Playing a Comedic Bombshell with a Grown Up Harry Potter

 By Sally Deering

 Harry Potter’s all grown up and nobody knows that better than Emmy-winning actress Tammy Blanchard of Bayonne who shows off her comic side as a ditsy bombshell trying to seduce Daniel Radcliffe eight shows a week in the Broadway revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”  Known to audiences for playing dramatic roles in “Rabbit Hole” with Nicole Kidman and “Sybil” with Jessica Lange (among others) Blanchard turns to her comedic instincts and pulls out all the stops as a Broadway comedienne.

Blanchard’s repertoire of serious Broadway, TV and film roles includes  an Emmy Award winning performance as young Judy Garland in “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,” and a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut as Louise in “Gypsy” opposite Bernadette Peters. She played an unstable young woman trying to find herself in “Bella” and her portrayal of the title role in the remake of “Sybil” with Jessica Lange is so emotionally searing, she rips the heart right out of your chest.

On Broadway, Blanchard gives a comic turn in her role as Hedy LaRue, a bubble-headed knockout that’s garnering big laughs from audiences eating up her performance night after night. (The show opened on Broadway March 27^th.) Blanchard shares the stage with Radcliffe – even has to sit on his lap and seduce the former Wizard of Potterville – and John Larroquette, the four-time Emmy Award winner of TVs “Night Court.” Playing with these two heavy-hitters is absolutely delish, Blanchard says.

“Daniel is a doll,” Blanchard says, on a Saturday afternoon during her dinner break between matinee and evening performances. “He’s a pro, a gentleman and so talented. We’re lucky to have him.”

Blanchard also gets to kiss Harry Potter eight shows a week, which is enough to make Potter fans drool on their invisible capes. Blanchard says after every performance Radcliffe’s fans wait outside the Stage Door for a glimpse of the famous wizard. And when they see Radcliffe appear, it’s pandemonium with Potter fans going goo-goo ga-ga over their fictional hero.

“He has some hard-core fans,” Blanchard says.

And working with Larroquette, who is making his Broadway debut and displays hilarious comic chops both on and off stage makes Blanchard as giddy as bubbles in champagne.

“John throws one-liners at you all the time,” Blanchard says. “He’s so funny. He’s both a star and a great human being. I just love him.”

Blanchard’s learned a lot about playing comedy on stage, which is very different from playing drama before the camera, she says. Timing is everything when you’re doing comedy in front of a live audience. “When I’m on stage, if I take a second too long (during a laugh line) it goes flat,” she says.

Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” stars Larroquette as J.B. Biggley, president of the World Wide Wicket company and Radcliffe as J. Pierrepont Finch, a window cleaner whose dream of moving up the corporate ladder is inspired by a book he’s reading, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” (which is voiced throughout the musical by Anderson Cooper of CNN.) When Blanchard as Hedy La Rue is hired as a new secretary, the world of World Wide Wicket goes wonky with office romances going awry and Finch tediously dangling from the corporate ladder’s top rung. But just like all musical comedies of its genre, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” succeeds in giving audiences a happy ending with lots of singing and dancing.

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” originally opened on Broadway in 1961 with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and libretto by Abe Burrow, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert who based the story on the1952 book by Shephard Mead. Some of the songs became big hits like, “I Believe in You,” and “Brotherhood of Men,” and in 1962, “How to Succeed…” won seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  It was revived in 1995 with Matthew Broderick as Finch, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Blanchard was invited to audition by two of the producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who she describes as her heroes. Zadan and Meron worked with Blanchard when they produced “Life with Judy Garland” and have since gone on to produce blockbuster movie musicals “Chicago” and “Hairspray.” Currently, the producing team is working with Steven Spielberg on a new NBC television drama, “Smash” about the making of a Broadway musical.

Hesitant to audition, but up for the challenge, Blanchard says she drove to the audition in Manhattan and experimented with voices for the La Rue character in her car. When she discovered the voice, something clicked, she says. She auditioned, landed the role and now she gets to show her comic side eight shows a week at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway.

“It’s so much fun,” Blanchard says. “It’s such a great musical comedy and I’m having the time of my life.”

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Hirschfeld Theatre

302 W. 45^th Street

New York

For Tickets:  Call Telecharge at 212-239-6200

Note:  A limited number of General Rush Tickets are available for $30 each on the day of the performance.

They are available at the box only beginning at 10 am.

The post Emmy-Winner Tammy Blanchard shows her Funny Side with Daniel Radcliffe in Hit Broadway Musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” first appeared on River View Observer.

Writers Forge a New Frontier with eBooks

River View Observer cover story

 by Sally Deering

 During the 2010 holiday season, Amazon.com sold 2 million Kindles and Barnes & Noble selling 1.5 million Nooks, stats that are a wake-up call to big name book publishers and a “Yahoo!” to writers everywhere who can now self-publish their Great American Novels their way. Ebook publishing is the new frontier for writers to boldly sell their fiction and non-fiction – and find their niche – and a possible income – utilizing 21^st Century technology and the social media network that connects us all.

 Electronic Readers have transformed the way we’re reading biographies, textbooks, cook books, you name it.  Books of every genre are now available via download and ebook publishers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google (and more) are giving writers the chance to see their books in electronic print not only on Kindles and Nooks, but IPads, IPhones, Droids and other techno gadgets.  Of course, the Big Kahunas of book publishing like Random House, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster are still doing big business in hardcovers and paperback, but the stats indicate more and more people would rather click a button on their handy electronic reader than turn the page of a dog-eared book.

International Digital Publishing Forum which tracks wholesale ebook sales reported $304.6 million in ebook sales in 2010, a rapid-growth from the $200 million in ebooks sold from 2002-2009. And in 2010, Amazon.com reported sales of its ebooks outnumbered sales of hardcover books with 180 Kindle books sold for every 100 hardcovers. One ebook industry analyst predicts global e-book sales at Amazon could reach $2.5 billion by the year 2012.

Writer Tom Dwyer of Jersey City took the traditional route with his first two books “Broad Street,” a mystery/crime novel and the children’s book “What the Man in the Moon Saw,” which were sold through publishing houses and did pretty well. For his third book, “’60s Song,” (ebookit.com; 165 pgs,) a gritty coming-of-age novel about three Philly teenagers during the 1967 “Summer of Love” – Dwyer chose to publish it as an ebook that can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google and other ebook publishers.

 “It’s a business that’s changing and a lot of people are jumping in,” Dwyer says. “E-books allow writers who tried to get published in the big publishing houses, the opportunity to get their books read. It’s shaking up the publishing industry and the publishing industry now is using ebooks a lot. If they put a book on the bookstore shelf and it doesn’t sell, it’s going to be taken off that shelf and they lose money. So, they test the waters with ebooks now.”

 Dwyer says ebook publishers and book writers have Stephen King to thank for legitimizing the ebook industry to the mass public.

 “Stephen King was one of the first writers to go on Amazon and he put his book up for free,” Dwyer says. “This was a couple of years back and when he did this, he said this is a great tool.”

Of course, Stephen King can put his book up for free he’s a successful writer with a huge following and millions in book sales. Writers who aren’t as famous, even first-time writers can find their niche publishing an ebook and even earn an income. Amazon.com gives a 70% royalty to writers for each ebook they sell that’s priced from 99-cents to $2.99 and a 50% royalty on books priced $2.99 to $9.99. Reading through the forums of writers who post messages about their book sales, it’s advisable to price your first book in the lower range. A writer can also hook up with  an ebook publishing company that will first publish their book in soft-and-hard-cover and assign it an ISBN number, which is required when publishing ebooks to Google and Barnes & Noble.  (Amazon doesn’t require an ISBN number and therefore allows a writer the opportunity to see their work published right away.)  The advantage of working with an ebook publishing company is that the publisher will have connections to all the outlets and will advertise and market the book, where a self-publisher will have to do all their own marketing. 

“What you’re doing is jumping in there and doing it,” Dwyer says. “You really need to do the marketing, get reviewed, get quotes. One of the biggest things in ebooks are ebook blogs, book reviewers who write blogs. I’m having two reviewed now and will get them back in two or three weeks, I’m spending almost no money to do this, I created the cover myself and photoshopped it.”

In a recent interview with ebook publishers Smashwords.com, Dan Poynter, who has sold millions of ebooks on skydiving and self-publishing and is the author of the “Self-Publishing Manual,” a guide to independent authors, says building a self-publishing career begins with a passion to write and succeeds with social networking.

 “Write what you love and sell to your colleagues,” Poynter pointed out on Smashwords. “This could be the definition of social networking for books. Go where your heart is. Write about your favorite subject: The one that gets you so excited, you wake at four in the morning to find your eyes are wide open and your head is spinning with ideas. You are so jazzed, you can’t sleep. So, you get up and head for the keyboard. I started with books on parachutes and skydiving. Sell your book to people who have an interest in your subject. They are easy to find with online searches and social media.”

Many self-published writers are turning to ebook publishing rather than the typical and very frustrating (and rarely successful) route of getting a literary agent to represent their book and a big publishing house to publish the book. (Publishing houses rarely accept unsolicited submissions from writers and only go through trusted literary agents to secure book deals.) Ebook publishing breaks through those barriers and gives writers the chance to share their stories, their passions, their knowledge and insight with the world.

“If I had gotten this book published by Random House, this book wouldn’t come out for two years, that’s the time it takes,” Dwyer says. “It’s all about people having the freedom to self-publish. I don’t have to have someone tell me I can’t publish my book.”

 Excerpt from “’60s Song” by Tom Dwyer

 “The hot morning sun was already moving through the housing project on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It created a haze that blanketed the city with a sweltering heat that seemed to have the whole world moving in slow motion. Frankie Johnson, a skinny, black teenager with a slight limp in his right leg, knocked on the front door of his best friend’s house. They had been friends ever since their families moved into the housing project on the same day ten years back. Frankie knocked again and heard footsteps in the house. The door opened, and George Bannon, a muscular Irish kid with wavy black hair and deep dark eyes saw Frankie standing on the steps.

“We going swimming today or what, white boy?” Frankie asked. George looked through the beat-up screen door that was hanging off one of its hinges, and then waved him in. Frankie entered the small two-story house where George lived with his mother and a younger sister. The family was on the waiting list with the housing authority to move to a bigger house up on the hill but it could be years before a vacancy might open up. The small dirty kitchen had dishes in the sink and bags of trash waiting to be put out. George opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a soda for breakfast.”

To order Tom Dwyer’s ebook 60s Song https:www.ebookit.com/books/0000000042/60s-song.html

60s Song is also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many other internet outlets.

The post How to Publish the Great American eNovel first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

 NJ Beer Co’s Founder and President Matt Steinberg, 33, along with Vice President John McCarthy, CFO Kevin Napoli, Head Brewer Brendan O’Neil and Brewmaster Pete Velez are Jersey guys passionate about making good beer.  Since April 2009, NJ Beer Co. has been brewing five frothy beers now being served in bars and restaurants throughout the state. The company is so successful it has a mailing list of new customers waiting to add the delicious beverages to their menus and next month these Jersey guys roll out their barrels to New York City.

 There’s no wait for local beer lovers, though.  Local restaurants pouring NJ Beer right from their taps include The Chart House in Weehawken, The Lamp Post in Jersey City, Zack’s Oak Bar and Restaurant and the Turtle Bar in Hoboken. On Jan. 27th, the Black Bear in Hoboken introduces NJ Beers to their customers.

Lots of people try our beer because they want local product,” Steinberg says. “Our beer is something you’re not going to get somewhere else.”

 Touring the Brewery

On a recent tour of the brewery, Steinberg tests the latest batch of Weehawken Wee Heavy, a seasonal brew similar to Guinness stout but with less foam and more kick. New Jersey Beer Co’s brews range in alcohol content from 3.2 percent to 8.5 percent and their names are clever and Jersey-sounding with some merry old England and Scotland tossed in for authenticity. There’s the 60 Shilling Mild a traditional, British pub ale with a dark nutty flavor; the 1787 Abbey Single, a light Belgium gold ale; Hudson Pale Ale, an English style ale; Garden State Stout with the essence of oatmeal and chocolate; and the Weehawken Wee Heavy, a Scottish-style ale with a hint of caramel and dried fruit.  Every beer has a distinctive, delicious taste and when the glass hits empty it’s hard not to ask for a refill.

 On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, visitors can tour the micro-brewery and see up close how Steinberg and his crew make beer. Housed inside the cavernous warehouse are ten stainless steel vats and near the vats are electronic panels that look like something out of “Star Trek” which are used to operate the beer-making machinery. Sacks of barley are stacked in one corner near flats of metal kegs, sanitized, shrink-wrapped and ready to roll when the next batch of beer is ready for tapping.

To the right of the entrance is the tasting area, a long black bar and four taps running through a sheet of plywood under the NJ Beer Co. logo. There are couches to relax in to discuss business and on a wall rack, NJ Beer Co. T-shirts and baseball caps on sale as souvenirs.

 New Jersey Beer Co. makes its beer like any national brewery, just on a smaller scale. The process starts with malted barley roasted to varying degrees and used for different flavorings – the darker the roast, the darker the beer.  The barley, along with water and hops, goes into a tank called the boil kettle with water and hops and then transferred to large stainless steel fermentation tanks where its fermented for two weeks and then on to the finishing tank to be tapped and poured into kegs. 

 “We taste the beer all through the process and we do chemical diagnostics that tell us when it’s done,” Steinberg says.

 There are very specific brewery skills needed to run a brewery and Steinberg says. “You need self-starting people with an excellent palate and a strong knowledge of beer and industry trends.”  

 New Jersey Beer Co’s Brewmaster Pete Velez of Jersey City has more than eight years experience running breweries and at NJ Beer Co. Velez takes care of the ins and outs of production, working with beer distributors and creating recipes. He’s in charge of everything that goes into producing beer, from acquiring the raw materials like barley and hops to shipping the beer out the door.

 “Once the beer is brewed you have to babysit it,” Velez says. “When we brew a beer for New Jersey Beer Company we try to make it the same every time,”  brewmaster is one of those jobs that demands experience, Velez says. After earning a bachelor’s degree in finance from St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York, Velez received a post graduate diploma in brewing and distilling from Harriet Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. He then worked for several breweries before coming to NJ Beer Co.

 “I’ve been doing this for eight years,” Velez says. “I have a feel for how different ingredients are going to react to each other. When we talk about new beers, we sit down and discuss what we want style-wise, the shining aspects, and I just kind of put them together. It’s very much like cooking only fewer ingredients.”

 Velez has a unique view on beer. It’s one of the oldest refreshment in the world, he says, been around since the beginning of civilization. He’s fascinated by its history and even finds a little Zen in the brewing process.

“When all the machines are humming in the warehouse, it’s a nice way to spend a day,” Velez says. “It’s not easy work, but once you get into the process it can be very therapeutic.

 Five Jersey Guys Who Love Beer

Founder and President Matt Steinberg earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and has a strong background in math and science.  Like a lot of college students, Steinberg’s beer of choice back in the day depended on how much money was in his wallet and more often than not, he and his friends would pound back Natty Ice or Sarnac, two low-priced beers popular with the college crowd.

 You’d go to keggers and pay $5 for all you can drink,” Steinberg laughs.

 He then moved on to craft beers and remembers his first, the Rogue Shakespeare Stout. After graduation from Cornell, Steinberg spent 10 years working as an IT administrator for a big corporation in New York City while brewing home beers in his spare time. When he got together with friends, they discussed opening their own brewery and that’s how NJ Beer Co. got its start.

 NJ Beer Co. has been running operations since 2009 and although things hit a snag when its bottling machine broke down, the crew plans to buy a state-of-the-art bottler so that NJ Beer can expand operations.  They are also interested in venture capital, investors who support their vision to bring NJ Beer to a bigger audience. These five Jersey guys work it, sometimes putting in 16-hour days to support their dream.

 “It’s always been about making beer,” Steinberg says.

 New Jersey Beer Co.

4201 Tonnelle Ave

North Bergen, NJ

551-482-2013

Public Tours held Wed, 5-8 pm; Fri 5-9 pm and Sat 2-6 pm.

For more information, go to www.njbeerco.com

 

 

 

The post River View Observer Cover Story -Five Jersey Guys Brew Beer Their Way first appeared on River View Observer.