By Marilyn Lester***In 1984, the TED Talk was born: short-form presentations on various topics, designed to share ideas, stimulate curiosity and spark individual and community action and change. But a TED Talk cabaret? Why not? And who else to create it but the 
multifaceted entertainment maven, Richard Skipper, who transformed the Laurie Beechman Theatre into an immersive event space with Richard Skipper Celebrates! Life Lessons from Legends.
Created in collaboration with director, James Beaman, the show was part reminiscence, part song, part visuals, part interview and wholy what it was designed for: sharing the wisdom of those upon whose shoulders we stand—the first of these being the great take-away from cabaret legend and show attendee, Marilyn Maye: the audience is always the star. This good advice was echoed in one of Skipper’s first remembrances, about his youthful days in South Carolina, via mentor and theatrical teacher Florence Epps. There were also video clips of many “friends of Richard,” who addressed the question of who had impressed each with a memorable piece of advice/learning 
experience.
Special guest, the long West Coast-based star of Broadway, film and TV, Barbara Minkus chatted with Skipper in a pair of high-rise director’s chairs and then took center stage with her own narrative about her career, including a rather horrifying encounter with actor-singer Danny Kaye, who flippantly fired her without any real cause after one appearance on his TV show. But who’s got the last laugh? Her stunning and magnificent performance of “Once Upon a Time” (Charles Strouse, Lee Adams) is available on YouTube. Minkus offered an equally evocative “My Man” (Maurice Yvain, Channing Pollock) again proving her ability as a unique and consequential storyteller.
In a show with many moving parts, Skipper, the master of audience engagement, also produced a spinning wheel bearing the names of multiple legends to be discussed. Audience members 
were also called upon to speak of those who taught them valuable life lessons: Ann Kittredge,, Karen Akers, Becca Kidwell and Bruce Bider all brightly shared. Skipper spoke of Ethel Merman and her legendary devotion to her career, singing “Taking the Veil” from Stephen Cole’s musical Merman’s Apprentice. Then it was music director Dan Pardo’s turn, the pianist citing Julie Andrews and James Earl Jones. Always an energetic, dynamic presence at the keys, the pair sang a marvelous duet of “Baby, Dream Your Dream” (Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields).
For those who were wondering about a certain legend missing from the narrative, how else could Richard Skipper Celebrates! Life Lessons from Legends end but with a tribute to Carol Channing, the legend whom Skipper spent years impersonating and with whom a friendship formed. And so on “Showgirl” (Charles Gaynor) and good advice, a happy audience exited a show brimming with entertainment, each thoroughly feeling like a star.
Photos by Jeff Harnar
