Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy Blog

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy...Los Angeles events…we have been meeting in Studio City at the Sportsmans Lodge Restaurant almost exclusively since moving from the USO building on Vine Street, where the earliest club events were held in the late 1970s!

Time marches on…It appears that our Holiday Los Angeles meeting on December 7 will be our last meeting at the Sportsmans Lodge Restaurant. It is still unclear whether the restaurant will close forever…but from the available data, the lease is up on New Year’s Eve and the current owners will pack up their swans and leave forever. If a new restaurant opens up in the same location, we may or may not choose to continue our club events there…so stay tuned!

In the meantime, you won’t want to miss the last club event at the restaurant that for so many decades had a nostalgic Hollywood charm. Nelson Eddy, Clark Gable and other stars enjoyed eating there because they could catch their own trout in the pond for supper. The fishing was discontinued years ago but the lovely swans have remained.

Click here for more information and to get your reservations. We need to have a fairly accurate head count so please don’t delay! We will celebrate Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy…and say goodbye to our longtime meeting spot!

More info on the restaurant closing:

This week the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City seems to have opened and closed more times than Homer Simpson’s refrigerator door (The light goes on; the light goes off; the light goes on; the light goes off). On Tuesday, the Sportsmen’s Lodge director, Linda Scott, told ABC News that the lodge is “destined for the wrecking ball.” The story was picked up on AP and widely reported yesterday.

Not so fast. According to the new owner, Richard Weintraub, the lodge will remain open, in spite of planned renovations, as yesterday’s Extra Extra suggested.

I am dismayed at the misleading and inaccurate representations on the part of my tenant,” Weintraub said in a statement. “As the owner of the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel site, I have no plans, and never have had plans, to close all of the restaurant and banquet facilities.

Still, Patrick Holleran, who claims sole ownership of the Sportsmen’s Lodge, insists he will close the lodge on New Year’s Eve before his lease expires in January. “We are the Sportsmen’s Lodge, period,” states Holleran, who owns the liquor license, fixtures, and rights to the name. Hell, he even owns the swans.

The conflicting reports imply that Patrick Holleran plans to vacate the premises, taking his swans with him while Weintraub will be bringing in a hotel management company to take over banquet operations. So essentially, there will still be a restaurant there, but it will not be The Sportsmen’s Lodge as we know it. The 200-room Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel and Patio Cafe next door will still be available for extramarital affairs and vacation tour packages.

The 63-year old kitschy landmark on Ventura Boulevard was once a celebrity hangout for stars like Clark Gable and Bette Davis, as practically any place serving martinis sems to have been. At one time, diners at the lodge could even catch their own trout dinners. Sadly, that was one gimmick the restaurant didn’t bring back; it could have been a fad.

Let’s all lift a glass to the loss of green-and-orange-lit palm trees, and heave a collective sigh of relief that we will no longer have to suffer tacky weddings amongst the fish ponds nor choke down inedible banquet food at obligatory events. Goodbye, Chicken in Herb Sauce, farewell Spanish Rice. Three Bean Salad — we hardly knew ye.

Weintraub plans to open a Western-themed steakhouse while remaining faithful to the history of the lodge and what it means to the neighborhood.

I have fond memories of the Sportsmen’s Lodge growing up in Sherman Oaks,” Weintraub said. “And I want to bring it back to its grandeur, including events, banquets, fine dining, quality hotel space, incredible shopping and perhaps even a fishing pond.Weintraub will bring back fishing for your own dinner? Count us in! But what will happen to the swans?

Link to article
Link to purchase tickets for our Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy Holiday event!

Tags: Los Angeles, News & Events by maceddy
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Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy continue to be popular on the ‘net. Amazing but true - maceddy.com is fast approaching 3 million hits on the website!

And - I’m not talking about 3 million hits since the website first went up in 1996. I’m talking about since our new, high-tech website went live in October 2006 - exactly two years ago this month!

The software program that runs the site has a built-in counter; I insisted the web designer put a link to it on our home page. It’s on the far left of the page, just below the “Babelfish” translation tool.

If you are the lucky person who clicks onto maceddy.com and sees the number 3,000,000 - you will receive a gift credit of $100 towards ANYTHING on our website!

All you need to do is take a screen shot of that part of the page and email it to us. Here’s how you do it:

1. Each time you visit http://www.maceddy.com over the next few days, scroll down the page to see whether you are visitor #3 million. If you are, make sure you have scrolled down enough so that the number is clearly visible on your monitor.

2. Hold down the “ctrl” key and while still holding it down, hit the “PrtSc” print-screen key on your computer. Doing that means that you have taken a snapshot of the screen. Then, minimize your browser. (DON’T close the browser, just minimize it.)

3. Open up a new Word document. Right-click your mouse on the page and click “paste.” It will paste the screen snapshot into the document.

4. Save the Word document and email it as an attachment to us.

5. If for some reason this didn’t work for you, you can maximize your browser and try taking a snapshot again. Or - if you have WebTV - you can take a picture of it with a digital camera, make a print of it and send it to the club. In this case, also please email us to let us know that you are the 3 millionth visitor!

PS: Carnival Cruises did NOT raise the prices on our cabins, so you can still make a reservation. Click on the banner above for the most updated information on the cruise. Also, if you’re interested in going but need a roommate, Hallie can help match you up with someone. Contact her at 212-874-1670 or email her at highctravel@yahoo.com.

Tags: News & Events, Valentine's Week 2009 Carnival Cruise by maceddy
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Above, author K.T. Ernshaw was a longtime confidant of Nelson Eddy and had firsthand knowledge of his troubled affair with Jeanette MacDonald in the 1940s.

Ms. Ernshaw has confirmed she will be a guest speaker on the Valentines Week 2009 cruise (health permitting). If you are interested in meeting someone who knew exactly what was going on, and who will speak frankly about it - don’t miss your chance to ask questions.

As of this date, Carnival Cruises has not raised the price of our cabins, so reserve your room now at the current rate!

Here is the schedule of events as we have it now (subject to change):

Feb 8 (Sun) Hospitality Desk 2:00 – 4:00 on the Lido deck in front of the glass elevators, 9th floor, for meet and greet, goodie bags and ID’s

Feb 9 (Mon) Lecture/Film 10:00 to 1:00 in the London Room. Film: Naughty Marietta

Feb 10 (Tues) Cozumel

Feb 11 (Wed) Lecture/Film 10:00 – 1:00 in the London Room. Film: Rose Marie. A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR show is 4:00 – 6:00 in the Club Rio Lounge (open to the public). Book and CD/Signing/Sale is 8:00 to 9:30.

Feb 12 (Thurs) Grand Cayman

Feb 13 (Fri) Ocho Rios

Feb 14 (Sat) Lecture/Film 10:00 – 1:00 in the London Room. Film: Maytime. Talent Night/Sing-a-long 8:00 – 11:00

Dinners for the group are set for 6:00 PM each night.

We have filled the first block of rooms and have a few more now…so contact High C Travel if you are interested…full payment is not due until late November and a small deposit will hold your room. Contact info: 212-874-1670 or email them at highctravel@yahoo.com.

If you are joining us on our cruise and have PREVIOUSLY SAILED ON A CARNIVAL CRUISE, you should call Carnival and get your cruise ID number. Then call or email High C Travel with the information. It is possible that Carnival will give you a free cabin upgrade. This is not a certainty but it doesn’t hurt to ask! Note: you cannot book a room for the special Mac/Eddy group through Carnival Cruises - you must book through High C Travel.

We are also trying to find roommates for a couple of folks. If you are interested in going on the cruise but don’t have someone to go with, contact High C Travel to see if they can help match you up.

Also, if you are wheelchair or scooter-bound, they do have handicapped-friendly rooms, so request it.

PS: We have chosen Jeanette and Nelson’s first three films to screen, plus some rare clips and TV shorts. If you are joining us on the cruise and have any other film preferences, please let us know.

Link to read more about K.T. Ernshaw and her history with Nelson Eddy

Tags: Valentine's Week 2009 Carnival Cruise by maceddy
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Tale of two thespians
Stage-struck couple produces Dickens musical on Broadway

By Kathy Shwiff • Special to the Daily Record

Luck is a word that comes up often when Barbra Russell describes how she and her husband, as first-time producers, brought “A Tale of Two Cities” to Broadway.

The lavish musical, based on Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, opened Sept. 18, the first show of the new fall season.

To raise the $16 million ultimately needed to get the show to New York, Russell, a graduate of the College of St. Elizabeth in Morris Township, and her husband, Ron Sharpe, organized about 35 readings, some at the Hyatt Hotel in Morristown, that involved hundreds of actors.

Some of those actors are now part of the Broadway cast, including James Barbour, who plays the leading role of drunken lawyer Sydney Carton; Nick Wyman, as the villainous John Barsad; and Natalie Toro, as Madame Defarge.

Russell and Sharpe worked on the show for about eight years with Jill Santoriello, who had been writing the book, music and lyrics off and on since she fell in love with the novel in high school.

“We got lucky,” Russell said, adding that they developed a family atmosphere among their investors and others who worked on the show. They also tapped the talents of their backers, most of them New Jerseyans and first-time theater investors, to market the show and their contacts to find more investors.

Contemplating their achievement two days before the opening, Russell said, “It doesn’t even feel real.”

The Avenel native, whose parents named her for singer/actress Barbra Streisand, did not intend to pursue a life in the theater.

While attending Colonia High School in Woodbridge, she competed in tennis and tae kwon do.

Her sister was considered the singer, though Russell sang in the high school chorus along with the rest of her class.

The chorus teacher, Terri Fisco, “gave me the confidence to say this is something I could do,” Russell said, though she only considered singing something to do for fun.

Russell went to the College of St. Elizabeth as a history major, expecting to go to law school. As a sophomore, she enrolled in a one-credit singing course but dropped it when she learned it was a private lesson rather than a class.

However, she “got up the nerve” to take the course the next semester, and that decision changed her life.

Betty Ann Cluthe of Morristown, a voice instructor at the college for 14 years, played a piano scale as Russell sang the notes at the beginning of her first lesson. When her pupil hit a high C, then a high D, Cluthe knew she could sing on Broadway someday.

“I thought, Oh my God, this is a natural beautiful voice,” Cluthe said.

Russell continued to study voice with Cluthe at the college and privately, at one point taking four or five lessons a week. She learned opera and classical works as well as songs from Broadway shows, but Cluthe said Russell’s voice needed little training. “The technique was there.”

The teacher does remember nervousness keeping her student hiding in the bathroom until it was her turn to sing in college recitals, where her performance wowed audiences.

During her last year in college, Russell won first place among singers in the Florence Boughton Young Artist Competition, sponsored by the MacDowell Club of Mountain Lakes. She also spent some of her college years performing in musicals at County College of Morris and Fairleigh Dickinson University to gain acting experience.

When she graduated, Russell went to New York to start auditioning. She did commercials and regional theater for about two years until she was cast as in the young leading role, Cosette, in the national tour of “Les Miserables” at the end of 1992.

Russell toured the country for three years in “Les Miz,” and Cluthe remembers her parents, Vincent and Nancy, hiring a bus to take family and friends to see the show when it stopped in Hartford, Conn.

Playing opposite her as the young romantic lead Marius was Sharpe, who has been performing in musicals and as a trumpet player since he was a boy in Oglesby, Ill.

As Sharpe told Playbill magazine, one night “she kissed me for real.” Their joint biography says that after being married on stage hundreds of times, they decided to do it for real.

They married in 1994 and have a daughter, Samantha, 13, and a son, Logan, 6. They are expecting twins in February.

The couple performed in “Les Miz” when it traveled to Singapore. There, they met the country’s leaders, who asked them to be the American producers of two albums recorded with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra of China.

Russell and Sharpe eventually opened a recording studio in New Jersey. Among their CDs is “SweetHearts,” with songs made famous by Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Hollywood stars in the 1930s.

The couple also gives voice lessons and continues to perform in concerts throughout the world, singing at the White House in May.

Russell and Sharpe met Santoriello when her brother, an actor, asked them to sing on a demo album for “A Tale of Two Cities.”

When they heard one song, they thought, “Wow, this is pretty amazing,” Russell said. They thought the same thing about each song they heard, then Russell asked Santoriello if she could read the script. She read it straight through and at the end, she was crying. “I thought, Someone has to produce this.”

So she volunteered. Sharpe, who was performing in “Les Miz” on Broadway at that time, was more reluctant, but she talked him into it.

“We were actors who found this, and we were compelled to become producers.”

Russell said the couple and Santoriello became close friends as they helped her shape the story, and Sharpe assisted with the music. They sought advice from people they knew in the theater and attended a workshop on commercial theater producing to see what is involved in putting together a show.

“We learned on the job,” she said.

After a successful production of “A Tale of Two Cities” at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla., last fall, Russell and Sharpe raised the last of the money they needed, and New York theater owner Jujamcyn Theaters promised to rent them a Broadway theater when one became available. That took eight months.

If “A Tale of Two Cities” is a success on Broadway, Russell and Sharpe will go back to raising money for the national tour.

Would they take on another Broadway project? “We not thinking of anything right now,” she said.

Link to article

Link to purchase Broadway tickets for “A Tale of Two Cities” (special discount price)

Link to their CD of Jeanette and Nelson music

Tags: News & Events by maceddy
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Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and the book Sweethearts is discussed.

Tags: News & Events, Sharon Rich articles, YouTube by maceddy
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Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and the book Sweethearts is discussed.

Tags: News & Events, Sharon Rich articles, YouTube by maceddy
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Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and the book Sweethearts is discussed.

Tags: News & Events, Sharon Rich articles, YouTube by maceddy
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Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and the book Sweethearts is discussed.

Tags: News & Events, Sharon Rich articles, YouTube by maceddy
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Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald and the book Sweethearts is discussed. Part one:

Tags: News & Events, Sharon Rich articles, YouTube by maceddy
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UPDATE: September 20, 2008: Carnival has informed us that they will not raise prices for our cruise for another week. You can still book at the posted rates!

The latest cruise update:

1. You have until September 18 to book a reservation for our Valentines Week cruise at the original rates that were posted. After that, later bookings can be accepted but perhaps the rates will be slightly higher. Please note, you do not have to pay in full this month…you have two more months before final payment is due!

2. Carnival has added a few triple rooms to our group for both Oceanview and Balcony categories. The rates for 3 in a cainb (per person): Oceanview: $788, Balcony: $905. These rates apply until September 18.

Once again, please contact Hallie today by email or phone to grab your reservation this week. Contact info:

Just call High C Travel at 212-874-1670 or email them at highctravel@yahoo.com

Tags: Valentine's Week 2009 Carnival Cruise by maceddy
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