Photos: Alice Ripley & John McDaniel Return To Birdland

Birdland welcomed back Tony winning singer/actress Alice Ripley and Grammy/Emmy winning musical director/pianist John McDaniel, who performed in concert at the historic music room on Monday, April 22.

Ms. Ripley sang the songs she made famous on Broadway, and along with Mr. McDaniel at the piano, shared their many gifts and stories from a lifetime spent in music and on Broadway.

Alice Ripley won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for creating Diana Goodman in the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera Next to Normal. Ms. Ripley made her Broadway debut in The Who's Tommy in 1992. Other Original Broadway casts include Side Show (Best Actress in a Musical Tony nomination), Sunset Boulevard, American Psycho, The Rocky Horror Show, and James Joyce's The Dead. Film and Television: SUGAR!, Isn't It Delicious, Inventing Anna, Girlboss.

John McDaniel is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning Music Director, Composer, Director, Arranger, Orchestrator and Producer and is an Artistic Director at the Tony Award winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Most recently, John arranged, orchestrated and was the Music Director for Carol Burnett’s 90th Birthday Special on NBC, which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Variety Special. John has collaborated with Cab Calloway, Shirley MacLaine, George Burns, Kristin Chenoweth, Joel Grey, Betty Buckley, Bette Midler, Shirley Jones and Katy Perry, and has guest conducted 15 Symphony Orchestras across America, including 5 unique concerts with his hometown St. Louis Symphony. John received a BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University.

Photo Credit: Kevin Alvey

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