the hearts of those who were major or minor players;
from the ones who nursed a beer all night before getting up the nerve
to sing one song off-key to the endless roster of special talents that
poured their hearts and souls into something they believed in. It was
extraordinary. No attempt to remake American culture was attempted.
The club simply produced a rich body of work of unprecedented diversity.
And those who took part in any of it, as an artist or an observer, will
never forget the memory of it all.
As of this writing, all that is
left of what was once a bustling scene on a magical block is overshadowed
or diminished by the closing of this much loved cabaret - piano bar.
Regulars at Rose's Turn will miss popular mainstays like Leslie Anderson,
Joe Ardizzone, Sean Bernardi, Rainie Cole, Clare Cooper, Dan Daly, Kenny
Davison, Michael Dionne, Kimlee Hicks, Kelly Howe, A.J. Irvin, Michael
Isaacs, Bobby Peaco, Kathy "Babe" Robinson and Terri White.
Last call on Sunday night was a
mob scene of old faces who came to say goodbye. It was nostalgic with
the Sunday crew entertaining the overflowing throngs that stopped by
to hoist a glass one last time.
Booking manager Collette Black,
at a loss for words, simply said, "For now, let's just hope the future
is brighter for all of us." It will be. Scroll down and read After Dark
Around Town!
MORE
- page 5 6
prev
- page3 2 1
Back to NYC CABARET REVIEW
Index Page
Back
to CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE Home Page
