Feature: 30 Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Twenty-Eight - The Classics

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

Penny Fuller, Anita Gillette, Lee Roy Reams, Vivian Reed - The Classics

The various genres of the performing arts all originate out of a (mostly) single place. Jazz is well-known to have been born in New Orleans, and the history of country music can find its earliest seeds in The Appalachian Mountains, and, believe it or not, rock and roll came out of Cleveland. Obviously, England gave the world Shakespearean Theater but the country is also responsible for Panto, and early cabaret was developed in Paris and Berlin. Here in America, we have the movie-making town of Hollywood, and we have New York City's Broadway, the center of the theater scene, where regional theaters both find the plays they will do, or eyeball Broadway runs for the plays they create. The history of American theater is rich and fascinating, glamorous and arduous, with the tales of great artists who created theater at the typewriter, from the drafting table, in the rehearsal hall, on the stage, and in every room that a theater holds. That history is alive in the person of iconic, important, legendary, and valuable artists who keep their memories and artistry alive by sharing with the audiences of the nightclubs of New York City, and the towns that lie beyond the borders of Manhattan. Of all the artists who tread the cabaret boards, these actors are hailed as Broadway Royalty.

Because they are

Penny Fuller - The Actress

Penny Fuller smiles when she jokes that she is "A Serious Actress" and it is with the cutest smile, impish and playful, and a twinkle in the eye. And the truth is that Penny Fuller is a serious actress, but not in the way that people usually think, when they hear the words "serious actress" (meaning Shakespeare, rather than musical comedy). Penny Fuller does it all - she does Broadway, Off-Broadway, Williamstown, tours, film, television and cabaret... and she always approaches the work from the most reverent place possible. Penny Fuller is a great American actress and she doesn't phone it in: she shows up, ready to deliver, and that is what she means when she says she is a serious actress. She takes the work, the text, the story, and the audience seriously.

Lee Roy Reams once said (to this writer) that the play APPLAUSE would have been a hit because of star Lauren Bacall, but that it was Penny Fuller that made Applause a success.

Penny Fuller can be found on the cabaret stages of New York in group shows or in her own shows. She may drop in for one number (like she did when she devastated a room full of people with one ballad in a recent Maltby & Shire show at 54 Below) or she may provide a full program of music and anecdotes (like she has done in SIN TWISTERS and SIN TWISTERS, TOO! With her chum, Anita Gillette) and each time that Penny is up on the stage, Penny gives her all as an entertainer, but she also gives her all as a teacher. Watching Penny work is like a Master Class in being present - one has only to see her incomparable "Finishing The Hat" to see the depth of her greatness. And, if one is really lucky, Penny might do "One Halloween," her show-stopper from Applause. It's also a heart-stopper, rather like Penny herself.

With Tony nominations for Applause and The Dinner Party, Penny Fuller is Broadway Royalty and she is A Classic.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of a Penny Fuller show HERE.

Penny's online presence is as follows:

Facebook: Click HERE.

Twitter: Click HERE.

Penny's pronouns are She/Her

Penny's future projects include:

Penny just appeared in the Maltby & Shire show at 54 Below and is preparing to celebrate the holidays. When she returns to work, Broadway World Cabaret will be there to break the news.

Anita Gillette - The Spitfire

When Anita Gillette and I first met, she came to me for a headshot. I asked what she wanted her headshot to say and she said, "Sexy Grandma." That was fifteen years ago. Anita Gillette is still a Sexy Grandma. She is also a great American actress who has been in the public eye for many a year, making her mark on the Game Show Circuit of the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties after scoring major hits on Broadway and before becoming a movie legend in a little film named MOONSTRUCK. As an actress, Anita Gillette can do anything, though her divine soprano and ingénue appearance made her a natural for musicals, where she started her journey working alongside the legends - Ethel Merman, Jerry Orbach, Ray Bolger, Joel Grey, David Merrick, and Irving Berlin. A legend herself now, Anita shares the stories of her life lived among the legends in her club acts, even dedicating an entire show to "Mister B"... Irving Berlin.

Back when we did the Sexy Grandma headshots, Anita told me she was thinking of doing a club act but that it scared her. Nevertheless, she had piles of sheet music on the dining table, and a date to discuss a potential club act with Paul Greenwood, who would become her Musical Director for all of her shows, so many that it is difficult to keep track of them - some during which she shares the stage with a spotlight and her memories, and some that give her a playmate like Penny Fuller, Lee Roy Reams, or Harold Sanditen. Anita Gillette is an artist and, as such, she is always creating, always thinking of something new, always ready to make a new play, tell a new story, and thrill a new audience.

And she does thrill them.

Listening to Anita Gillette tell the stories of Hilda Schneider (or, as pronounced in her show, "Hilda Schneida") and Mister B., hearing the tales of touring with the generous and gracious Ethel Merman, and being treated to her "Don't postpone joy" story are treasures to be savored. Being in the room when she belts out "The Secret Service" or croons "I Still Believe In Love" are moments in musical theater history. And if you are lucky enough to be there when Anita sings "Mira" have your hanky ready; it doesn't get better.
Earlier this year Anita and Penny appeared in the Special Event 50 Key Stage Musicals alongside the likes of Mr. Rubinstein, Mr. Cariou, and Mr. De Shields and, with all due deference to the gentlemen, when Anita and Penny did their six-song medley from CABARET, the audience response was pandemonium. It was a response well-earned and well-deserved.

With a Tony nomination for Chapter Two, Anita Gillette is Broadway Royalty and she is A Classic.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of an Anita Gillette show HERE.

Anita's online presence is as follows:

Website: Click HERE.

Facebook: Click HERE.

Anita's pronouns are She/Her/Hers

Anita's future projects include:

November: indie movie shoot begins Title-GIRL CLOWN
December: indie film release BLEECKER (hopefully)
April 17, BIRDLAND at 7
BLUE BLOODS new season episode 5

Lee Roy Reams - The Raconteur

Lee Roy Reams has been tapping his troubles away for his entire life, most of those years in front of an audience. One of the industry's greatest song-and-dance men of all time, Lee Roy has worked with the very best, from Bob Fosse to Gower Champion, from Cy Coleman to Jerry Herman, and, today, he is one of the cabaret industry's most often engaged performers. He can be found doing his solo shows every season, and when he isn't on the stage doing his own thing, he can be found waiting in the wings to go on for a special number in a group show, or he can be found in the audience, supporting his colleagues. Lee Roy is a special part of the industry and the community because he brings something truly unique to the stage with him: himself.

Lee Roy Reams is a storyteller. He loves to talk and he has tales to tell, and the smart people will pull up some floor, cross their legs like a Kindergartner at story time, rest their elbows on their knees and their chin on their hands, and just listen. Lee Roy hasn't just worked with everyone, he has known everyone, and he remembers everything. He tells his Broadway history with much love and much respect... but also respect for the truth. He doesn't sugar coat it when there is something to say that isn't just cake and sunshine: he tells it like it is, like it was, like it will always be, because he remembers. When he shares his stories about Jerry Herman, there are tears in his eyes. When he tells his tales about Juliet Prowse, there is reverence in his voice. And when he speaks of Lauren Bacall, he does so with pride and respect.

He also speaks with pride and respect about the importance of education. Famous as the first success story of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Lee Roy Reams is always a participant in the shows that Scott Coulter creates at 54 Below to welcome new graduates to the industry and honor past graduates who have stayed in the game. Lee Roy shows up, ready to perform a show stopping number in his completely and totally intact Broadway belt, tell some saucy tales, and encourage the youth of CCM to reach out for advice from him or any of the other alumni. Lee Roy Reams stands tall, sings loud, and tells the story. He's not tapping that much anymore but when he does the Oak Leaf monologue from Hello, Dolly! There are tears in his eyes and there are tears in our eyes. He is one of a kind, he is an original, and he is absolutely irreplaceable.

With a Tony nomination for 42nd Street, Lee Roy Reams is Broadway Royalty and he is A Classic.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of a Lee Roy Reams Show HERE.

Lee Roy's online presence is as follows:

Facebook: Click HERE.

Instagram: Click HERE.

Lee Roy's pronouns are He/Him/His

Lee Roy's future projects include:

Lee Roy Reams is traveling at the time but when he has a new show Broadway World Cabaret will bring our readers the information.

Vivian Reed - The Force of Nature

One has only to see Vivian Reed perform "Sweet Georgia Brown" on YouTube to see that she is a powerful force with which to be reckoned. But video footage of Vivian Reed in action doesn't do her justice. In person, Vivian Reed is one of the most commanding presences ever to stand on a stage... or, frankly, just on a sidewalk, in an elevator, or in a living room. Vivian Reed is one of a kind, the sort of person that they say "they broke the mold after" about. Vivian has played the great stages of America, Europe, Japan, and many other countries, in plays, with her nightclub acts, and in variety shows, catching the attention of some Crowned Heads of Europe and most famous of patrons, like Monsieur Pierre Cardin. Vivian has made her mark in the world of fashion and in the recording industry, and she has spent countless generous hours spreading her singer's wisdom and performance technique to others, by way of classes she conducts as one of the industry's most in-demand vocal coaches.

But when Vivian Reed hits the nightclub stage... watch out.

With acclaimed shows that always sell out, Vivian Reed has shown her versatility as a vocalist by singing The Great American Songbook, by performing a much-lauded Lena Horne tribute show, and by bringing down the house with an evening built around the hits of the radio. Vivian's show LITTLE BIT OF SOUL, LITTLE BIT OF POP remains the benchmark of what this reviewer hopes for when entering a cabaret club; it set a Gold Standard for this reporter, mere months before coming to work for Broadway World Cabaret, during a family night out. With her inimitable power voice, her unmistakable originality, and the kind of charisma that truly sets a star apart from the rest of the world, Vivian Reed essentially tore down The Green Room 42 (in the middle of an a/c outage, no less), leaving her audience screaming for more. It was one of the most memorable nights this live music devotee has had, in a lifetime of club-going. Vivian Reed is an entertainer unlike any other, with a real integrity for the quality of her artistry that her students will be lucky to take with them into their own artistic trajectory, either from having it taught to them or by having absorbed it by osmosis. Fashion forward, funny, and possessing of true goodness of heart, Vivian Reed is a treasure to the cabaret and concert industry and community.

With Tony nominations for The High Rollers Social And Pleasure Club and Bubbling Brown Sugar, Vivian Reed is Broadway Royalty and she is A Classic.

Read the Broadway World Cabaret review of Vivian Reed's album HERE.

Vivian's online presence is as follows:

Website: Click HERE.

Instagram: Click HERE.

Facebook: Click HERE.

Twitter: Click HERE.

Vivian's pronouns are She/Her

Vivian's future projects include:

Continuing her work as a coach for singers with a wish to enhance and perfect their performance skills. Vivian Reed can be reached at vivianreedperformer@gmail.com

In her spare time Vivian hand-makes scarves and ponchos. Visit her Etsy store HERE.

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