Tuesday, June 30, 2009

BTF actor supports Locks of Love

The very talented Miranda Shea is donating her hair to Locks of Love. She is playing a boy in "The Einstein Project" and Peter in "Peter Pan" at Berkshire Theatre Festival this year.

My granddaughter who is 9 years old has donated her hair 3 times in her young life to Locks of Love. Locks of Love use this hair to make wigs for cancer patients.

Please applaud Miranda as I do and send a donation in her honor to:

Berkshire Theatre Festival
P.O. Box 797
Stockbridge, MA 01262

Countess Bedelia 6/30/2009 05:51:00 PM | 0 comments |

Monday, June 29, 2009

Krazy Karaoke debuts at Rumpy's Tavern!

Prince Troy has decreed that every Thursday night shall be Karaoke Night at Rumpy's Tavern. The first night was last Thursday and it was a rousing success!!! The place was packed and several of the singers that night were fantastic.



The evening began quietly enough. Here are Seth and Jim enjoying their drinks (that's Prince Troy peeking out from behind the bar) with their shirts on....





But it ended like this.....





How did this happen......hmmmmm



In between there was a lot of good singing, a great crowd of people having lots of fun, and many of the Countess' friends to hang out with.



Our good friend Steve posed with a friend.



Jason and Liz were there. Jason loves karaoke and we love his singing!




Christine was another amazing singer....



This amazing young man, Vince Yi, is a trained opera singer working this summer as a camp counselor. I called him the Adam Lambert of the Berkshires!




All my friends from Camp MahKeeNac were there calling me Gladys. Much fun and merriment was had all night. If you missed this one, make sure you don't miss another.....Karaoke every Thursday this summer at Rumpy's Tavern.
__
So how did all these handsome men end up taking their shirts off? The Countess was the instigator, of course! And fair is fair.....my shirt came off too !! But that picture is being saved for my Christmas Card !!
Countess Bedelia 6/29/2009 10:35:00 AM | 0 comments |

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

"Broadway by the Year"



Saturday was opening night for "Broadway by the Year" at Berkshire Theatre Festival. This show is not only entertaining but informative.




You can read all about it in a wonderful review by Frances Hall HERE which includes "(this show) is much more than the average musical review. An ensemble of talented singers/actors, Christiane Noll, Kerry O’Malley, and Scott Coulter, with musical director Ross Patterson at the grand piano, and host/writer Scott Siegel at a down left lectern, involve us in far more than a trip down memory lane."
Absolutely wonderful singing included with the most interesting tidbits of Broadway history.....make sure you don't miss this one !!


In spite of torrential rains that night, the opening was a great success with a sold out house.

My escort for the evening was my wonderful friend, Steve......




We caught up with some old friends at the party after the show. Tommy Schrider, who will be playing Einstein in "The Einstein Project", next up at BTF stopped by to say a few words. Here we are with Alexander, who has grown about 6 inches over the winter! The Countess saw Tommy in two plays in NYC over the winter as you regular readers might recall here and here.




Rebecca, Steve, and Tara from the BTF Development department were sure to be voted "Most Beautiful" that night !!






Kyle Fabel and James Barry who will be appearing in "The Einstein Project" posed with Katy, Kyle's beautiful wife....





Tyler and Emmy from BTF Company Management joined The Countess for a picture....




As the BTF party was winding to a close, I found Janine and told her I was taking her to Rumpy's Tavern for a late night drink. In spite of the pouring rain, we managed to drive to Lenox without any problems. Janine was introduced to Troy behind the bar.....




The fabulous Jess Hume came in for a visit. She will be headlining at Rumpy's soon.....





And we got to listen to Tony Lee Thomas and Jason Maley play some fantastic music before they head down south on tour.....




Whew!! What a night! The bad weather didn't spoil any of our fun. But will these rains ever stop?


Countess Bedelia 6/23/2009 09:36:00 PM | 0 comments |

Monday, June 22, 2009

Friday night....

Friday night karaoke at Michael's of Stockbridge.....a summer tradition! Since I forgot my camera that night, I'm taking the liberty of borrowing a few photos from the Michael's photo section. You can click on their Entertainment line to view more photos from their weekend karaoke nights. Sean and Andy run the show each weekend and it's always a good time. Their food is pretty delicious too!


Yvonne is the waitress who is there every week. We love her!




Dawn and Craig came in for a busman's holiday, so to speak. Dawn sings with her band, Pariah, and Craig has his band, Crankenstein. Both of them have fabulous voices which is always a plus at karaoke!


Two of my favorite people, James and Tara, joined The Countess for a wee drop of Glenlivet. "Wait a minute" says Tara...

Of course! We need to clink glasses and make a toast....

You can see James Barry in "The Einstein Project" next on the Main Stage at Berkshire Theatre Festival and Tara Franklin in "Ghosts" coming in August to BTF.




Next night.....Opening night for "Broadway by the Year" at BTF !!!!


Countess Bedelia 6/22/2009 11:44:00 AM | 1 comments |

Friday, June 19, 2009

Gladys returns to Rumpy's Tavern!

Regular readers of The Countess Blog will remember when Gladys first made her appearance here at Rumpy's Tavern. You can read all about that night HERE. Was it really two years ago????



Anyway, tonight The Countess drove to the Berkshires from Castle Bedelia through a deluge of biblical proportions. What a drive down the Mass. Pike!! As I pulled into the Summer Palace, my first thought was that I needed a Glenlivet....and where better to quench my thirst than Rumpy's Tavern!



The kids from Camp MahKeeNac were back. Beautiful young people from England, Belgium, who knows where else!! This handsome young man was the one who christened me Gladys two years ago.....
Troy put on the American Idol game which functions like a karaoke system with comments from Simon, Paula, and Randy....including ratings on your performance.




This young man won the 'Best Hat' performance rating....




Some of the singing was pretty bloody awful but we gave points for effort!



Princess was the worst of the lot but she looked damn good at the microphone!





Finally The Countess took the mike for a rendition of "My Guy" which brought down the house.





As Steve said when I was packing up to leave...."Tell Peter he missed the best performance of the summer!"

Countess Bedelia 6/19/2009 12:17:00 AM | 0 comments |

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So what has The Countess been up to this past week?



The Countess has been staying in her treehouse out in the beautiful Berkshires for the past week. If it would just stop raining, we could enjoy the deck !!



Tony Awards night was spent at the Rumpy's Tavern party where I was awarded the Best Actress Tony for my role in "She's Running as Fast as She Can, While She Can!".



Ben, my bartender friend from Firefly, came in to see Ayla, who had come back from San Francisco to visit for a few days...




Justina, who had just arrived from London, came in with Darcie and Carlos....





The best part of the night came when Tony Lee Thomas and Jess Hume came in and gave us a free concert. Terrific!!




Always a party at Rumpy's Tavern !!


This past weekend found me at Michaels of Stockbridge for Karaoke night with some of my BTF pals.







Rolfe performed "Big Girls" and Sunshine and The Countess were his backup dancers!




Jason was visiting for the weekend from New York City and gave a dedication to The Countess when he sang his signature song "Total Eclipse of the Heart".






Lots of friends stopped in....even the fabulous actress Keira Naughton after her performance in Faith Healer at the Berkshire Theatre Festival that night.




C.J. Wilson joined the party after rehearsals for "The Einstein Project" which will be playing at BTF starting on June 30th. C.J. and Keira were both in "The Book Club Play" last year.





Saturday night was spent attending a performance of The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe. They were hysterically funny, entertaining, and just so inventive with bringing audience suggestions to life in their skits. You can check them out in their blog.




Our party filled two tables at Dottie's Coffee Lounge in Pittsfield.





We all went for drinks at Jae's Spice with the Troupe after their performance. In spite of a torrential rain storm that hit the area just as we were leaving Dottie's, it was a fun, fun night.


Next weekend is opening night for "Broadway by the Year" at the Berkshire Theatre Festival! Get your tickets and join The Countess for another fabulous night at the theater.
Countess Bedelia 6/16/2009 10:24:00 PM | 0 comments |

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Whirlwind New York City visit - Day Two

On Saturday, Matuschka was one of the featured artists in the "Without Faces" exhibit at the Flatbush branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. She had submitted some pieces from her "Global Gallery" collection. The Countess attended the opening reception in the afternoon.




Several of Matuschka's photographs were on display. In case you are wondering, she is the model for all these photos !!









The exhibit runs until June 20th.


After leaving Brooklyn, Matuschka drove her Mini-Cooper over to Christopher Street in the West Village. It was such a beautiful day and we were immediately attracted to the outdoor tables at Malatesta Trattoria. The food was delicious as well as the scenery ;)







Walking back to the car, we passed this shop and just had to take a picture. You can call them "when you need to know" !!!




Matuschka dropped me off at the corner of 45th and 8th Ave and I walked over to the Booth Theater to see "Next to Normal", the Tony nominated musical.






I absolutely loved this musical and I fell in love with Aaron Tviet. When he sang "I'm Alive", he won my heart forever! Here he is at the opening night party....





The next day I was on the train heading for the Berkshires...... Tony Award party at Rumpy's Tavern that night !!
Countess Bedelia 6/10/2009 06:56:00 PM | 0 comments |