Singer-actor Danny Bolero brings his show They Call Me Cuban Pete, The Music and Genius of Desi Arnaz to Don’t Tell Mama on Monday, June 20 at 7 PM. Directed by Madeline McCray, with musical direction by Drew Wutke.
The show is a musical review of the personal and professional life of Desi Arnaz that had them crying, laughing and shouting for more at his April debut. Bolero talks about Arnaz’s rise in the entertainment industry and from the point of view of Arnaz, sets the stage from a club Arnaz performed, now marked for destruction. He reminisces about his life and how he was able to not only star in his own show that remains a main staple of American culture today, but also change the way television shows are directed and produced.
Bolero, who incubated the idea for Cuban Pete for about twenty years, takes audiences on a journey of what Arnaz experienced in his life—from the Arnaz family losing everything in the 1933 Cuban revolution to his musical career, to Broadway, then meeting Lucille Ball and making it in Hollywood. Bolero captures the challenges Arnaz faced singing his songs that made him famous including the endearing “I Love Lucy” theme song.
Bolero currently performs in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite with Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, which runs through July 2022. He has been in numerous plays on and off-Broadway, including the Public Theater’s production of Miss You Like Hell. In addition, he can be heard as the voice of Abuelo in the PBS Kids animated series, “Alma’s Way.” Bolero made his Broadway debut in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1993 revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and appeared in Broadway’s In the Heights.
Tickets are $25.00 with a two-drink minimum. RSVP at www.don’ttellmamanyc.com
Don’t Tell Mama is located at 343 W. 46th Street, NYC
