Hello Beautiful People,
Exactly one week ago I went to see Isabel Rose in concert at 54 Below. I had absolutely no idea what to expect – but hey, it was a night out at one of my favorite venues in New York – how could I go wrong?
The simple answer to that question is – well, you can never go wrong at 54 Below.
Here’s Isbael Rose in her own words –
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you this: I spent every Friday night of my childhood watching an MGM movie musical. I wasn’t raised by two dads. However, my one dad happened to be both a military historian and a lover of the great American songbook. By the time I was six, I knew all the words to both the US Air Force anthem and to Singin’ in the Rain.
The Technicolor education of my early years continued at Yale, where I was introduced to the two things that made me the woman I am today: gay men and false eyelashes.
My acting career has spanned the sublime (being cast by Jerry Zaks in the Tony Award-winning Six Degrees of Separation) to the ridiculous (playing Gwyneth Paltrow’s hare-lipped twin in The Williamstown Theater Festival production of Huckleberry Finn).
I got the idea for a movie after catching Eartha Kitt’s cabaret act at the Carlyle. Written with my Yale roommate, Robert Cary, we decided to go the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland route — otherwise known as making an indie. Rob directed and we cast the cheapest actress we could find for the starring role: me!
During my downtime on the set, I wrote a novel, The J.A.P. Chronicles, lauded as “hilarious and poignant” by the local paper in Omaha (Jewish population: 0.0213%). Fortunately, the rest of the country agreed and the book continues to make Doubleday –and my parents– proud. I even turned it into a musical, which ran Off-Broadway until, through no fault of the musical, the theater closed and became a condo.
When a New York Times critic wrote: “Rose can indeed sing,” I decided that perhaps he was onto something. I followed the show up with my first album, Swingin’ from the Hip and am currently at work on another.
A voice teacher told me never to eat either peanuts or chocolate before performing. My favorite dressing-room snack is peanut M&M’s.
Here’s Isbael in my words –
She’s fun. She’s entertaining. She can pull off a green sparkly leotard like NOBODY I’ve ever seen. And well, her canon of 60s inspired music will just make the hardest of hearts melt. Move. Shake. Groove. The music of an evening with Isabel Rose will lift your spirit and make your soul dance – and the ambiance of 54 Below just enhances the whole evening.
My guest and I were gifted with Isabel’s new CD – Trouble in Paradise, and make no doubt about it, the songs of the 60s will be blasting in my household.
Purchase your copy here, and visit 54 Below for the “latest + greatest” in all things Broadway, theater, and music.
Live, Love, Learn,