Happy Holidays and Here's What's Next...

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and looking forward to a Healthy Happy New Year!

Our next show that's open to the public is at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte on Tuesday, January 5 at 7:30 pm, and Wednesday, January 6 matinee (doors open 11 am and we do our show at 1 pm after the meal.)

We love doing our shows there because, well it's just ideal. The food is great, the service is wonderful, the room is perfect, the stage is just right. We perform there on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month through April. Check our schedule page on the web site for the reservation number.

We've been busy adding more LOUIS PRIMA songs. Angelina-Zooma Zooma, Buona Sera, and of course, Oh Marie. (Or as Louis says, "Way Marie") Louis Prima was the ultimate Vegas Italian Guy entertainer that all the other stars, including Sinatra and Dean Martin, went to see after they finished their own shows. We're having a lot of fun with these songs, and we're glad so many people asked for them. It inspired us to get busy. We're really enjoying our new segment, "Jokes from the E-mail" where we read the best jokes that people have sent us. There are some real side-splitters. (We don't bother with the groaners, and we can't include the X-rated ones!) We've got a great Connie Francis medley too. And "Mama" in Italian. Not a dry eye, including mine.

We've also returned to one of our favorite traditions. We've been ending the show with our musical Tribute to the Armed Forces.

Hope to see you soon. (They say laughter burns calories, and I don't know about you, but after all the Christmas goodies we could stand to burn a few!)

Lemon Bay Playhouse . WE HAVE A FAN CLUB!!

What a weekend at Lemon Bay Playhouse in Englewood! We performed our Holiday Show there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and had great audiences all three nights.

It's such a treat to perform on the Playhouse stage in a real theater setting. We loved every minute, but the BEST moment was on Sunday when several of our "fans" (translated; "friends") showed up in their OFFICIAL 'DIVA AND THE ITALIAN GUY' T-SHIRTS. We were absolutely overwhelmed. We couldn't believe they had gone to all the trouble of going out and buying t-shirts, downloading our photos from our web site, and somehow getting them on the shirts. Then they all showed up wearing them. What a surprise. I just can't say enough. We are absolutely humbled by the effort and devotion that went into this project. So thank you again and again to Regina (whose idea it was), Karen (who transferred the photos to the shirts), Star (who graciously traded earrings with me by the way, because hers went so nicely with the necklace I was wearing. Then the dear heart let me keep them!), Dell & Pat (who have a perfect attendance record at our LBP shows) and our upstairs neighbor, Ali. God Bless you all. You REALLY made our day, our week, and probably our whole year.

Many thanks to all at Lemon Bay Playhouse who make our experience there such a joy. To Executive Director Jim Hanushek at the helm (and he always comes up with such glowing words about us too), to his wife Ann (whose generosity never fails as she offers up SINFUL BROWNIES AND TO-DIE-FOR OATMEAL COOKIES), and of course, many thanks to Bob LaSalle, Production Manager whose help is SO appreciated during the show, and during our set-up and tear-down.

We can't wait till next time. But it can't possibly top this magical weekend.

BE SURE AND GO TO THE LEMON BAY PLAYHOUSE WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT'S COMING UP. Their theater productions are not to be missed.

http://www.lemonbayplayhouse.com/

More Fun at Visani

Well, we completed our first Holiday Shows of the season. We performed at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte, FL last Tuesday night, and again on Wednesday afternoon for a matinee.

It was great to see friends Barbara and Frank Kelleher, (I forgot to take their picture....darn it!)owners of Turtles Restaurant on Little Sarasota Bay, where we entertained for 15 years! They also were the best man and matron of honor at our wedding in 1994. (Or as Frank, likes to say, "We were the 'best people' at their wedding.") They came to the Tuesday night show, along with many other friends and supporters.

Wednesday afternoon we had two motor coaches and several other groups represented, including the Park Hill Red Hats, Advantage Seniors, H2U (which means "health & happines to you"), Blake Hospital, and the Telephone Retirees. (I loved doing Ernestine the telephone operator for them.) And our very special guests, Nick and his mom Dee (with me in the photo above) who are our neighbors.

A great time was had by all, and I especially enjoyed singing a few holiday songs, like "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (Buddy has some special props for that one....) and "White Christmas". I think the biggest hit of the show was "Nana's Twelve Meals of Christmas" (think 'twelve days of Christmas') especially when we came around to "FIVE BIG MEATBALLS!" . Ah the holiday season has begun.

Next up, we will perform Sunday for the folks at Jamaica Bay community in Fort Myers. We look forward to seeing them again. Then on December 11, 12, and 13 we will perform our show at Lemon Bay Playhouse in Englewood. This is our fourth time at the Playhouse and we hope there will be many many more. We love those people!

So, keep your blood pressure low this holiday season, and by all means remember to have a little fun every day.

Mission Valley Country Club

Well, the picture above should have people in it. I meant to bring my camera to our show at Mission Valley last night so I could take pictures of all our friends and audience members. But I FORGOT. So here's a picture I lifted from their web site. Just use your imagination and put people in those empty chairs, okay?

So anyway, we had a GREAT crowd last night. Those Mission Valley folks are fun, and ready for a good time. We could tell it was Italian Night at MVCC because the minute we walked in, the smell of garlic just about knocked us back out the door. That's not a bad thing, mind you. The kitchen staff out-did themselves with the Italian feast they put on. (We never eat just before a show, so even though they generously offered us food, we gratefully declined and nourished ourselves instead with espresso flavored vodka at the bar. Hey, that's Italian too.)

The show went great, with lots of laughter, smiles, and even a few tears. I admit I was surprised when I began to introduce a Barbra Streisand song, and several people started saying "NO! No Streisand." Huh? Still not sure what that was all about, but we just said "Okay, we can do something else." And we rolled into a foot stomping Donna Summer medley instead. No problem. That's one thing about us.....we'll just roll with the punches and shift gears! We ended the show with a tribute to the armed forces, singing the anthems of the Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Army and we asked members to stand when they heard their anthem. Then we finished it with "God Bless America" when everyone stood and sang along. It felt good.

Many thanks to all the members, and especially to Denny Foley (otherwise known to all as "Doo-wop Denny", famed "oldies" music entertainer), Marion John (entertainment committee chairman), Diana Kirvin (director of marketing) for all her help in advance of the show, Jessica (dining room manager) and all her staff for a marvelous job, and to old friends Caroline, Barbara and many others who greeted us and treated us like old friends. We appreciate the warm welcome.

Looking forward to next time, and next time I'll bring my camera.

Italian American Club Show

We had a ball last night performing for the Venice, Fl Italian American Club. What a great audience! It was especially gratifying because the occasion was an appreciation night for all the hard-working members who volunteer to cook and serve at their popular Friday night pasta nights. These folks show up and work their butts off every week, so we were proud and pleased to entertain them the best we know how. And they all had a great time. Buddy's stories of the old neighborhood really hit home and brought howls of laughter, and when I sang Connie Francis's "Mama" in Italian, they clapped and cheered. (I was a little nervous singing in Italian for all those Italians!)

There are plans in the works for us to return to the beautiful Italian American Club Hall later on to perform a show that will be available for the public to attend. We'll keep you posted!

Here are a couple of photos. Buddy with Teddy, (who is himself an Italian troubadour), and

two lovely ladies, Linda and Barbara.

Visani Dinner Theater FUN

We just finished two fantastic shows at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte, Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The audiences were great at both shows. (Well, Tuesday night we did have one lady -and we use the term loosely - who was pretty sure she was funnier than us and kept yelling stuff at the stage. But it was close enough to full moon to chalk it up as full moon madness.) As usual, everybody raved about the food, which reminded me that we're about due for a dinner at Visani ourselves. It's just so good.

Wednesday we did a matinee show and entertained a fun group who came by motor coach from Country Village in Bradenton, and many others who came by car. Many thanks to all who came and blessed us with their smiles and laughter.

We love it when groups come to our show. And our matinee shows are a great way for anyone to enjoy dinner and a show without having to drive at night.

So remember, we will be appearing at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte THE FIRST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY of every month from now through April. (Tuesday shows are 7:30 pm and Wednesday shows are matinees with doors open at 11 am and show at 1 following meal.)

Come and bring your smiles. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING THERE!

Back in Florida!

We're back home again in Florida after seventeen shows in seven weeks in five states: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Ohio. Great trip, successful shows, lots of laughs, and lots of time with family and friends, too numerous to name.

Our trip did start out with a few STRESS moments. Like the morning we left, our car alarm screaming uncontrollably at 4:30 AM at the convenience store where we picked up coffee for the ride. Couldn't get it to stop. Then when it did stop, couldn't get it to work again. Or lock the doors. Or allow us to start the engine. Or anything. But we finally got started.

Then our first night on the road at the "Bates Motel". We checked in at 7 PM. The place was so creepy we checked back out at 11:30 PM. (By the way, here's a fun fact...did you know that every motel in North America is either owned, operated, or managed by someone named "Patel"?) So we just decided to keep driving. This put us in Washington DC at 3 AM. Due to some confusion between our Mapquest directions and our GPS, we ended up driving right smack through the MIDDLE of Washington DC. At 3 AM. And keep in mind that by now our car alarm is completely disabled. Buddy said that if the van broke down, he'd just shoot himself, and save the car jackers and drug dealers the trouble. But we made it through.

A couple hours later it was my turn to take the wheel and let Buddy sleep. Since we were heading for Massachusetts, I knew all I had to do was stay on route 95 for a really long time. How hard could that be? What I didn't know is that route 95 becomes the New Jersey Turnpike, and I hit it right at the beginning of rush hour. But no problem. Plenty of lanes. Just stay on 95. But I also didn't know that route 95 would take me right across the George Washington Bridge INTO THE BRONX. Understand that I don't do city driving. I am sometimes nervous driving in downtown Englewood during certain times of the day. So imagine my state of mind as I find myself on the top deck of the George Washington Bridge, where all the semi trailer trucks and big buses are directed to go (gee thanks GPS) during full-on New York City rush hour traffic. As the icy fingers of panic quickly close around my throat, I'm still thinking "just stay on 95". And then the sweet female voice of our GPS calmly says "Exit right." And that's how poor Buddy awoke from his peaceful slumber. Me screaming "I CAN'T! I CAN'T GET OVER!!" Who knew that after the bridge you have to EXIT to STAY on route 95??!! Didn't see that one coming.

It's kind of a blur after that. I vaguely remember making my way over to the next exit which brought us into the kind of neighborhood I've only seen on Law & Order, getting trapped in the middle of an intersection blocking traffic, driving under the "el" like a slow motion version of the French Connection, and finally finding a place to pull over and let Buddy drive, but not before slamming the right front tire up over the curb. But by the grace of God we eventually made our way through the mean streets of the Bronx, back to route 95. And it only took another hundred miles or so for both of us to finally blink our eyes once or twice and stop speaking in tongues.

More later. Just remembering is making me sweat.

GLAD TO BE BACK HOME!!