GRAND FINALE

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 10:55pm

So how many of you posters remember the Grand Finale, the cabaret on 70th Street, just west of Amsterdam Aveneue?

In the mid-70's it was the place for theatre personalities. Chita came back to NYC from LA after her auto accident. Kander and Ebb wanted her to co-star with Verdon in CHICAGO on Broadway. She comes to town and Verdon has health problems and the show is delayed. Chita, God bless her, creates a night club act to buy some groceries...BAM! Chita and two "boys"--Chris Chadman and I don't recall the 2nd. (Boys was fine, they did not insist on being referred to as young persons.) Live on stage in an intimate cabaret. It was the hottest show in town. I went about 4 or 5 times. She literally introduced "All That Jazz" in that act (CHICAGO hadn't gone into rehearsals yet). It wasn't long after Chita closed that Miss Bernadette Peters opened in her night club act. Another BOFFO show and the place to be. She did quite a number of songs from MACK AND MABEL.

Both of these were for the a modest cover charge. I don't recall that there was even a drink minimum. My how times have changed.

Do you remember the Grand Finale?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:02pm

I don't, I was still in my hometown at that point... but it sounds GREAT. Tell us more memories, Unka Bulldog!

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:20pm

I loved the Grand Finale......I saw Alaina Reed there many, many times.............

also...let's see who I remember..

Julie Budd
Marilyn Michaels

hmmm, others....

[MusicMan]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:37pm

Darling---
Your post brought back many memories. Didn't Chita introduce "How Lucky Can You Get?" in that act as well? And wasn't the act called "Chita x 2" or some such? Or was that a subsequent act? I never made it to the Grand Finale (I was a Jersey boy in my mid-teens and I couldn't see EVERYTHING, ya know) but I DID get to see Barbara Cook at Reno Sweeney's and Charles Pierce at...well....somewhere....

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:44pm

Wow, this was right in my backyard, BB! I have NO recollection of this place. The Nickel Bar, Yes. Jaspers, Yes. The Wildwood, yes. The Cherry Diner, yes. Non Sequitur, Yes.

What is in its "space" now?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:44pm

Wow, this was right in my backyard, BB! I have NO recollection of this place. The Nickel Bar, Yes. Jaspers, Yes. The Wildwood, yes. The Cherry Diner, yes. Non Sequitur, Yes.

What is in its "space" now?

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:44pm

In the upper West End? Actually I've got biz meetings in the city this weekend and need to know the how to go from 45th to 72nd St. via bus route preferably. I hate NYC cabs! Anyone, please? Sorry this is OT, but I'm not walking.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 11:46pm

PB, just take the 1 or the 9 from 42nd express to 72nd & Broadway! We have a beautiful new subway station (and a nicely renovated landmark one).

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:56am

Master, we must be neighbors.

Yes, Grand Finale was indeed on W70th. the same space where the restaurant is next to Cafe Luxe.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:58am

Thank you, Music Man.


I knew Chita introduced another Kander & Ebb song, but the name just wasn't coming...So annoying cause it was a song I know well. YIKES! Updated On: 8/27/03 at 12:58 AM

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 9:43am

How Lucky Can You Get was written for and premiered in the film Funny Lady.

I saw Chita Plus Two at the Waldorf and she performed the song, but this was long after the film opened, I believe. I also saw Chita at Studio One in Los Angeles. She was divine.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 9:47am

I was a kid then but those were the days when Cabaret was really something....

...not the two steps below community theatre that it is now....

Ever try getting any agent or manager to come to "Don't Tell Mama's" or the "Duplex"...?

They laugh in your face..!

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 9:50am

Do you speak from experience on that?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 10:10am

YEP!

I learned my lesson ..It's great to do a show at these places to work on stuff or to take a class..
(as long as you don't pay that much)...

..but they can write NY Times articles till they are blue in the face, the "industry" does not treat cabaret like a real entity...

so have fun but don't expect to be "discovered"...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 11:28am

Oh, I can just picture him at Don't Tell Mama's with the gay outfit of the moment, in the spotlight, "Somebody hold me too close..." and his two best women friends at the front table clapping...

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:05pm

yeah, i have seen some MAMA stuff like that, Namo. How kind of you to categorize another poster in that way. You must enjoy a lot of that kind of show to be able to pinpoint it so...nothing like an easy stereotype to really show your wit. i have also seen very good singers/actors at MAMA, the defunct 88 KEYS, and the DUPLEX. It's fun on "Jack & Karen" when Jack references the Duplex....

As to whether agents laugh at a proposed venue, the way i've always thought is this: if they discount someone's talent because of where they perform, they probably don't have the insight to be an agent i'd really like to work with. Easy assumptions lead to missed opportunities. Right, Namo?

[ShineOn]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:16pm

MasterLcZ, apparently we're neighbors. I'm a bit closer to the 66th station, but not too far off from you!

You can take the 2 or 3, as well as the 1 or 9 to 72nd from 42nd, too. (I like the express trains better... they're newer!)

[ShineOn]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:16pm

MasterLcZ, apparently we're neighbors. I'm a bit closer to the 66th station, but not too far off from you!

You can take the 2 or 3, as well as the 1 or 9 to 72nd from 42nd, too. (I like the express trains better... they're newer!)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 12:57pm

ACTUALLY Tex, I've seen some great things at Don't Tell Mama, loved the shows, loved the intimacy.

But my hunch about Anth's show is based on everything I have gleaned about him by reading his posts and the fact that HE spoke about doing shows at such venues that he says get no respect.

Stereotype or informed hypothesis? I guess we'll never know for sure.

"Somebody pull me up short...."

Updated On: 8/27/03 at 12:57 PM

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 4:29pm

glad you've enjoyed things at these venues, too, Namo. ANTH has never posted anything on here that i would consider using to stereotype him. i guess when it comes to making assumptions, i keep my own to myself in case i want to amend them later privately. Kind of like those folks who scoffed at me many months ago on here when i stated i thought Stamos would be an okay follow-up to Banderas in NINE. Scoffing is easy; an open mind takes a lot more personal fortitude.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/27/03 at 6:33pm

A big shout-out to my fellow UWsiders Daisy and BB!

Appearantly Jane Krakowski and Kristin Chenoweth also live in our 'hood. My best buddy Barry has run into Jane K. as well as lovely Jane Powell (who used to go to his gym). He saw Victor Garber on 72 st. a few weeks ago (Vic was laden with Fairway bags),( but neglected to give him my phone number ). John Glover goes to my gym, and I've seen Roger Bart on West 72 st ALWAYS chattering on a cell phone. Alas, we lost Nathan to Soho a few years ago...lots of my friends (but not me) saw him at the late, not-so-lamented WORKS.