“A Star is Born” — brought vividly to life by award-winning cabarettist Molly Pope — will now include a recently-rediscovered Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin song, “I’m Off the Down Beat,” written for the original film, but never used. Pope’s take on the music of the iconic 1954 Warner Bros. film will return to Feinstein’s/54 Below for a one-night-only encore performance on Wednesday, September 28 at 9:30 PM. Debuting in July 2016 to a packed house and standing ovation, songs including “The Man That Got Away,” “Gotta Have Me Go With You” and the “Born In A Trunk” medley will be fully realized in a site-specific presentation at Broadway’s supper club. Flanked by two song and dance men, Danny Bevins and Brian Beach, and backed by a five-piece band, Ms. Pope thrillingly re-examines the triumph and heartbreak of Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester. The evening will feature musical direction by Brian Nash, musical staging by Ben Cameron, and staging by Molly Pope.
Molly Pope is a critically acclaimed singer and actor whose shows have played Joe’s Pub, Feinstein’s at the Regency, Ars Nova, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, OBERON (A.R.T.), and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in Australia. She is the recipient of both the 2016 Bistro Award for “Creative Cabaret Artistry” and the 2016 MAC Award for Musical Comedy Performer for her show “Molly Pope Likes Your Status.” She has been named a Time Out New York “Top Ten Cabaret Act of 2008” and 2012 and a Village Voice Best of NYC 2011 for “Best Singer To Turn Life Into A Cabaret.” Most recently she recorded her first album, An Audience with Molly Pope, live at Joe’s Pub. Branded “one of downtown cabaret’s most adventurous performers” by the New York Times and hailed as “tremendously entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal, she has also performed at The Cafe Carlyle (“Tales From The Jazz Age”), the Afterglow Festival in Provincetown, The Amber Zone at Sid Gold’s Request Room and “Our Hit Parade” at Joe’s Pub. Stage credits includeFound (Atlantic Theater Co), Horseplay, or the Fickle Mistress (LaMama ETC/Theatre Askew), Dan Fishback’s The Material World (Dixon Place). www.mollypope.com
Ben Cameron has appeared on Broadway in the original companies of Wicked, Aida and Broadway’s Footloose and has toured with Sweet Charity, Fame, Tommy, Footloose and State Fair. He was a founding company member of Utah Contemporary Dance Theatre (Odyssey) and Dre.Dance (Taye Diggs, Andrew Palermo dirs). Most recently choreographing the Rockettes for a Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show at the Life Ball in Vienna, Ben continues to teach master classes around the world as well as writing and directing solo shows for Broadway talent. His own solo show, “Different Is Good,” played sold-out engagements in 2005 and 2010. As a teacher he has served on the faculties of NYU’s CAP21 Conservatory and Wagner College on Staten Island. He can be heard on the original cast albums of Wicked and Footloose and on Bobby Cronin’s “Reach The Sky.” As one of Broadway’s most beloved personalities, Ben is the host of the long-running late night “Broadway Sessions,” now in its 8th year. Other hosting appearances include Mostly Sondheim at the Duplex (3-time MAC Award nominee), MainStage host for the inaugural BroadwayCon 2016 (returning 2017), and hosting the New Year’s “Downton Abbey” marathon on Masterpiece Classic for PBS Channel 13. His web series “Dance Captain Dance Attack!!!” and “Broadway Obsessions” will be debuting on BroadwayWorld.com this fall. Follow him on social media @BenDoesBroadway.
Brian J. Nash Off-Broadway: Mother Courage and Her Children (CSC), SILENCE! The Musical (MD/Orchestrator), Kathy Najimy’s Lift Up Your Skirt (upcoming), Crossing Brooklyn (Transport Group), A Broadway Diva Christmas, Writing Arthur (NAMT), But I’m A Cheerleader and Natalie Joy Johnson: Full Bush (NYMF), Phenomenon (HERE), Bare (New World Stages, producer). Regional: Beaches (pre-Bway, Drury Lane), The Last 5 Years (Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Asolo Rep), Writing Arthur and Something’s Wrong With Amandine (TheatreWorks). Recordings: Forever/After, SILENCE!, Justin Tranter, Boys Like Girls, Natalie Joy Johnson, Shanna Sharp, Kate Pazakis, Stacy Allyn Baker. Concert work with Deborah Cox, Andy Bell (Erasure), Tiffany, Mandy Gonzales, Natalie Douglas, Molly Pope, Laura Benanti, Lena Hall, Natalie Joy Johnson, and many others. @brianjnash www.BrianJNash.com.
Molly Pope in A Star is Born will be performed at Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Wednesday, September 28 at 9:30 PM. Cover charges range from at $35-45 with premium seats for $75. All seats have an additional $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 PM are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.
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