The Talented Cafe

sleighride1.wmv

This is strange… Merry Christmas

 I am a voracious reader. In fact, I was the eight year old kid that held up the checkout line at the public library; begging the librarian to please, please, please make an exception in my case, allowing me to take home more than the 6 book limit.  (She did! Sweet thing!)  If allowed, I could devour about 8-10 books a week.  I still love reading and the ingredient list on a cereal box will do in a pinch (can anybody tell me what BHT and Niacinamide are?). My favorite writers are J.K. Rowling, Rita Mae Brown, John Grisham, Elmore Leonard, Harold Robbins, Terry McMillan, J. California Cooper and Sydney Sheldon. (Not listed in any particular order.)
     My life is all about creating; it always has been! At the tender age of seven, I began a long professional singing career as a member of the original cast of Sesame Street, lending my singing voice to the soundtrack albums and featured televised songs for about 10 years. I was one of the kids who recorded the Electric Company theme song (with actors Irene Cara and Todd Graff) and have sung in over 70 jingles for everything from Jell-O to KFC and in the animated Christmas special, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland. I sang on many educational compilations for Macmillan House. As a bilingual child I was lucky enough to land many other voiceover jobs, some of which I sang in Spanish and English- most notably “Sing” with The Carpenters. After a hiatus lasting many years, I returned to the studio and the stage- opening for the late Illinois Jacquet’s Big Band and opening for and performing with the late Dizzy Gillespie, a neighbor and close friend of the family who I considered my uncle. I enjoyed a successful run at cabaret and jazz clubs in NYC, New Jersey and in Paris, France, while a student at the Sorbonne.
     My love for performing arts extends beyond vocalization. I previously hosted and produced my own cable TV show for 5 years and have appeared on It’s Showtime at the Apollo and as a guest on the Montel Williams Show. My creative work includes production design for award winning films, and for popular television. I love to act and am presently in development of an electrifying Broadway musical with some exceptional and celebrated talent. It is slated to open in the near future.

     I live in New Jersey, with its rich history and beautiful shoreline. Still, like Daphne, the ocean beckons and my secret ambition is to visit every beach in the world before I pass into the collective consciousness once again.

By the way you want a really good video, check this out, the most controversial video and the jury are still out! 

 Gerbals

You cannot write a script like this can you? But, somebody did… hehehe!

This is Priceless

Well I enjoyed it

Many professional performers work freelance and are, therefore, self-employed. The Corps of Army Music is currently the UK’s largest employer of professional instrumentalists offering a career up to the age of 55. For orchestral players, employers include ballet, symphony, opera and chamber orchestras some of whom will be large enough to employ musicians on full-time contracts. These employers will also employ people on a freelance basis to play specialist instruments, for certain performances and to cover absences, e.g. for those on maternity leave.

Self-governing orchestras, which tend to be less financially secure than the bigger orchestras, will employ musicians on a regular basis, but tend to pay their musicians as freelancers rather than as salaried employees.

There is also occasional work offered by independent fixers for choral society performances, recording sessions and outdoor performances. Freelance musicians or permanent staff can take on this ad hoc work.

The most common employers of singers are opera companies, as there are very few professional choirs. This can lead to other employment opportunities as many of the larger choral societies employ opera singers for solo and oratorio work.