Alan Eichler
Encyclopedia
Alan Eichler is a theatrical producer, talent manager
and press agent
who has represented numerous stage productions, produced Grammy-winning record albums and managed such singers as Anita O'Day
, Hadda Brooks
, Nellie Lutcher
, Ruth Brown
, Johnnie Ray
and Yma Sumac
, NY, he began his career in the mailroom
as an apprentice to legendary publicist Lee Solters
in 1963 and worked his way up to account executive at Solters' firm Solters, O'Rourke and Sabinson. His clients during that time included the Rolling Stones
, Caesars Palace
in Las Vegas, the Hollywood Palace TV show, Dorothy Lamour
(for her tour in Hello, Dolly! (musical)
), and singers Paul Anka
, Bobby Vinton
, Edie Adams
, Jane Morgan
and Peggy Lee
. Following admission to the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers union (ATPAM) in 1969, he worked as publicist on numerous Broadway
hits including the original productions of Hello, Dolly! (musical)
, George M!
and Hair
. He also promoted several major off-Broadway
hits including Paul Zindel
's Pulitzer Prize
-winning The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
, the Elaine May
-Terrence McNally
double-bill Adaptation
/Next
, Harold Pinter
's The Tea Party
and The Basement, the long-running rock musical
Your Own Thing
, Andre Gregory
's experimental adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, and Tom Stoppard
's The Real Inspector Hound
. McNally also retained him as personal publicist for his plays Bad Habits
, Whiskey, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?
and The Ritz
and Zindel retained him to promote his books as well as the play And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
with Estelle Parsons
and Julie Harris
. Eichler was also involved with several noteworthy "flops" during this period including Shelley Winters
' only attempt at playwrighting, "One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger" with Robert DeNiro, Sally Kirkland
and Diane Ladd
; Tina Howe
's "The Nest" with Jill Clayburgh
;Leland Hayward
's last production "The Mother Lover" with Eileen Heckart
; and the nude exploitation show "Score" with Sylvester Stallone
.
, starting with the controversial comedy hit The Dirtiest Show in Town
and continuing with the prison comedy Women Behind Bars
(which Eichler also co-produced), The Neon Woman
starring Divine, Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down, The White Whore and the Bit Player, and the Tony Award
-winning musical Dreamgirls
. He also worked with actor-director-playwright Charles Ludlam
and helped establish Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company as one of the major forces of New York's avant-garde
theatre, with such cult hits as Camille (performed by Ludlam in drag), Bluebeard
, Stage Blood
, Hot Ice
, and the cabaret play The Ventriloquist's Wife. In 1974, he became co-producer with Geraldine Fitzgerald
of her one-woman musical show Streetsongs, which had three separate extended theatrical runs over the next several years both on and off-Broadway, a TV version on PBS and an original cast record album. He also represented Fitzgerald for all of her other ventures for the rest of her stage and film career. He helped steer the course of an unusual 1975 rock opera
entitled The Lieutenant
(musical), based on the My Lai Massacre
, which began as a small workshop production at the Queens Theatre-in-the-Park, before traveling to Broadway
. It only managed to run for nine performances, but was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical
and Best Actor
in a Musical (Eddie Mekka
). He promoted the 1976 Jerry Rubin
self-help book "Growing Up at Thirty-Seven." In 1978, he was associate producer of the Broadway musical Timbuktu!
, an African-American adaptation of the Chet Forrest-Robert Wright
musical Kismet
, starring Eartha Kitt
, Melba Moore
and Gilbert Price
. He also toured with the show for two years as press agent and continued to have a long association with Kitt. He next publicized the Broadway
production of Martin Sherman
's play "Bent
" with Richard Gere
. In 1980, he began a year-long tour as press agent with the first national company of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
starring Alexis Smith
, following which he settled in Los Angeles
. In 1994, he produced an original musical, "Swanson on Sunset," about the attempts of Gloria Swanson
to create a musical version of her film hit Sunset Boulevard
, with writer Dickson Hughes and actor Richard Stapley
. It played an extended engagement at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Cinegrill
's Cinegrill, the Oak Room at Perino's, the Westwood Marquis and the Vine St. Bar and Grill, where he also produced a series of live albums featuring Nina Simone
, Joe Williams
, Marlena Shaw
, Etta James
, Maxine Sullivan
, Annie Ross
, and LaVern Baker
. In 1986, he produced all-star benefit shows at the Vine Street Bar and Grill that raised money to obtain a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
for Billie Holiday
, as well as a headstone for singer Esther Phillips
, who had been a regular performer at the club prior to her passing. He combined his knowledge of promotion with his love of veteran recording stars and helped restore the careers of such notables as Anita O'Day
(who he managed for 25 years), Yma Sumac
(who he managed for more than 20 years and launched on a new international career), Ruth Brown
(who won a Tony
, a Grammy and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
), Johnnie Ray
, Helen Forrest
, Helen Ward (jazz singer)
, Nellie Lutcher
, Ella Mae Morse
, Marilyn Maye
, Lillian Roth
(including her comeback
appearance in the Kander and Ebb
musical 70, Girls, 70
), Thelma Carpenter
(including her Broadway
run in "Hello, Dolly! (musical)
" and her movie debut in "The Wiz (film)
", Monica Lewis, Tommy Sands
, Joanie Sommers
, Maxene Andrews of the Andrews Sisters
(who he launched on a successful solo career in 1979), and Hadda Brooks
, who he brought out of a 16-year retirement and signed to Virgin Records
. With Blossom Dearie
, he co-produced the successful one-woman show "Blossom at Tiffany's" at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles
. In 1983,he created original cabaret acts for veteran film stars Vivian Blaine
and Virginia O'Brien
and produced live record albums of each show. Also in 1983, he launched movie sex symbol
Mamie Van Doren
on a new career as a disco
recording star and she charted with first release, "State of Turmoil." Rhino Records released a compilation album, "The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll," she wrote a best-selling autobiography "Playing the Field" and along with Vivian Blaine
, became the first AIDS
actist in Los Angeles
, openly lending her name to fund-raising causes at a time when they couldn't yet get celebrity endorsements. He helped "Knot's Landing" co-star Larry Riley (actor)
launch a singing career in 1988 and produced the actor's tribute-show to Louis Jordan
, "Let the Good Times Roll
". Eichler promoted the 50th anniversary concert by longtime client Patti Page
at Carnegie Hall
in 1997 and arranged the release of the live recording, which earned Page her first Grammy Award
. He co-produced Ruth Brown
's Grammy Award
-winning album "Blues on Broadway," which competed against another nominated album he produced the same year, Anita O'Day
's "In a Mellow Tone." He helped O'Day recover from a long illness in 1999 and arranged for a comeback concert at New York
's Avery Fisher Hall
. Eichler was instrumental in arranging LaVern Baker
's return to the U.S. after a 20-year absence and obtained two new album deals for her with Rhino Records and DRG Records, during which time she made her Broadway
debut as Ruth Brown
's successor in "Black and Blue
," received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
. He also promoted comeback concerts for Joni James
at New York's Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall
and Carnegie Hall
, as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Theatre in Los Angeles
and the Academy of Music
in Philadelphia, where she was backed by the Count Basie
Orchestra. He created and produced the show "Voices--Hollywood's Secret Singing Stars," featuring four vocalists (Annette Warren, India Adams, Betty Wand
and Jo Ann Greer
), who had dubbed the singing voices for such film stars as Ava Gardner
, Lucille Ball
, Cyd Charisse
, Joan Crawford
, Esther Williams
, Leslie Caron
, Kim Novak
and Rita Hayworth
.
and other works that are produced throughout the world.
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
and press agent
Press agent
A press agent, or flack, is a professional publicist who acts on behalf of his or her client on all matters involving public relations. Press agents are typically employed by public personalities and organizations such as performers and businesses...
who has represented numerous stage productions, produced Grammy-winning record albums and managed such singers as Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
, Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks , was an American pianist, vocalist and composer. Her first single, "Swingin' the Boogie", which she composed, was issued in 1945...
, Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher was an African-American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
, Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
and Yma Sumac
Yma Súmac
Yma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
Early life and career
Born in ElmhurstElmhurst, Queens
Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; Corona to the northeast; Junction Boulevard on the east; Rego Park to the southeast; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Middle Village to the south and southwest; and Maspeth...
, NY, he began his career in the mailroom
Mailroom
A mailroom is a room in which incoming and outgoing mail is processed and sorted. Mailrooms are commonly found in schools, offices, apartment buildings, and the generic post office....
as an apprentice to legendary publicist Lee Solters
Lee Solters
Lee Solters was an American press agent who used his flamboyant style to represent celebrities from stage, movies and sports including 26 years with Frank Sinatra.-Early life and career:...
in 1963 and worked his way up to account executive at Solters' firm Solters, O'Rourke and Sabinson. His clients during that time included the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
in Las Vegas, the Hollywood Palace TV show, Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour
Dorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
(for her tour in Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
), and singers Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
, Edie Adams
Edie Adams
Edie Adams was an American singer, Broadway, television and film actress and comedienne. Adams, a Tony Award winner, "both embodied and winked at the stereotypes of fetching chanteuse and sexpot blonde." She was well-known for her impersonations of female stars on stage and television, most...
, Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan
Jane Morgan is an American popular singer, specializing in traditional pop music. Her first broad fame came in Europe....
and Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
. Following admission to the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers union (ATPAM) in 1969, he worked as publicist on numerous Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
hits including the original productions of Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
, George M!
George M!
George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were, of course, by George M...
and Hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
. He also promoted several major off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
hits including Paul Zindel
Paul Zindel
Paul Zindel Jr. was an American playwright, author, and educator.-Early years:Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York to Paul Zindel,Sr., a policeman, and Beatrice Frank, a nurse; his sister, Betty Hagen, was a year and a half older than he. Paul Zindel, Sr...
's Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. The play's world premiere was staged in 1964 at the Alley Theatre...
, the Elaine May
Elaine May
Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
-Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
double-bill Adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
/Next
Next (play)
Next is a one-act play by Terrence McNally.At the comedy's center are Marion Cheever, a middle-aged, overweight, debt-ridden, divorced father of two who mistakenly has been called by the draft, and Sergeant Thech, a no-nonsense female examining officer...
, Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's The Tea Party
The Tea Party
The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences, dubbed "Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s up until 2005 when the band broke up, The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records...
and The Basement, the long-running rock musical
Rock musical
A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals...
Your Own Thing
Your Own Thing
Your Own Thing is a rock-styled musical comedy loosely based on Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. It premiered off-Broadway in early 1968. The music and lyrics are by Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar with the book adaptation by Donald Driver, who also directed the original production...
, Andre Gregory
Andre Gregory
Andre William Gregory is an American theatre director, writer and actor.Gregory studied at Harvard University.During the 1960s and 1970s, Gregory directed a number of avant-garde productions developed through ensemble collaboration, the most famous of which was Alice In Wonderland , based on Lewis...
's experimental adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, and Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit...
. McNally also retained him as personal publicist for his plays Bad Habits
Bad Habits (play)
Bad Habits is play by Terrence McNally.The comedy is composed of what originally were written as two one-act plays set in sanatoriums. In Ravenswood, a doctor allows his patients to indulge in all their bad habits as means of finding happiness...
, Whiskey, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?
Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?
Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone? is a play by Terrence McNally that originally opened off-Broadway at the Eastside Playhouse on Oct. 7, 1971 and closed Dec. 12 after 78 performances. It was directed by Jacques Levy and the cast was headed by Robert Drivas, Sally Kirkland, F...
and The Ritz
The Ritz (play)
The Ritz is a play by Terrence McNally. Actress Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester....
and Zindel retained him to promote his books as well as the play And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little
And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little is an American play written by Paul Zindel and published by Dramatists Play Service.The story surrounds three sisters: Catherine, an alcoholic; Anna, a hypochondriac and Ceil, an attention-starved socialite.-History:...
with Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons
Estelle Margaret Parsons is an American theatre, film and television actress and occasional theatrical director.After studying law, Parsons became a singer before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She worked for the television program Today and made her stage debut in 1961...
and Julie Harris
Julie Harris
Julia Ann "Julie" Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1994, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
. Eichler was also involved with several noteworthy "flops" during this period including Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
' only attempt at playwrighting, "One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger" with Robert DeNiro, Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Kirkland was named after her mother, fashion editor Sally Kirkland, who was a fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Frederic McMichael Kirkland, worked in the scrap...
and Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
; Tina Howe
Tina Howe
Tina Howe is an American playwright. She is the daughter of journalist Quincy Howe and was raised in a literary family...
's "The Nest" with Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh was an American actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles in An Unmarried Woman and Starting Over.-Personal life:...
;Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward
Leland Hayward was a Hollywood and Broadway agent and theatrical producer. He produced the original Broadway stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and The Sound of Music.-Early years:...
's last production "The Mother Lover" with Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
; and the nude exploitation show "Score" with Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
.
Later theatrical work and productions
In 1970, he began a long association with playwright Tom EyenTom Eyen
Tom Eyen was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and theatre director.Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum...
, starting with the controversial comedy hit The Dirtiest Show in Town
The Dirtiest Show in Town
The Dirtiest Show in Town is a musical revue with a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Jeff Barry.An attack on both air pollution, the Vietnam War, urban blight and computerized conformity, it is filled with sex, nudity, and strong lesbian and gay male characters, and culminates in a massive...
and continuing with the prison comedy Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars
Women Behind Bars is a play by Tom Eyen.A camp spoof of the exploitation films produced by Universal, Warner's, and Republic Pictures in the 1950s, this black comedy is set in the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village...
(which Eichler also co-produced), The Neon Woman
The Neon Woman
The Neon Woman is a comic play written by Tom Eyen. The play is an outrageous murder mystery set in a seedy Baltimore burlesque house run by a retired stripper . It was written as a vehicle for Pink Flamingos star Divine , who had previously starred in a revival of Eyen's Women Behind Bars...
starring Divine, Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down, The White Whore and the Bit Player, and the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning musical Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio...
. He also worked with actor-director-playwright Charles Ludlam
Charles Ludlam
Charles Braun Ludlam was an American actor, director, and playwright.-Early life:Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in Greenlawn, New York, on Long Island, and attended Harborfields High School. The fact that he was gay was not a...
and helped establish Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company as one of the major forces of New York's avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
theatre, with such cult hits as Camille (performed by Ludlam in drag), Bluebeard
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" is a French literary folktale written by Charles Perrault and is one of eight tales by the author first published by Barbin in Paris in January 1697 in Histoires ou Contes du temps passé. The tale tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the...
, Stage Blood
Stage Blood
Stage Blood was a comedy by Charles Ludlam that spoofed Shakespeare's Hamlet, as well as the third-rate touring company who are performing it. The cast was headed by Ridiculous Theatrical Company veterans Black-Eyed Susan, Lola Pashalinski, Bill Vehr, Jack Mallory, John D. Brockmeyer and Ludlam...
, Hot Ice
Hot Ice
Hot Ice is the 165th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
, and the cabaret play The Ventriloquist's Wife. In 1974, he became co-producer with Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
of her one-woman musical show Streetsongs, which had three separate extended theatrical runs over the next several years both on and off-Broadway, a TV version on PBS and an original cast record album. He also represented Fitzgerald for all of her other ventures for the rest of her stage and film career. He helped steer the course of an unusual 1975 rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
entitled The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963-1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...
(musical), based on the My Lai Massacre
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass murder of 347–504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, by United States Army soldiers of "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the Americal Division. Most of the victims were women, children , and...
, which began as a small workshop production at the Queens Theatre-in-the-Park, before traveling to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. It only managed to run for nine performances, but was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
and Best Actor
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival...
in a Musical (Eddie Mekka
Eddie Mekka
Eddie Mekka is an American actor most famous for his role as Carmine Ragusa on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley.-Life and career:...
). He promoted the 1976 Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin was an American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman.-Early life:...
self-help book "Growing Up at Thirty-Seven." In 1978, he was associate producer of the Broadway musical Timbuktu!
Timbuktu!
Timbuktu! is a musical, with lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright. The book is by Luther Davis. It is a resetting of Forrest and Wright's musical Kismet...
, an African-American adaptation of the Chet Forrest-Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...
musical Kismet
Kismet (musical)
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward Knoblock...
, starring Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, Melba Moore
Melba Moore
Beatrice Melba Smith , known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American disco, R&B singer and actress. She is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis.-Early life:...
and Gilbert Price
Gilbert Price
Gilbert Price was an American singer and actor.Price was one of Langston Hughes's protégés; his first starring role was in Hughes's Jericho-Jim Crow , for which he won a Theatre World Award....
. He also toured with the show for two years as press agent and continued to have a long association with Kitt. He next publicized the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...
's play "Bent
Bent (play)
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....
" with Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
. In 1980, he began a year-long tour as press agent with the first national company of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall...
starring Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
, following which he settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1994, he produced an original musical, "Swanson on Sunset," about the attempts of Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
to create a musical version of her film hit Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
, with writer Dickson Hughes and actor Richard Stapley
Richard Stapley
Richard Stapley, also known by the stage name Richard Wyler, was a British-born American actor and writer.-Early life:...
. It played an extended engagement at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927...
Cinegrill
Music and management
He shifted his focus to music and helped establish several major jazz clubs and cabarets including the Hollywood Roosevelt HotelHollywood Roosevelt Hotel
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927...
's Cinegrill, the Oak Room at Perino's, the Westwood Marquis and the Vine St. Bar and Grill, where he also produced a series of live albums featuring Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, Joe Williams
Joe Williams (jazz singer)
Joe Williams was a well-known jazz vocalist, a baritone singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.-Early life:...
, Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw is an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials.-Biography:She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player...
, Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan , born Marietta Williams, was an American blues and jazz singer.She was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and married jazz musician John Kirby in 1938 , and stride pianist Cliff Jackson in 1956...
, Annie Ross
Annie Ross
Annie Ross is an English jazz singer, and actress, best known as a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.-Early years:...
, and LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
. In 1986, he produced all-star benefit shows at the Vine Street Bar and Grill that raised money to obtain a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
for Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, as well as a headstone for singer Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips was an American singer. Phillips was known for her R&B vocals, but she was a versatile singer, also performing pop, country, jazz, blues and soul music.-Early life:...
, who had been a regular performer at the club prior to her passing. He combined his knowledge of promotion with his love of veteran recording stars and helped restore the careers of such notables as Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
(who he managed for 25 years), Yma Sumac
Yma Súmac
Yma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
(who he managed for more than 20 years and launched on a new international career), Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
(who won a Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, a Grammy and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
), Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
, Helen Forrest
Helen Forrest
Helen Forrest was one of the most popular female jazz vocalists during America's Big Band era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917...
, Helen Ward (jazz singer)
Helen Ward (jazz singer)
Helen Ward was an American singer. Her father had taught her piano, and she appeared on radio broadcasts with WOR and WNYC...
, Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher
Nellie Lutcher was an African-American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
, Ella Mae Morse
Ella Mae Morse
Ella Mae Morse , was an American popular singer. Morse blended jazz, country, pop, and R&B.-Career:Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas, United States. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when she was 14 years old. Dorsey believed she was 19, and when he was informed by the school board that he was now...
, Marilyn Maye
Marilyn Maye
Marilyn Maye is an American cabaret singer and musical theatre actress. She began her career as a young child performing in Kansas in both live concerts and on the radio. After graduating from high school, she moved to Chicago where she drew the attention of Steve Allen, performing first on The...
, Lillian Roth
Lillian Roth
Lillian Roth was an American singer and actress.-Early life:Roth was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was only 6 years old when her mother took her to Educational Pictures, where she became the company's trademark, symbolized by a living statue holding a lamp of knowledge...
(including her comeback
Comeback
A comeback is the return of a person of public interest, a style or fashion in the mid-point of media interest. The term is predominantly used in politics, sports and pop music. In the case of a band, the term reunion is used...
appearance in the Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb . Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York...
musical 70, Girls, 70
70, Girls, 70
70, Girls, 70 is a musical with a book by Fred Ebb and Norman L. Martin adapted by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Ebb, and music by John Kander.The musical is based on the 1958 play Breath of Spring by Peter Coke...
), Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter
Thelma Carpenter was a jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.-Career:...
(including her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
run in "Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
" and her movie debut in "The Wiz (film)
The Wiz (film)
The Wiz is a 1978 musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring an entirely African-American cast, The Wiz was adapted from the 1975 Broadway musical...
", Monica Lewis, Tommy Sands
Tommy Sands
Tommy Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor.-Early life:Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana...
, Joanie Sommers
Joanie Sommers
Joanie Sommers , is an American singer and actress with a long career of jazz, standards and popular material and extensive show-business credits...
, Maxene Andrews of the Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...
(who he launched on a successful solo career in 1979), and Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks , was an American pianist, vocalist and composer. Her first single, "Swingin' the Boogie", which she composed, was issued in 1945...
, who he brought out of a 16-year retirement and signed to Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. With Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice.-Early career:...
, he co-produced the successful one-woman show "Blossom at Tiffany's" at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1983,he created original cabaret acts for veteran film stars Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine was an American actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.-Life and career:...
and Virginia O'Brien
Virginia O'Brien
Virginia Lee O'Brien was a popular American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic roles in MGM musicals of the 1940s.-Life and career:...
and produced live record albums of each show. Also in 1983, he launched movie sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren is an American actress and singer; who rose to popularity as Universal Pictures's version of 20th Century Fox's Marilyn Monroe....
on a new career as a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
recording star and she charted with first release, "State of Turmoil." Rhino Records released a compilation album, "The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll," she wrote a best-selling autobiography "Playing the Field" and along with Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine was an American actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.-Life and career:...
, became the first AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
actist in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, openly lending her name to fund-raising causes at a time when they couldn't yet get celebrity endorsements. He helped "Knot's Landing" co-star Larry Riley (actor)
Larry Riley (actor)
Larry Riley was an American actor and musician, best known for his role as C.J. Memphis in the film A Soldier's Story and as Frank Williams in the prime-time TV soap opera Knots Landing....
launch a singing career in 1988 and produced the actor's tribute-show to Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
, "Let the Good Times Roll
Let the Good Times Roll
Let the Good Times Roll may refer to:*"Let the Good Times Roll" *"Let the Good Times Roll" *Let the Good Times Roll , a 1999 album by B.B...
". Eichler promoted the 50th anniversary concert by longtime client Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1997 and arranged the release of the live recording, which earned Page her first Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. He co-produced Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
's Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning album "Blues on Broadway," which competed against another nominated album he produced the same year, Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
's "In a Mellow Tone." He helped O'Day recover from a long illness in 1999 and arranged for a comeback concert at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
. Eichler was instrumental in arranging LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker
LaVern Baker was an American rhythm and blues singer, who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedlee Dee" , "Jim Dandy" , and "I Cried a Tear" .-Early life:She was born Delores LaVern Baker in Chicago, Illinois...
's return to the U.S. after a 20-year absence and obtained two new album deals for her with Rhino Records and DRG Records, during which time she made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
's successor in "Black and Blue
Black and Blue
Black and Blue is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1976. It was the band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor...
," received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music....
and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
. He also promoted comeback concerts for Joni James
Joni James
Joni James is an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards.-Biography:...
at New York's Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, as well as the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946, just one month after network television was born. It is a nonprofit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry...
Theatre in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and the Academy of Music
Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...
in Philadelphia, where she was backed by the Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
Orchestra. He created and produced the show "Voices--Hollywood's Secret Singing Stars," featuring four vocalists (Annette Warren, India Adams, Betty Wand
Betty Wand
Betty Wand is an American singer and author, best known as the singing voice dubbed in for various actresses in musical films, including Leslie Caron in Gigi and some of Rita Moreno's part in West Side Story...
and Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer had one of the most distinctive and elegant voices, yet least-known faces of all the successful jazz and pop singers in show business....
), who had dubbed the singing voices for such film stars as Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
, Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
, Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...
, Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
and Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
.
Current activity
Eichler continues to work with many singers and is an active participant in the Tom Eyen Trust and the many productions of Eyen's DreamgirlsDreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio...
and other works that are produced throughout the world.
External links
- http://articles.latimes.com/print/1988-10-02/entertainment/ca-5152_1_alan-eichler
- http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=90662
- http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Alan&middle=&last=Eichler
- http://broadwayworld.com/people/Alan_Eichler/
- http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/alan-eichler/545512
- http://articles.latimes.com/print/1997-03-02/entertainment/ca-33835_1_lounge-cabaret
- http://articles.latimes.com/print/1990-05-27/entertainment/ca-129_1_westwood-marquis
- http://www.nytimes.com/keyword/anita-o-day
- http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/arts/l-anita-o-day-agent-maligned-435236.html?scp=6&sq=Anita+O%27Day&st=cse&pagewanted=print
- http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20095841,00.html
- http://www.yma-sumac.com/PERU/peru06.htm