RICHARD HOLBROOK: HOLIDAY CHESTNUTS FROM CHRISTMASES PAST AND PRESENT, will be presented at Don’t Tell Mama on Monday, December 2, 2019 at 7:00 PM.and on Sunday, December 22, 2019 at 8:30 PM. Holbrook will be accompanied by The Tom Nelson Trio, with Tom Nelson on piano, Tom Kirchmer on bass and John Redsecker on drums
The show will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as songs from Broadway and Hollywood that fit nicely into the Christmas season. Among the celebrated composers and lyricists featured in the program are Cole Porter, Leslie Bricusse, Charles Aznavour, Portia Nelson, Anthony Newley, Irving Berlin, Kay Thompson, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Burton Lane, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Amanda McBroom, Michele Brourman and Irving Gordon.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) Celebrates Richard Holbrook (RH) with Six Questions
NiteLife Exchange: You studied music and drama at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts; when did you realize you have the gift of singing and what were some of your early influences? How did you get your start?
Richard Holbrook: I always had the desire to sing from the time I was about six or seven. My early influences were the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, featuring such legends as Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland.
NLE: In New York you found success as an actor on such hit television series as “The Sopranos” and “Spin City” and frequently appeared in “All My Children” and “One Life to Live;” how did you eventually get involved in cabaret?
RH: In the summer of 1984, I had auditioned for the part of J. Pierpont Finch in a community theater production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying in Bergen County, New Jersey. Well, I didn’t get it and to ease my disappointment, I decided to do a concert at a library near my home in Congers (Rockland County), New York. I had done musical recitals in college and for this library concert, I sang and was accompanied by my vocal teacher on piano. The audience reaction was very favorable, so I began to do more and more concerts in and around Rockland County. The following year, 1985, I renewed my then acquaintanceship with Eric Comstock (Eric and I met when he and I worked on a summer stock production of Brigadoon in Ridgewood, New Jersey in 1982). It was Eric who introduced me to the world of cabaret and who became my first accompanist. My first cabaret appearance was in the summer of 1985 at The Horn of Plenty in Greenwich Village. And from then on I was hooked on cabaret.
NLE: Your Regional theatre productions include leading roles in Deathtrap and The Subject Was Roses; what are the most memorable experiences you’ve had in both your acting and singing career?
RH: Well, I consider those roles in Deathtrap and The Subject Was Roses my two best acting performances. As far as singing goes, I would have to say that, in cabaret, singing the Burton Lane songbook was very much a milestone for me because I felt it was that show that put me “on the map” in the New York cabaret community. Also, being invited to sing at the Burton Lane night at the Cabaret Convention shortly after my cancer operation was a big thrill for me.
NLE: You have been a great supporter of other cabaret artists over the year; what has that experience been like for you?
RH: It has been such a wonderful experience for me to hear other singers use their gifts to interpret their music and their art. I try to go out and see as many people as I can because not only do I enjoy seeing and hearing other performers, but I feel I learn so much from every performer that I see.
NLE: After such a full and rewarding career, is there anything on your bucket list you’d like to accomplish?
RH: I’d like to write a book about having survived cancer and how my desire to sing and perform helped me recover very quickly from this disease. By writing my story I hope I would inspire others who are battling diseases or injuries. I’d like them to follow their dreams because that’s what keeps you going—and that’s what has kept me going. I would also love to record more CDs.
NLE: With regard to the future shows, is there anything your’re working on?
RH: I’m thinking of doing either a Jerome Kern show or a show on songs I just simply like to sing.
NLE: What do you do in your spare time?
RH: I constantly work. I need to work in order to pay for the cabaret shows I do. I work as a sub-usher for the Broadway theatres and also I work part-time as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side. I enjoy these jobs. I also get to work with nice people—and that makes it worthwhile.
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Don’t Tell Mama is located at 343 W 46th St (between 8th & 9th Ave) New York, NY, 212-757-0788 (after 4:00PM)
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