Danielle Grabianowski: Duplex and Night of A Thousand Judys Interview

Danielle Grabianowski is an award-winning singing actress whose performances have been likened to "Barbra Streisand at the Bon Soir and Bette Midler at the Continental Baths."  This June, she is making two very special appearances.

On June 17, Danielle will be performing in the third annual Night of A Thousand Judys benefit, hosted by The Meeting's Justin Sayre (Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center, 129 West 67th Street). Night of A Thousand Judys will donate all proceeds to the Ali Forney Center which is the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth. Joining Danielle in this extraordinary evening are original "Weather Girl" Martha Wash, three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello, Glee's Telly Leung, Justin Vivian Bond, Lea DeLaria, Christiane Noll, Tituss Burgess, Karen Mason, and many others. Click here for tickets!

Then, on June 19 (and August 28), at 7pm, Danielle will grace the stage of NYC's historic Duplex Cabaret Theatre at in the West Village for an evening of eclectic, impromptu set of standards, stories and pop tunes. Click here for tickets!

For more on Danielle be sure to visit http://daniellegrabianowski.wordpress.com!

1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer? My family moved to Florida in the middle of 6th grade and I had come from a really small school and had trouble making new friends in my new school. I was really shy. In 8th grade, I was picked to do a short solo at our chorus concert. The song was "Voices that Care." The teacher was Ms. Jury, we're Facebook friends now. Figuring out I could sing made the future look a little brighter.

2. Who haven't you worked with that you would like to? I'd like to continue working with my pianist, Nate Buccieri forever, he is amazing. And, I worked with a band at Sleep No More, but I've never worked with a band on my own show. I would love to collaborate on arrangements with a bunch of musicians in that way. I'm hoping to do that later on as our monthly gig at the Duplex gets underway.

3. What excites you about your upcoming cabaret show at The Duplex on June 19? Just that I don't know what's going to happen! It's a little more impromptu than other shows I've done, we're making it a monthly thing, so we're switching things up a little bit every time, so I find the unpredictability of all of that pretty exciting.

4. What do you like about performing at The Duplex as opposed to other venues around the city? THE STAFF!!! They just have a great way of making performers feel really welcome.

5. On June 17, you are taking part in the third annual Night of A Thousand Judys, benefiting the Ali Forney Center. What made you want to be part of this evening? How does it feel to know you are helping so many GLBT Youth? It's just a great thing. I've sung at The Meeting a couple of times and being a part of any evening where Justin Sayre is at the mic is bound to be a blast. Beyond that, I was actually pretty familiar with the Ali Forney Center through my efforts in social work. Someone came to speak about homelessness in the LGBT population in one of my classes and I really came to understand what a huge issue it is. I think living in Manhattan, especially if you're not gay, it can seem like being gay is totally easy, but a lot of these kids are coming from cultures and school settings a lot different than what we accept as the norm at places like the duplex or in the theater district. They are made to feel unsafe in their schools, they're ostracized by their families, and what's most startling is the rates of suicide that we're seeing. That tells you something about the predicament these kids and young adults are in - if the trend among this population is that life is so hard at 18 that the only way you can make it better is to attempt suicide, then clearly we really need to rally and give them the support they need. It's an important issue, it doesn't get nearly enough attention and I hope we make a lot of money!

Danielle Grabianowski at the 24th Annual Mac Awards, Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN.COM6. You are the recipient of the 2010 MAC Award for Outstanding Female Vocalist and the Bistro's Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award given to a "Star on the Rise." What do these honors mean to you? It was a great feeling to be recognized. The cabaret community in NYC is such a warm and fascinating group of people - I love being a part of that.

7. You took two years off from performing to go back to school to get a master's degree in Social Work. What made you want to pursue a degree? Do you feel this experience enriched your performing at all? My desire to do social work is totally related to my experience as an artist. When I was going through all the struggles as a performer, there were a lot of people who helped me: my acting teacher, my Alexander Technique teacher, my therapist. Mostly they helped me grow and change, which is what I needed to do. Most of the time, it's really hard to change on your own. No matter how much you want to change, a time will probably come when you don't think you can do it and you give up on yourself. It's a natural part of the process for a lot of us, which is why we need people around believing in us when we don't believe in ourselves and fighting for us when we lack the strength to fight on our own. On a very simple level, that is what social workers do. I wanted to give back to people what had been given to me. I'm still at the beginning of things but at some point I plan on working with other performers on all of this stuff. Social Work School has really shifted the way I see the world and other people and I'm guessing that will come across as I get back into performing.

8. What have you learned about yourself from being a performer? When I first moved to the city, so much of my confidence was wrapped up in my identity as a singer and when I didn't have success the first few years, my self-esteem took a huge hit. It was really bad, at the worst point, I couldn't even sing without crying. On some level, I thought that singing was the best thing about me and if no one found it valuable, I didn't know what to do with myself. Eventually I had to learn that there was more to me and more to life than performing. So I actually learned the most about myself through the rejection, which I think is the case for a lot of artists. Ironically, when I stopped grasping at the need to be successful, something more natural and innate took over that people really responded to.

9. What's the best advice you've ever received? It's so simple, but when I was auditioning for musicals and making myself miserable, I knew I had to make a change, but I'd been doing it for so long, the idea of simply making the 'right choice' about what to do next seemed impossible. My husband said to me, "it doesn't matter what you do, it just matters that you do something." And it's true. Soon after that responded to a Playbill add for an internship for Miller Wright & Associates. They specialize in PR for Jazz and Cabaret artists. While I didn't become a PR maven, I was exposed to amazing performances that I would have never had the chance to see and I also learned how to promote other people's shows which made it much easier when it came time to promote my own. I eventually got a job there and was surrounded by cabaret all the time and I think that played a huge role in all the great things that have happened to me cabaret-wise. And it all started by a small step of responding to an internship add.

10. If you could have any super power, which one would you choose? Time travel!!!!

More on Danielle:

Danielle Grabianowski won the 2010 MAC Award for Outstanding Female Debut, the Bistro’s Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award given to a “Star on the Rise” and the first-ever 1930s Idol competition. She was last seen as the jazz singer "Josephine Grant" in the award-winning Off-Broadway sensation, Sleep No More. Danielle took a two-year hiatus from performing to pursue a master’s degree in Social Work from New York University and has performed with various theater companies around the country including the Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Bakerloo Theatre Project and Bigfork Summer Playhouse as well as in various readings and workshops of new musicals and plays in New York City. Some of her favorites include "Thea" in Fiorello!, "the Porter" in Macbeth, "Fiona" in Brigadoon and "Angelique" in The Imaginary Invalid. 

Schuyler Iona Press: What I'm Failing to Learn Interview

Fourteen-year-old rising singer/songwriter/actress Schuyler Iona Press has captivated those of all ages with her deceptively simple melodies and introspective lyrics. She is now entertaining audiences every Wednesday and Saturday at Off-Broadway's 13th Street Rep in NYC (50 West 13th Street) with her new musical experience What I'm Failing To Learn through June 15th only! Click here for tickets!

For more on Schuyler be sure to visit http://schuylerionapress.com and follow her on YouTube!

1. Who or what inspired you to become a singer/songwriter/actress? I don't recall a specific moment when I decided that I wanted to be a singer, a songwriter or an actress. I have always been inspired by music, of many kinds. I fell in love with the music of Janis Joplin and Judy Garland when I was very little and tried to sing every one of their songs. Over the years I have found more and more musicians and writers who inspire me in many ways. In fact, I feel like I am constantly being inspired by someone. Last year I discovered Tracy Chapman and Rush. I love Sting and Eric Clapton. Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon and Bob Marley. And then I am inspired by people who are not actually musicians or actors themselves but just fascinate me. People I meet who make me laugh or cry and people I don’t know but who I wonder about because I catch a glimpse of their lives. I can't think of one particular actor or actress who inspired me although I love many. I'm inspired more by interesting people I see in real life I think. I guess my inspiration is a work in progress.

2. Who are you hoping to work with in your career? I guess I'm hoping to actually work in my career.  That would be nice. I haven't really thought about this. I love actors who bring humor to their characters, even really tragic characters. I really love Julie Delpi, I'd like to work with her. And her dad too! I'd like to be on a stage with Paul Simon. That would be crazy and amazing.

Schuyler Iona Press in "What I'm Failing To Learn", Photo Credit: Darren Press3. What made you want to create What I'm Failing To Learn? While I am really passionate about writing music and I love concerts, I also love theater. My mom and I talked about combining the two and creating a theatrical world where my songs could exist as part of something bigger. It was a challenge we made for ourselves and seemed like a lot of fun. It was also a chance to collaborate with my mom who wrote the video pieces. I had worked with my mom on a film that she wrote and co-directed called Theresa Is A Mother. I was an actress in that film. But this was different because we were really collaborating on the whole creative process.

4. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing the show? I hope audiences are surprised and entertained and I really hope they feel they saw something that inspired them to talk or think about things in a new way. I guess I hope they come away feeling they had a lot of fun and that the music and characters made them feel things.

5. At 14 years old, what is like to gain the success you have thus far? How do you handle it all? I haven’t thought of any of this in terms of success, just doing the work that makes me feel good. I work very hard and I love writing and making music. I also love acting and collaborating with other people as a musician and an actress. So, it doesn’t feel like much to handle in that sense. I do put a lot of pressure on myself to do good work because it means so much to me, but that’s good pressure not bad pressure.

6. What is your favorite part of the creative process in writing a song? That’s tough because every song has its own creative process. Sometimes I write words first, sometimes a melody comes to me first. I think the best part is when suddenly a melody finds words or the other way around and I see it come together, that’s pretty exciting for me.

Schuyler Iona Press at The Bitter End, Photo Credit: Darren Press7. What does it mean to be the youngest artist to play NYC's famous The Bitter End? I don’t know what that means actually. It feels really good to share my music in a place like the Bitter End because of its history. I definitely loved thinking about and feeling all the amazing artists that have played on that same stage for so many years while I was playing there. To me being the youngest doesn’t mean much, but being a part of something bigger, like the history of an iconic folk and rock club, does mean a lot to me.

8. What have you learned about yourself from being a singer/songwriter/actress? I think the thing I’ve learned about myself that makes me the happiest is that my ideas and the music that I create can actually speak to other people and I can make connections with many, many people through it. That’s really important to me because in my private life I am very shy and I never found it that easy to make lots of friends in school and things like that. 

Schyler Iona Press in "What I'm Failing To Learn", Photo Credit: Darren Press9. What's the best advice you've received so far? That being "weird" because you are being honest and true to who you are is a perfectly good option in life. Look at people in the eye when they are talking to you, that’s important. And don’t always try to win an argument, especially with a three year old or a religious fanatic on the subway.

10. If you could have any super power, which one would you choose? Just one? I want a lot of super powers. I thought once that I would like the power to read people’s minds, but I think that would actually be terrible. I definitely want to fly. Super hearing would be good because eavesdropping is one of my favorite hobbies. I’d like the power to make people doing mean things to other people suddenly "get it" and stop.  That would be a good power. And if I have super powers I want a really good costume to go with them. Maybe with go-go boots.

Schulyer Iona Press, Photo Credit: Darren PressMore on Schuyler:

Schuyler is a 14 year old singer/songwriter from NYC now living in the Hudson Valley. She is the youngest artist ever invited to participate in the prestigious Singer/Songwriter Sessions at NYC’s iconic Bitter End. The music video to Schuyler’s 911 tribute song "Playground Museum" which is a first hand account of Schuyler’s experiences at 3 years old and includes a combination of home video of Schuyler shot on 9/11/01 and 9/11/12, had its premiere at the International Film Festival Manhattan and is a winner of the prestigious My HERO International Film Festival Music Video category in Los Angeles. "Playground Museum" is also a 2012 finalist for the Ron Kovic Peace Prize.

At 13 years old, Schuyler wrote the score and main theme song "Summer Child" for the 2012 indie feature film Theresa is a Mother winner of Best Film awards at the Orlando Film Festival, Washington DC Reel Independent Film Extravaganza, and International Film Festival Manhattan. Schuyler also co-stars in the film and was nominated for a 2012 RIFE Best Supporting Actress Award.

Schuyler has opened for singer/songwriter Ellis Paul and performed in many 2012 summer music festivals including Black Potatoe, Block Island, Utica Music, Boston GreenFEST and more. She was featured in the 2012 Spring issue of Avalon Magazine with photos by rock photographer Rebekah Blu.

Schuyler is a prolific song writer and is constantly adding to her large catalog of original songs. She wrote and recorded her first single, "I Am Today" at age 10, 100% of her proceeds from "I Am Today" go to pediatric cancer research. A poet at heart, Schuyler is inspired by life around her and continues to develop in front of audiences as a writer, guitarist, and humanitarian.

Interview with Steven Reineke, Musical Director/Conductor of The New York Pops

In my seventh video interview, Call Me Adam sat down with Steven Reineke, Musical Director/Conductor of The New York Pops to talk about The New York Pops 30th Anniversary Gala on Monday, April 29 at 7pm featuring Megan Hilty, Laura Osnes, Kelli O'Hara, Marilyn Maye, Donna Murphy, Nick Adams, Laura Benanti, Stephanie J. Block, Will Chase, Liz Callaway, Max von Essen, and many others! For tickets visit http://www.newyorkpops.org!

SNEAK PEAK: Call Me Adam chats with Steven Reineke about The New York Pops 30th Anniversary Gala

Here is an EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK at Call Me Adam's interview with Steven Reineke about The New York Pops' 30th Anniversary Gala taking place on Monday, April 29 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. For tickets visit www.newyorkpops.org.

Lucie Arnaz: Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts Interview

The daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lucie Arnaz has had an extremely diversified career spanning over 45 years in show business. She made her Broadway debut as "Sonia Wolsk" in Neil Simon-Marvin Hamlisch-Carole Bayer Sager-musical They're Playing Our Song for which she won the Theatre World, LA Drama Critics and Outer Critic's Circle Awards and has gone onto star in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as well as dazzling audiences in both film and television.

Now Lucie is continuing on with her recording career as she comes to Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 8pm with her show "An Evening with Lucie Arnaz" where concert goers can hear new arrangements of favorite standards by Gershwin, Ellington, and Porter, as well as Latin tunes made famous by her father and showstoppers from her Broadway career. Showtime is 8pm. Click here for tickets!

For more on Lucie be sure to visit http://www.luciearnaz.com and follow her on Facebook!

1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer? Not ever going to be sure of that. One would have to guess though, right? My folks were in the biz and I saw that they loved what they did for a living. If they sold fruit and loved it, I might be a produce manager now.

2. Who haven't you worked with that you would like to? The list is very long. And most have died. But, for the living, we can start with Ron Howard, Steven Soderberg, George Clooney, Kathleen Marshall, Hugh Grant...........and on and on.

3. You are going to be performing at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on May 18. What excites you about this upcoming concert? I rarely get a chance to perform my shows close to home and my friends are always asking when they can see me. Now they will have no excuse!!

4. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing your concert, "An Evening with Lucie Arnaz"? A happier outlook on their lives.

5. With a wide range of material to choose from, how did you decide which material you wanted to perform for this concert? Each show is a bit different from the last. I look at the audience I will be playing for (demographics sometimes matter- often they don't), the money matters only in the size of the band I can provide and the size of the band then decides which of my 200+ charts I will do. Some songs work well with a small band and other arrangements really need the full complement. This is going to be the trio show and so it's a cozier feel. The material is always drawn from the same well, though. GREAT SONGS. Or, at least, what I believe is a great song- fairly new or a vintage standard. Stick with the best songwriters and great stories and you cannot go wrong. Plus, I am an "arrangement whore." A good arrangement of a song can send it into a whole new stratosphere.

6. Your latest album Latin Roots, is a celebration of your Latin heritage. What made now the right time to put this CD together? I had been asked to produce an evening celebrating the music of my father and his Desi Arnaz Orchestra for the 40th Anniversary of Lyrics and Lyricists Series at The 92nd Street Y in NYC. My musical director and I had been discussing the idea of a "Latin Roots" CD for years as we do so much of this music in our shows. It seemed criminal not to have that kind of a CD available for sale in the lobby if we were going to produce this big evening tributing my roots. SO, we produced both at the same time!!!

7. What is your favorite part of the creative process in putting an album together? The first time I hear the charts played by the full orchestra is pretty fabulous. When you get the head phones on in the booth and start signing to those amazing tracks. And hearing the completed, mixed CD for the first time is bliss.

8. You starred in one of my favorite Broadway shows They're Playing Our Song. Looking back, what was the best part about starring in this show?  That's an almost impossible question to answer. There was so much good about that experience. Working with and learning from the genius that is Neil Simon. Working with and learning from the genius that was Marvin Hamlisch. Laughing harder than I can remember at Robert Klein's humor. Being directed by Robert Moore. Watch Carole Bayer Sager create. I am a lyricist, too, and that was a dream come true for me right there. Being a star in a hit Broadway show. That's like being Cinderella at the ball every night. NOT being nominated for a TONY. There was more love and compassion sent my way because of that than if I had WON. And, best of all, I met my husband Larry Luckinbill, during the run of that show and we have been married 32 years now and he gave me three beautiful children and two delightful stepsons.

9. What do you get from your theatrical ventures that you do not get from your music or television/film work? A sense that, after working very hard and giving it my all during rehearsal, that I did it all by my self once the curtain goes up. There is great pride in that. It's a big wire act that thrills me to no end. It is also a huge amount of work to DO eight shows a week for an extended period, to keep showing up every night and giving 100%. That is something to be very proud of. 

10. You were the executive producer of two specials about your parents Lucy and Desi, the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special and Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie. What was it like going back through all the pictures and footage for these specials? I directed Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie, too, and in both cases, it was a very healing experience. I encourage everyone to try it, whether they have famous parents or not. Walk a mile in their shoes and see what choices you might have made if you had been in their place at the same time. It's a very forgiving experience.

Lucy Arnaz, Desi Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr, Lucie Arnaz, Photo from www.luciearnaz.com11. What do you miss most about your parents? Boy, you ask the big questions, don't ya? I feel like I should have a book deal and a big advance at this point for these answers!!!!! I miss now what I missed when they were both alive. I miss them being there.

12. What is like to be the daughter of two people who made such a big impact on the world of entertainment? A gift. A bonus. A pain in the ass.  A huge responsibility. A challenge. An inspiration. A reason to search for the real truth in life. SO, ultimately, a blessing.

13. What have you learned about yourself from being a performer? That I can be a light in this world.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

14. What's the best advice you've ever received? 

From my father: "There must be a way."

 From my mother: "Be good to Lucie." 

 From Unity: That we are all ONE and the power of God is within ME.

15. If you could have any super power, which one would you choose? I have not got a clue. Can I see the list of super powers? Is there a power to bring peace to all nations? If so, that would be my choice.

More on Lucie:

Lucie Arnaz's other New York stage credits include Lost in Yonkers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Grace and Glorie; in the London premiere of The Witches Of Eastwick; in the Coconut Grove Playhouse premieres of Once Removed and A Picasso; in national tours of Seesaw, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Social Security and My One And Only (Sarah Siddons Award); and in regional theatre productions of Wonderful Town, Master Class, Cabaret, The Guardsman, Annie Get Your Gun, I Do! I Do!, Educating Rita, Vanities, and Mack And Mabel.

She has appeared on television in The Lucie Arnaz Show, Sons And Daughters, The Black Dahlia, The Mating Season, Who Gets The Friends?, Washington Mistress, Death Scream and six seasons of Here's Lucy; on the big screen with Neil Diamond and Sir Laurence Oliver in The Jazz Singer (Golden Globe Nomination), Down To You, Second Thoughts, Billy Jack Goes To Washington, The Pack, Wild Seven and has lent her voice to the new animated fantasy about the NY Yankees, Henry And Me.

Lucie has performed the opening number on the Academy Awards (1981) and at The White House several times. She was Executive Producer of the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special (Emmy nomination), and Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie (Emmy winner 1993). She recorded her first album for Concord Jazz, "Just In Time," and her newest CD, "Latin Roots," is a celebration of just what the title says. Lucie has been traveling the country and the world with her various concerts for over 20 years. With her brother, Desi, she manages Desilu, too, LLC. With her husband, actor Laurence Luckinbill, she manages five grown children.