JANUARY – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Traveling: Italy & Spain – OLÉ

FEBRUARY – HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
It’s going to be a busy New Year. Matsuki Productions presents a new monthly series that I will be booking at the newly renovated landmark Palace Theater in Danbury, CT starting with the show below in February.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4th @ 8:00 pm

THE NEW YORK INVASION:
AN EVENING OF NEW YORK CITY AWARD WINNING TALENT

The Palace Danbury
165 Main Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Telephone: 203-794-9944

Tickets: $20 advance, $25 at the door
General Admission
*Ticketing fee included

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW at:
www.thepalacedanbury.com

Where else, for the price of a movie ticket, can you see not 1 but 7 major award-winning New York City Cabaret, Jazz, Pop, Opera and Theater singers on one stage? Well, tonight at The Palace Danbury, that’s exactly what you will see.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH @ 7:30 pm
THE LADIES SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RICHARD SKIPPER

A benefit for the Carol Channing Foundation for the Arts in loving memory of Carol’s late husband, Harry Kullijian.

DON’T TELL MAMA
343 West 46th Street (between 8th & 9th)
$15 Recommended Donation (just $10 for MAC & Hotline Members)
All money collected will go directly to Carol’s Endowment of the Arts
www.drchanningfoundation.org

2 beverage minimum – No credit cards
Reservations: 212-757-0788 (after 4:00 pm) or on line at:
www.donttellmamanyc.com

*STARRING*
5 gals who love Richard:
Diane Findlay - Peggy Herman – Dana Lorge – Sue Matsuki - Jana Robbins
With SPECIAL SURPRISE GUESTS!

SUNDAYS, FEBRUARY 19TH, 26TH, MARCH 4TH & 11TH
10:00 am – 12:30 pm

ANNOUNCING a brand new Matsuki venture! After years of being asked when I was going to teach a course based on all my columns and advice, I have decided to teach a 4-week course on 4 very different aspects of the Business of Cabaret/Theater. Every class will have handouts and worksheets; there will be star studded panels for a Q&A at all classes; the class will be interactive and there will be FREE coffee! All classes will be held at a midtown location to be announced to attendees.

The cost is just $50.00 for each 2 ½ class. This is much less than my hourly fee and averages out to just $20.00 an hour! THIS is a deal, believe me! If you are interested in taking all 4 classes it is only $150.00! You get 1 class for FREE! Please contact me privately at: suematsuki@aol.com to register.

Can’t make a class but want a one-on-one session to cover or and all of these topics? Just contact me to arrange and we can meet. I will do a private tutorial with handouts at a time and place that is convenient to you.

The 4 week courses are as follows:

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 1: HOW TO CONNECT TO A LYRIC, HOW TO PUT A SHOW TOGETHER & WHAT IS PATTER?
(Recommended reading: The Cabaret Artist’s Handbook by Bob Harrington & The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron)

This 2 ½ hour class, while geared toward the new comer to Cabaret, will be helpful to all levels. I will first look at how one can personalize and make meaningful the lyrics that you will sing and to help you understand what we reviewers mean when we say that a singer was “connected” to their material. I will help you understand the concept of what my mentor and friend, David Friedman, calls having a “true circumstance” when you sing.

You will be required to bring in 13-15 songs (list of songs and words – you do not need the sheet music) that you love to sing or a show concept with 13-15 songs that you’d like to sing. This is to help you learn how to sketch out a show concept on your own. You do not have to actually be performance ready on any of the tunes that you bring in. This is for an exercise we will be doing in class. Once you have your line up, we will work on examples of what you could use for patter (chat in between songs.)

The reason for the above class is to save you time and money. The more YOU can prepare yourself in your choices and ideas when you then present your concept and list to your Musical Director and Director, the more you start from a position where a lot of the work that would have been “on the clock” is done and a clear vision is ready to be presented to your team as a basis to start from.

I will have a person on the panel who is a performer, teacher, vocal coach and director who will then share how you can best use a class to your advantage before you do an entire show and how they like to work with people coming to them to direct a show.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 2: TIME MANAGEMENT & MAKING YOURSELF AND YOUR SINGING CAREER A PRIORITY.
(Recommended reading: The Touring Musician: An Invaluable Survival Manual for Musicians by Hal Galper & This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin – a very “heady” (get it) book on why and how the brain processes music and how we receive it!)

Going forward from Class 1, this 2 ½ hour class will focus on how to treat yourself and your singing career like a business. How would you perform if someone hired you to represent them? Why would you perform with any less focus on your own career? What do you need to get started? I will discuss how to present like a professional in all your materials: Tech Sheets, Scripts, Song Lists, Press Kits, Fliers, Postcards, Cover Letters, etc. and you will be given samples of all of these materials. I will teach you how to set up a Master TO DO sheet.

Confirmed to be on the panel are three of the most tenacious, unapologetic, shameless self-promoters and business savvy performers that I know. These folks will discuss the new wave of using all of the social media to our best advantage when trying to sell and promote our shows and will cover everything from setting up an event on Facebook to mass mailings through services like Constant Contact to how to create a buzz about you (blogs) to how to set up an electronic press kit for those seeking work out of town.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 3: HOW TO WRITE A SONG, PARODY OR A JOKE!
(Recommended reading: Successful Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis & How to Write Funny Lyrics - The Comedy Songwriting Manual by Michael Pollock.)

This 2 ½ hour class will be a BLAST! I have invited some of the most wonderful songwriters and comics that I know to be on this panel where we will discuss:

Where does the inspiration for a song come from? How does it get to paper? How do you “find” the music/melody for it? What is it like to collaborate on a song? What IS collaboration? How can I write some good jokes to use in my show or as patter? Who owns a song? If I come up with the words and melody but need someone to lay the song down for me… are they a co-writer? If the song hits big…who gets paid and how?

Do you have an idea for an original song but do not know how to write it or where to begin? This class would be ideal for you. Also, our panelist are all people who may be asked to work on a tune with you as a co-writer so bring those songs or poems that are written out already and bring your song concepts and let us teach you how to realize your own original tune or funny one liners for your act.

Remember, when you hire someone to write a song for you and you pay them for it (the actual song, not just the music), it becomes specialty material that is yours. If you do not pay them or do not agree that it is solely for you, it becomes a song available to all who want to sing it. However, if YOU co-write a song, you then have the option of saying it’s just for you until such time that you want to share it with the world but this too must be agreed with your co—writer. This all come under the collaboration umbrella.

On this panel will be some of the best songwriters (lyrists and composers) in the business and an award winning comic. We will also briefly discuss who owns the rights to a song you may have co-written and how to protect yourself through registering at ASCAP or BMI.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 4: HOW TO AUDITION FOR A BROADWAY SHOW!
Have you ever thought of going to a Broadway audition and just never had the nerve because you were too scared because you just didn’t know how it all worked? This would be the class for YOU!

I have never auditioned for Broadway BUT my forte is administration and organization and time management so I was recently on a panel as a seminar presented to 20 theater students from Canada and my portion of the program was again, how to present as a professional when you walk into the room and with your materials and how to beat the head game of making yourself do this. I have created a sample of an Audition Book and also an Audition Record Sheet that keeps track of all your auditions as a record for reason we will discuss in class but this sheet is a must have if you are currently auditioning.

What songs are overdone and should be avoid? What does one need to prepare for a straight drama by way of a monologue? What should one wear and how does one present? What is too much confidence and what are the pitfalls of presenting without enough confidence? What message does your first impression make? To make eye contact or to not make eye contact…ASK US!

On this panel are the amazing folks that I did this seminar with: a person who has been on Broadway in several musicals who is now a choreographer and someone who currently auditions people for shows. AND a monologue coach who has been in both musicals and straight plays on Broadway who will give you helpful hints on what to bring to an audition by way of a monologue and what to avoid. Both of these gents are available for private coaching as well.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25th 2012 @ 5:30 pm

Hosted by Sue Matsuki
Musical Director: Barry Levitt

*Starring*
Bruch Clough
Gary Crawford
Joanna Morton Gary

These are 3 INCREDIBLE talents that you need to meet and hear! We all know Gary Crawford as one of the most supportive people in our rooms. Come show HIM some love and hear his amazing voice. Bruce Clough and Joanna Morton Gary are two singers that can sing, blues, R&B, jazz and theater pieces with the best of them.

Click here to join: www.CabaretHotlineOnLine.com for show discounts and a guide to all things Cabaret around the country and to read my column:

MARCH – HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

Saturday, March 3rd 2012
ELLA & ME – A Tribute to the First Lady of Song
8:00 pm
The Palace Danbury
165 Main Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Telephone: 203-794-9944

Tickets: $20 advance, $25 at the door
General Admission
*Ticketing fee included

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
www.thepalacedanbury.com

Bringing a few of her stellar jazz musicians with her, multi-award winning singer and MAC Award Winner for Female Jazz Vocalist, Sue Matsuki, will offer a tribute show of the tunes that Ella made famous during her American Songbook Series recorded on Capital Records. Music by Berlin, Porter, Cahn, Gillespie, Mercer, Arlen, Burke and featuring some of her most famous songs like: “How High the Moon”; her famous version of “Mack the Knife”; “Miss Otis Regrets”; “Lullaby of Birdland”; “A Night in Tunisia”; “Blue Skies”; “Love for Sale” and more!

"This is the music she was born to sing...I urge you, no I beg you to see this show!"
Stu Hamstra, CabaretHotlineOnLine.com

SUNDAYS, MARCH 4TH & 11TH - 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

ANNOUNCING a brand new Matsuki venture! After years of being asked when I was going to teach a course based on all my columns and advice, I have decided to teach a 4-week course on 4 very different aspects of the Business of Cabaret/Theater. These are the last two courses but you do not have to have taken the prior two classes to participate in either of these classes. Every class will have handouts and worksheets; there will be star studded panels for a Q&A at all classes; the class will be interactive and there will be FREE coffee! All classes will be held at a midtown location to be announced to attendees.

The cost is just $50.00 for each 2 ½ class. This is much less than my hourly fee and averages out to just $20.00 an hour! THIS is a deal, believe me! Please contact me privately at: suematsuki@aol.com to register.

Can’t make a class but want a one-on-one session to cover or and all of these topics? Just contact me to arrange and we can meet. I will do a private tutorial with handouts at a time and place that is convenient to you.

The 2 remaining courses are as follows:

SUNDAY, MARCH 4TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 3: HOW TO WRITE A SONG, PARODY OR A JOKE!
(Recommended reading: Successful Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis & How to Write Funny Lyrics - The Comedy Songwriting Manual by Michael Pollock.)

This 2 ½ hour class will be a BLAST! I have invited some of the most wonderful songwriters and comics that I know to be on this panel where we will discuss:

Where does the inspiration for a song come from? How does it get to paper? How do you “find” the music/melody for it? What is it like to collaborate on a song? What IS collaboration? How can I write some good jokes to use in my show or as patter? Who owns a song? If I come up with the words and melody but need someone to lay the song down for me… are they a co-writer? If the song hits big…who gets paid and how?

Do you have an idea for an original song but do not know how to write it or where to begin? This class would be ideal for you. Also, our panelist are all people who may be asked to work on a tune with you as a co-writer so bring those songs or poems that are written out already and bring your song concepts and let us teach you how to realize your own original tune or funny one liners for your act.

Remember, when you hire someone to write a song for you and you pay them for it (the actual song, not just the music), it becomes specialty material that is yours. If you do not pay them or do not agree that it is solely for you, it becomes a song available to all who want to sing it. However, if YOU co-write a song, you then have the option of saying it’s just for you until such time that you want to share it with the world but this too must be agreed with your co—writer. This all come under the collaboration umbrella.

On this panel will be some of the best songwriters (lyrists and composers) in the business and an award winning comic. We will also briefly discuss who owns the rights to a song you may have co-written and how to protect yourself through registering at ASCAP or BMI.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11TH – 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
CLASS 4: HOW TO AUDITION FOR A BROADWAY SHOW!

Have you ever thought of going to a Broadway audition and just never had the nerve because you were too scared because you just didn’t know how it all worked? This would be the class for YOU!

I have never auditioned for Broadway BUT my forte is administration and organization and time management so I was recently on a panel as a seminar presented to 20 theater students from Canada and my portion of the program was again, how to present as a professional when you walk into the room and with your materials and how to beat the head game of making yourself do this. I have created a sample of an Audition Book and also an Audition Record Sheet that keeps track of all your auditions as a record for reason we will discuss in class but this sheet is a must have if you are currently auditioning.

What songs are overdone and should be avoid? What does one need to prepare for a straight drama by way of a monologue? What should one wear and how does one present? What is too much confidence and what are the pitfalls of presenting without enough confidence? What message does your first impression make? To make eye contact or to not make eye contact…ASK US!

On this panel are the amazing folks that I did this seminar with: a person who has been on Broadway in several musicals who is now a choreographer and someone who currently auditions people for shows. AND a monologue coach who has been in both musicals and straight plays on Broadway who will give you helpful hints on what to bring to an audition by way of a monologue and what to avoid. Both of these gents are available for private coaching as well.

NOTE: If these 4 classes are a success, there will be a next level session offered AND a BONUS class on how to create an image on stage and how to dress with image consultants on the panel FREE for all repeat students!

FRIDAYS, MARCH 16th, 23rd, 30th, APRIL 13th, 20th, 27th, MAY 4th & 11TH

UNCONN – 99 E. Main Street – Waterbury, CT
OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE
Go to: www.Waterbury.UCONN.edu/osher

Call me Professor Matsuki! Classes are currently being offered to Senior Citizens defined as 52 and up (I know, OUCH!). This is my 3rd semester teaching and I’ve gone from 1 to 2 to now 3 classes! This is a fun, save, loving environment to live your life long dream of singing…what are you waiting for? Come join us! You do not have to be a great singer, nor do you have to read music.

10:00 am – 11:30 am – How to Write a Show (Patter)
11:40 am – 1:00 pm – Life is a Cabaret Continues
1:15 pm - 2:45 pm – Life is a Cabaret Continues

APRIL – HAPPY EASTER!

Saturday, April 14th 2012 at 8:00 pm
The Palace Danbury
165 Main Street - Danbury, CT 06810
Telephone: 203-794-9944

Tickets: $20 advance & $25 at the door
General Admission
*Ticketing fee included

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!
www.thepalacedanbury.com

Eric Michael Gillett's WIDESCREEN is for everyone who has ever stumbled into a darkened movie house to escape the tumult of everyday life. WIDESCREEN uses the silver screen for a jumping off point, borrowing songs written specifically for motion pictures ("What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?", "Theme from Valley of the Dolls", "Moon River") and marrying them to music from theater ("I Can't Make This Movie",) and contemporary pop ("Widescreen", "Erroll Flynn") to explore the world of the movies and the fantasies, illusions, and lies that fill our lives. With: Jeff Cubeta, Musical Director.

“The verb “sings” is really inadequate to evoke the acute empathy with which Eric Michael Gillett transformed theater songs”…The New York Times

“MAGNIFICENT!”...Cabaret Scenes Billboard

“POWERFUL!”...Los Angeles Times

KEEP WATCHING…MORE TO COME!