Lea Delaria Live! At The Manor Emperor Showroom

Rising Action Theatre presents:

Lea DeLaria - Live!
Friday and Saturday, July 30 & 31, 2010 - 7:30 p.m.
The Manor Complex, 2345 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors, FL

VIP Tickets (First 5 rows & Mezzanine - reserved seating) - $59
General Admission - $39

Tix at www.risingactiontheatre.com or call 1 800-595-4849.
Groups call 954 561-2225 

Lea DeLaria will be presenting two nights of comedy and song at the Manor Epic Showroom Friday, July 30th and July 31st at 7:30 p.m. for the benefit of Rising Action Theatre. This is the first partnership between Rising Action Theatre and The Manor Complex. "We anticipate this will be a great success, and we plan to do more of these events in the future," says David Goldyn, Rising Action's Producing Artistic Director. Sponsors of the event are Hot Spots Magazine, Mark Magazine, and the South Florida Gay News.

Lea DeLaria has distinguished herself in every form of entertainment that she touches. Jazz Musician, Broadway Diva, Actor Writer and Stand-Up Comic, and it is plain to see why Ben Brantley of the New York Times described Lea as, "Every inch a star."

She made her recording Warner Bros. debut in 2000. Hailed by the Times as 'the Best Jazz Album of 2001", "Play It Cool" confirmed Lea as one of the best jazz singers of our time. Q magazine commented "Lea DeLaria is blessed with one of the most beautiful voices around", while Time Out claimed "the gal can certainly swing", and the Guardian summed her up as "talks like a coffee grinder, and sounds like a cross between Ella Fitzgerald and a Broadway diva." Her second album, "Double Standards", received rave reviews in the UK and US press.

Lea's UK jazz live dates have included the London Jazz Festival (2001 and 2007), Brighton's Komedia (sold out), as well as several sold-out residencies at Pizza Express, and Pizza On The Park. She has also appeared at the New York City JVC and Montreux Jazz Festival, and as the featured vocalist of THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL TOUR.

The first openly gay comic to appear on national television in the United States ( Arsenio Hall, 1993) from this point forward she has toured the world with her one of a kind blend of cool jazz and in your face comedy, often creating stirs (The United States Congress officially "criticized" Lea in 1993) but always winning accolades (MUFF DIVA - BEST OF THE FEST - Edinburgh 1993).

Lea has recorded two live comedy albums ("Bulldyke In A China Shop" and "Box Lunch") and developed specials for HBO, SHOWTIME, COMEDY CENTRAL, CBC, and CHANNEL 4 including work for which she received a 1994 regional Emmy ("THE WORLD ACCORDING TO US", Lifetime). She has created strange characters for daytime soaps (ONE LIFE TO LIVE), Primetime (WILL AND GRACE, FRIENDS, and MATLOCK) and has appeared on every talk show from THE TODAY SHOW (NBC morning show), CHEF DU JOUR (FOOD CHANNEL), Rosie O'Donnell (National Syndication), and POLITICALLY INCORRECT (ABC Late Night).

The small screen gave way to the big screen for Lea as she plays bit parts in major motion pictures ("THE FIRST WIVES CLUB", "SGT. BILKO") but more often leads in independents ("RESCUING DESIRE", "MERCURY IN RETROGRADE", "HOMO HEIGHTS", "EDGE OF SEVENTEEN" (for which her version of Irving Berlin's 'Blue Skies' won a 1999 GLAMA AWARD- Best Jazz Performance) and "FAT ROSE AND SQUEAKY" in which she played the title role along side Academy Award winner Louise Fletcher and 4 time Emmy winner Cicely Tyson.

Like all singing comics Lea's greatest desire was to stand downstage center and hold a Broadway
audience captive. Her dream came to fruition in 1997 with The Public Theater's revival of "ON THE TOWN". Directed by 2 time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe in the role of Hildy she stopped the show 8 times a week and received Obie, Drama Desk, Theater World and Fanny Awards. She became a Drama League Honoree and the recipient of the most notorious snub of recent Tony history. The notoriety pushed Lea into the limelight of the New York theater scene, making her one of the few openly gay actors in the world to cross boundaries playing straight ( Hildy-ON THE TOWN, Broadway / Cinder-LITTLE FISH, off Broadway / Winnie in Happy Days, off Broadway / Joy in CINDERELLA, NYC Opera ) and playing gay ( Mama Morton in CHICAGO, National Tour / Jane in THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD, off Broadway (a role written especially for her by Paul Rudnik), and even portraying men ( Eddie and Dr. Scott inTHE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Broadway / Marryin' Sam in LIL ABNER, Encore Series ) and Bottom in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, McCarter Theater Princeton

As a result of all these musical comedy turns, Ms. DeLaria's singing career blossomed. She toured night clubs and concert halls. (Judy Garland TRIBUTE, MY FAVORITE BROADWAY THE LEADING LADIES, Billie Holiday TRIBUTE, JAZZ SALUTE TO SONDHEIM, Harold Arlen 100 BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION all at Carnegie Hall / END OF THE MILLENNIUM CONCERT, Billie Holiday TRIBUTE at The Hollywood Bowl ) It was at one of these that Lea was spotted by Warner Jazz and signed the deal. Her first record PLAY IT COOL was named Album of the Year by the London Times, with the single THE BALLAD OF SWEENEY TODD remaining at #1 on Jazz radio in the U.S. for 2 months. Her second, DOUBLE STANDARDS leapt onto the Billboard Jazz Chart at #6. The singles CALL ME and PHILADELPHIA from this recording are regular spins on Jazz radio through out the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Lea has toured most of the large Jazz Festivals including LONDON, NEW YORK CITY JVC, and MONTREUX, culminating in her appearance as the featured vocalist of THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL TOUR.

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