CABARET
NEWS
LOS ANGELES - PALM SPRINGS AREAS
DON WARDELL'S GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK AT JOSLYN CENTER THEATRE
KWXY-FM radio personality and Grammy winning music producer Don Wardell,
brings his #1 Hit Radio Show to the JOSLYN CENTER THEATRE (73-750 Catalina
Way, Palm Desert, CA - 760-340-3220 - http://www.joslyncenter.org/theater/index.htm
) on Wednesday, March 28th at 2:00 & 8:00 pm in a musical tribute to
American composers. The show, Don Wardell's The Great American Songbook
features musical direction by Paul Cracchiolo and stars "Best Cabaret
Performer in Coachella Valley" and 3 time "Desert Theatre League" Award
Winner, Mona Caywood (Mama Rose in McCallum's "Gypsy") and Richard Casabonne
(2006 McCallum "Open Call" Winner). Tickets are $22.
Don Wardell first broadcast with the BBC's "Childrens's
Hour" at the age of 13. he had won first prize in the UK's Birmingham
Drama Festival and was spotted by a BBC talent scout. He continued
to broadcast in "Children's Hour" for the next five years, acting
in plays, reading stories and reading listeners' letters. At 18 he
joined the Royal Air Force and was posted to NATO's HQ SHAPE in Paris,
where because of his radio background, he narrated a series of NAO
military training films. From Paris, Don stayed on the European Continent,
joining Europe's most powerful commercial radio station, Radio Luxemburg
in 1963 as a DJ He stayed for nine years, becoming the station's chief
announcer in 1966.
Sir Edward Lewis, the founder and owner of British Decca,
offered Don the position as Head of Promotion for the Decca label
in London and subsequently promoted Don to his New York operation
in 1973. From Decca, Don joined RCA Victor and remained there for
over twenty years, laterly as head of the Archives for RCA, America's
second oldest record company as their catalogue dates back to 1901.
Don Wardell has produced over 400 re-issue catalogue CD and album
packaged from the vaults of UK Decca, London and RCA. Don received
music's highest honor, The Grammy Award, in 1983 for his meticulous
restoration of all of Frank Sinatra's recordings with the Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra in 1940 - 1942.
Wishing to be of service to the AIDS pandemic, Don was
named "Palm Springs' Pride Man Of The Year" in 2002 for his work with
people with HIV/AIDS. He joined KWXY-FM (98.5) some fourteen years
ago where he currently hosts the Valley's #1 good music radio show,
"Don's On", heard every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6:00 pm.
Don has M.C.'d and voiced many Valley major charity events including
the Steve Chase Awards, The Palm Springs International Film Festival,
the Stroke Recovery Center ball, and the Caballeros, the Gay Men's
Chorus of Palm Springs. His love of the Great American Songbook dates
back to 1956 when he first heard the double album "Ella Fitzgerald
Sings the Rogers and Hart Songbook"
Mona Caywood is first a vocalist. Blending her exceptional
vocal range with comedic flair, she is singled out as a multi-talented
performer for her diverse repertoire and lead roles in such landmark
musical productions as EVITA, INTO THE WOODS, SWEENEY TODD, OLIVER!,
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and many others. Recently, Mona garnered her
third Desert Theatre League Best Actress Award for her portrayal of
Mama Rose in GYPSY. In 2005, she was voted the Valley's Best Cabaret
Performer by the Coachella Valley Music Awards.
Mona is equally comfortable and skilled performing the
music of Stephen Sondheim or Noel Coward as she is with Patsy Cline
and Janis Joplin. Her successful career spans over 30 years of cabaret,
theatre, nightclubs, cruise ships, discos, parades and festivals.
Ms. Caywood now lives and entertains in Palm Springs, California where
she has been recognized and aptly dubbed, THE VOICE. She is in her
SEVENTH smash year performing to "standing room only" every Friday
at STREETBAR (224 East Arenas Road, Palm Springs, CA - 760-320-1266
- http://www.psstreetbar.com/
), Palm Springs' oldest and friendliest gay bar.
Miss Fern (http://www.MissFern.com/
), Mona's evil twin sister and alter-ego, moved to the Desert after
being released from her "unfortunate incarceration" and now can be
seen performing her "songs with a twist" at 7:00 pm every Sunday at
STREETBAR. Miss Fern is "rude, crude and unattractive"; "a real breath
of foul air"; "and hysterically funny!" Mona and Miss Fern continue
to lend their time and talent to countless fund raising events...but
never together.
Musical director Paul Cracchiolo originates from San
Pedro, CA and has been a resident of Palm Desert, CA for over 16 years.
He began his piano studies at the age of 7 and eventually went on
to study music as a piano performance major at the University of Southern
California and the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
As a concert pianist, Paul has performed several piano concerti with
orchestras throughout the western United States. They include Beethoven's
First Piano Concerto in C Major, Rimsky-Korssakov's Piano Concerto
in C sharp minor and Liszt's Second Piano Concerto in E flat major.
Paul eventually found his way into the musical theatre
and has gone on to musical direct such shows as Little Shop of Horrors,
A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes, Scrooge, Do! I
Do!, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Shenendoah, Nunsense,
Side by Side by Sondheim, 70 Girls 70, The All Night Strut, La Cage
Aux Folles, The Music Man, Annie, Annie Warbucks, Carnival, The Desert
Song, Guys and Dolls, Li'l Abner, Once Upon a Mattress and Pippin.
Paul has also written, developed, produced and musical
directed many industrial and corporate events featuring the songs
and lyrics of such composers as George Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Cole
Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Irving Berlin and Sammy Cahn.
Paul is the musical director for the annual Open Call
production at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA and is on staff
with the McCallum Theatre Institute, the education division of the
McCallum Theatre in affiliation with the Lincoln Center Institute
in New York City. He is also the house pianist for the McCallum Theatre.
In his digital music studio, Paul is busy composing
and arranging music for many performing artists and productions. He
has created many TV and website jingles. Diverse and artistically
driven, Paul is currently working on several projects that include
musical theatre productions, meditation, dance and hypnotherapy.
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