Featuring new performers with every show, the weekly, award-winning Piano Bar Live! (PBL!) streams this Tuesday, February 9 at 7:15 pm ET, with host Scott Barbarino and guests Aaron Lee Battle, Bobby Belfry, Rachel Kaufman, Noah LeCompte, Michael McQuary, Francesca Amari and Ben Strothmann, plus Mystery Guests and MORE!
PBL! is proud to continue the long-established tradition of the piano bar—that special place where we can gather, entertain, support and create, as we connect with live music. Best of all, PBL! is the the unique chance to see veteran performers pass the torch to the next generation of blossoming young talent. The line-up always features a mix of veteran and rising star performers from the world of piano bars, cabaret and Broadway.
Join us this TUESDAY, February 9th at 7:15 pm ET at www.facebook.com/PianoBarLive, on BroadwayOnDemand.com or on YouTube @PianoBarLive
Aaron Lee Battle, a recipient of the Backstage Bistro Award, has performed at the Apollo Theater and was the resident guest artist at Gunay Supper Club in Istanbul Turkey. He has performed in cabaret since 1986, appearing at the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Convention at New York’s Town Hall as well as in San Francisco and in several cabaret rooms in New York City. Battle has worked with talents such as Barbara Carroll, Jay Leonhart and Tony Monte and was also featured at the legendary Five Oaks.
Multi-award-winning singer-songwriter Bobby Belfry has performed at The White House, The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center in addition to a wide range of theatres and nightclubs throughout the country and abroad. He is a featured artist in the music documentary This Time. Belfry also has three albums of music on iTunes and several streaming sites. Billboard magazine has said of him, “Bobby Belfry is one to savor, embrace, and lend the hand of fame to.”
Rachel Kaufman is a seasoned piano bar entertainer, music director, accompanist, multi-instrumentalist and composer who began her music career in piano bars and restaurant in NYC, branching out and extending her range from there. Kaufman has been the music director and/or accompanist for over 300 musicals and cabaret shows world-wide. During this pandemic, she created a series of “CoVideos,” which consisted of remote collaborations with friends from all over the world, posting almost every day on Facebook for nine months. These 228 programs are available on Kaufman’s YouTube channel and on Facebook by searching #covidwithradin. Additionally, she has been performing online weekly since August through the Jersey Free Public Library’s Facebook page, and has also just finished writing the music to a new musical called Against the Grain.
Eighteen year old singer-actor Noah LeCompte has spent the last six years as a choir member, and has also performed the roll of Robin Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as appearing in other shows such as Grantasia for four years. LeCompte is also a second place winner in the New York Srare Solo competition, has sung locally at restaurants and similar venues, and was invited to solo at his high school graduation. Mentored by Scott Barbarino, Artistic Director at Ellen’s Stardust Dine and producer of PBL!, LeCompte has also performed as a Starduster. (Editor’s note: Noah is autistic, a fact that he includes in his biography. He’s proud of his accomplishments, which also encompass mastery of two languages, earning a varsity letter in cross country and track, participating in his school’s Robotics Club and graduating with honors. He is now a college student. When he was diagnosed with autism he was told he would never speak and that his future was limited. He says, “One of my dreams today is to become a famous singer and Autism advocate/ambassador to help encourage other people on the spectrum to follow their dreams. Never Give up. Always assume a person can. Never Assume they can’t. Sky’s the limit. Imagine what a person can do if you believe they can.”)
Michael McQuary is a character actor of stage and screen with the particular ability, talent and skill to physically transform into a who’s-who of Hollywood Golden Age movie stars from Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff to Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, His recent cinematic performances have garnered him the moniker of “The Man of 1001 Faces,” (with a tip of the hat to early Hollywood actor, Lon Chaney, who was known as the Man of 1,000 Faces), the title of which is also the name of a new documentary about him.
Nominated as Vocalist of the Decade 2020 by BroadwayWorldPalm Springs, as well as Best Jazz Vocalist for the 2018 and 2020 Coachella Valley Music Awards, Francesca Amari is a singer/cabaret artist from Palm Springs, CA. She is an award-winner who has performed at A-list cabaret clubs from New York to Hollywood, including the Metropolitan Room, The Gardenia and The Purple Room in Palm Springs.
Ben Strothmann is an actor, photographer and playwright. He hosts the podcast “Big Fat Vegan Radio” and is also known as Honey LaBronx, the Vegan Drag Queen. Honey has a cooking show on YouTube and travels the world raising funds for charity. Strothmann’s play Coming Clean is currently being streamed at http://ComingCleanPlay.com until February 15th.
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