South Pacific's Liz McCartney Rings in the New Year at Laurie Beechman, 12/31

South Pacific's Liz McCartney will be joined by the Ray Fellman Trio for a special New Years Eve concert at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. The concert will take place December 31st at 8:00pm, beginning with hors d'oeuvres, followed by a three course meal beginning at 8:30pm and McCartney's performance beginning at 10:15pm.

Ring in the New Year in the heart of Times Square with dinner, show and champagne toast. Broadway's Liz McCartney, currently treading the boards in South Pacific, entertains with her three person trio, crooning a variety of tunes from Broadway and beyond with a special emphasis on her musical muse, Rosemary Clooney and the hits she made famous (Count Your Blessings, Tenderly, Mambo Italiano). At midnight, following a three course plated dinner, the event cuts live to Times Square via live television while raising a glass with a special toast to all things 2010.

Symbolically, the show starts by recreating the experience of listening to one's favorite vocalists on the radio. In the totally-darkened Laurie Beechman Theatre, McCartney opens with a moving arrangement of "Tenderly" as a single spot ever so slowly back lights and silhouettes her. The biographical narrative begins soon after as the versatile Marcy McGuigan joins McCartney as sister Betty, to recreate the youthful Clooney Sisters.

With her rich voice, McCartney follows Clooney's career and her personal life within a tapestry of songs associated with the star. "Counting My Blessings," "Hey, There," "Slow Boat to China," "Mambo Italiano," and of course the "stupid" song Clooney came to despise that may have been her biggest hit, "Come On-a My House." As the show progresses, McCartney does a splendid job recreating the feeling of Clooney's era, from its 1945 origins to her last concert in Hawaii in 2001.

Tickets for the event are avaible at either $110 for dinner, show, tax gratuities and champagne toast or $35 tickets that include the show only. Tickets may be purchased online through www.smarttix.com or by calling the box office at 212-868-4444.

The Laurie Beechman Theatre (formerly the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar) is an 80-seat dinner theatre in the basement of the West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street in the Manhattan Plaza apartment complex just west of Times Square. The theatre is named for cabaret performer Laurie Beechman.

The theatre opened in 1983 by West Bank Cafe owner Steve Olsen. The Cafe/theatre was in Manhattan Plaza that had been built specifically to house those active in New York's theatre scene. Bruce Willis was a bartender in the restaurant. Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Sean Penn were regulars. More than 1,500 one-act plays have been performed at theatre.

For more information, visit www.beechmantheatre.com.

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