Down Under

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Well, this is a first....we just got an email from a fella named Alex from AUSTRALIA, who is coming to the
States for a vacation with his Mum and Dad and wanted to come to our show in September.  I don't know
how he found us, but I guess that's why they call it the "world-wide web"!  He saw that we were performing  in New York, and thought we meant Manhattan, which is where he'll be visiting.  So I guess he won't be traveling eight hours from NYC to Albion to see us, but it sure made us feel good! 

So, Hello Alex in Australia, and thanks for visiting our web site!

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Road Trips

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We started a whirlwind trip on Tuesday, August 16 when we performed at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte, FL and then took off early the next morning for two shows  in Jackson, New Jersey.

We want to thank our FAN CLUB once again for showing up at Visani wearing their official T-shirts and waving little Italian flags.  We can't thank you enough!  Just got an email from Del saying we're up to eleven members now;  Pat, Del, Star, Karen, Connie, Regina, Snoopy, Roz & Chuck, and Tim & Alma.  THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH.  It means so much to have you there right in front.

We had a full house that night and that's really great for a Tuesday night in  August in Florida.

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Then it was off to  the fabulous clubhouse at  Four Seasons at Metedeconk Lakes  in Jackson, NJ where we performed  Friday and Saturday for the Italian American Club.  We were so happy with the way it all went.  Great, Great people to work with, and just a terrific and responsive crowd both nights.  Sold out both nights and looking forward to doing it again.  Many thanks to Larry, John, Gene, Eddie (Fast Eddie that is), Leroy and all the rest for putting it all together.   



 "Two Goombahs and a Donsky"
Buddy, Larry & Gene at Four Seasons at Metedeconk Lakes

 Our timing was good, I guess.  On our way back, we missed the earthquake in Virginia by one day, and missed hurricane Irene by less than a week.  Glad all our friends up there are OK.

We'll keep you posted!

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Palm Aire Gangsters

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Hey, we appreciate a crowd that REALLY gets in the spirit for one of our shows.  This bunch at Palm Aire Country Club in Sarasota dressed as Italian gangsters and molls at our June 11 show there.  Love it!

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Where the Buffalo Roam

So there we were in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.  Not because we had a show there, but because our van broke down there.  Uh oh.

Driving merrily along route 79, three hours into our trip back to Florida from New York, the engine just stalled and died.  But many miracles quickly followed.

Miracle number one:  Buddy was driving, not me.  I would have been driving, except Buddy had decided to drive one more hour before turning the wheel over to me.  Whew.  I tend to panic and hit the brakes.  That would have been oh-so-wrong.

Miracle number two:  Almost immediately after the engine died, I saw a sign saying Rest Area so we just glided in and pulled over under a shady tree. 

Miracle number three: Well, it's not exactly a miracle, but thank God we have AAA, two cell phones, and a GPS. 

So Buddy called AAA for a tow truck, checked our GPS for the nearest Chevy service center, also checked  the GPS to find the nearest hotel in case we had to stay the night (which we did) and coordinated all of it with one cell phone on each ear. As he waited on hold with AAA with his cell phone, he made arrangements with the Chevy dealer with mine.  Then while still on hold with AAA, he called the hotel to see if there were any rooms available just in case.  I'm telling you, it was inspiring.  A sight to behold. (You may be asking why he had to do everything while I was just sitting there watching.  That's because I have a tendency to shriek "What do I say??!!  What do I do??!! " when it comes to phone stuff.)

Long story short, we got towed to the service center by a great guy named Frank;  the guys at the Chevy dealer service center were terrific and started working on the van as quickly as possible. But they couldn't finish the job till the next day, so we rented a car from them and got a really great room at the Comfort Suites (of course any hotel that has cookies in the lobby gets my vote).  We went out to dinner, watched HBO, and slept well on a comfortable bed.

So about the buffalo...

Every time we drove back and forth to the dealership to check on the van, we passed a sign that said "Wooden Nickel Buffalo Ranch and Family Restaurant"  with an arrow pointing down a side road.  I was intrigued.  The next day, after a nice complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we were driving yet again past that sign, and I said,  "You think there's really a buffalo ranch down there?"   Buddy said, "Let's go see."
So we followed the sign down the side road, then down a dirt road to the very end where finally ...Holy smokes, there were the buffalo!

So I took some pictures, of course. (And yes, I was afraid to leave the car.  That fence looked awfully flimsy.)

Well, our van got fixed, and we got back on the road just a little over 24 hours from when we stalled out, and headed back on our way home to Florida.  And here we are. 

Thank you God for good people who do their jobs well, and for always being with us when we need you.
And we're so grateful for a wonderful two-week stint in Western New York, doing shows and visiting family and friends.

We'll keep you posted...

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One More Month..

We've been happily busy lately and REALLY enjoying doing shows in many venues that are new to us.
 From New Port Richey, to Fort Myers Beach, to Margate, to Palmetto and on and on.   Thank you , thank you one and all.


Now we're looking forward to our trip to Western New York in one month.  We'll be heading for my home town and doing two weeks of matinee shows and two evening shows at Tillman's Village Inn in Albion.  I just talked to my Dad up there and he said they had a morning BLIZZARD yesterday (!!!) so I'm really hoping that one month from now they'll be done with all that.

Meantime, we're doing one more encore show at Visani Dinner Theater in Port Charlotte on May 10.  (Details on the schedule page of our web site www.divaandtheitalianguy.com ) before we head North.  We have two travel groups from the East Coast of FL coming over on motor coaches to see the show, so it should be a great crowd.

Till we see ya,  stay well.
We'll keep you posted.

The Diva sings for SPARCC

Yes, I'm supposed to look like a bag lady!

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Yesterday I had the honor of opening the SPARCC Second Hand Rose fashion show at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton with my very own version of the famous song, Second Hand Rose. 

So picture this - and I kid you not - 600 women, all smartly dressed, who have each paid $95 a ticket, are seated in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton, having lunch and  and watching a fashion show of.....used clothing.


Let me explain.   SPARCC stands for Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center .  It's a non-profit organization in Sarasota county that, among other things, provides shelter and counseling for victims of domestic violence.   They also provide rape counseling and many educational programs.  According to their web site, "SPARCC’s mission is to provide services to victims of domestic and sexual violence, and to promote a violence-free community through awareness and education."

Okay, so they raise funds in a number of ways, one of them being their resale store called The Treasure Chest on Fruitville Rd in Sarasota.  Now you notice I called it a "resale store".  Translated, that usually means 'thrift shop'.  But with the quality of the clothing donations involved in this place, you really can't think it that way.  I'm talking FABULOUS clothing and jewelry, household items, etc.  Thus, the full-blown, big production fashion show featuring all these fabulous clothes.  At the RITZ no less!

But wait, there's more.  The Treasure Chest staff brings the finest of the store's fare and sets it up for sale in the Ritz lobby for patrons to shop, before and after the fashion show.  And they do!  So here are hundreds of women (who can all afford $95 a ticket) buying 'resale' fashions.   I LOVE IT!!

I can't wait to find out how much money was raised for SPARCC yesterday. 

I am so proud to have been a part of it.

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It's Good to be in Florida!

As we perform our shows in beautiful, tropical locales here in Florida, we send our most sincere sympathy  to all our friends and family UP NORTH IN THE SNOW.  Please stay warm and safe. 

Meanwhile....back in Sunny Florida,

We want to thank the members of the Captiva Island Yacht Club for their rousing response to our return engagement there last week.  Great people and great fun.



River Isles, Bradenton, FL

And also many thanks to the really fun people of River Isles community in Bradenton where we did our show
this last Saturday.  We hadn't been there since 2007 and had lots of new material for them to listen to and laugh with!

Of course we always have a great time and great crowd at Visani Dinner Theater where we just did two shows, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Quite a busy week.  And we couldn't be happier about it.

Well, I hope our Northern friends enjoyed these photos.  (Am I a mean girl?) 

We'll keep you posted!