Here are my latest finds, and they’re really good ones. Who didn’t love Sinatra and Rat Pack? And this intimate Julie Andrew Concert is divine. One of the sexiest men alive, Hugh Jackson performs in concert from Australia. And this salute to the Friars Club is hysterical and features Johnny Carson, Alan King, Red Buttons and more.

Sinatra and the Rat Pack

My heart be still… what a find! Frank Sinatra Spectacular with the Rat Pack— Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., along with the Count Basie Orchestra, conducted by a young Quincy Jones. This was a benefit concert for the Father Dismas Clark Halfway House in St. Louis, the first halfway house for ex-convicts…This event was televised via closed circuit TV in 1965 to a select group of theaters.  What a treat to experience so many years later.. these were 3 of the greatest entertainers… ever!

Sidebar: I had never seen Sinatra Live and he was about to appear at Carnegie Hall towards the end of his life.. I mentioned it several times to my husband…we knew it was totally sold out… but Ted said that I shouldn’t worry, as we’ll get to see it. When we got there, there were throngs of ticket holders waiting to get in… Ted caught the eye of the head usher…. and voila, he put out a couple of chairs and we got to see the show!!

Julie Andrews

From Manhattan Theater Club, 1993…A delicious 57 minutes of Stephen Sondheim’s “Putting It Together” … a compendium of his songs performed by Julie Andrews (who hadn’t appeared on a New York stage since 1960 in Camelot”!), in excellent voice, along with the beautiful Rachel York (who next appeared with Julie on Broadway in “Victor, Victoria”), Michael Rupert, and award winning playwright and performer, Christopher Durang.

Hugh Jackman in concert

Two hours of Hugh Jackman, one of the world’s great entertainers and showman… Who could ask for anything more ?   This is the concert he was touring with in 2019… It was videoed live in Melbourne. This is something Tomatoes will really enjoy!

Sidebar: My dear friend, the great Tony Award nominated actress/singer, Beth Fowler, played Hugh Jackman‘s mom in “The Boy From Oz”, which I adored  (and posted several months ago in this column).

 We became friends immediately following the run of the show, so I never got to meet Hugh… It’s all in the timing!   Beth and her husband, Jack and Hugh and his wife, Deb, as well as their children, took a vacation together in Spring Lake right after the show closed and had the best time… and, amazing as it seems, not one person recognized Hugh!!

A Salute to the Friars Club

This is a truly candid and hilarious documentary about the history of the legendary Friars Club with a cast of characters including legends:  Milton Berle, Phyllis Diller, Tony Martin, Alan King, Red Buttons, Art Linkletter etc.. You’ll see excerpts of the Roasts, as well as one of the most incredible moments in show business history involving a tribute to Lucy and Desi in 1958 hosted by Milton Berle and Art Linkletter… 

Sidebar: I joined the Friars Club in 1993..It was an aging but fabulous club… many of the legends were still alive and I got to know some of them… I remember comedian Gene Baylos, who would always plop himself down at my table and tell me about his prostate!  The delightful Red Buttons, as well as Norm Crosby, and Shecky Greene, Dick Capri and Freddie Roman would often join me and my guests… in those days, there was great camaraderie…  Henny Youngman,who lunched there daily, was always quick with the one-liners… and you could always catch Allan King and Len Cariou at the second floor bar …It was a very special home away from home… In those days, when I still was doing PR, trying to get a client on one of the major TV shows, I would invite the producer to lunch at the Friars,  and he or she would love the whole Friars experience… And I would get my client booked this way !