{"id":246154,"date":"2025-09-22T11:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/246154\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:01:12","slug":"neal-zorens-showbiz-and-more-column","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/246154\/","title":{"rendered":"Neal Zoren’s Showbiz and more column"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam Pascal did not take the usual route to theater stardom.<\/p>\n

While growing up on Long Island, and afterwards in New York City, he performed constantly, but as singer and guitarist for rock bands.<\/p>\n

Music was his metier, and he never gave much thought to acting or creating characters.<\/p>\n

Then came \u201cRent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pascal\u2019s neighbor from across the street in Long Island, Idina Menzel, was involved in developing Jonathan Larson\u2019s groundbreaking musical and thought there might be a place for Pascal in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdina knew I was a rock singer, and she suggested I audition,\u201d said Pascal by telephone from his New York apartment. \u201cI brought my guitar to the audition, and that made a difference. Jonathan Larson and the director, Michael Greif, liked that I played the guitar, and I was cast as Roger, one of the male leads.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I was in \u2018Rent,\u2019 and \u2018Rent\u2019 became a hit, my career took a different path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boy, did it!<\/p>\n

For the last 29 years Pascal has gone from show to show as a leading man on Broadway, in tours, and in major regional houses.<\/p>\n

In that time, he\u2019s sung all kinds of music, going from \u201cRent\u201d to \u201cAida,\u201d \u201cCabaret,\u201d \u201cChess,\u201d \u201cMemphis,\u201d and \u201cSomething Rotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

In between, he\u2019s composed and recorded his own rock-oriented tunes. Next year, he goes to Nashville in the title role of \u201cJesus Christ Superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next week, he\u2019s in Philadelphia for two nights, Monday, Sept. 29 and Tuesday, Sept. 30, performing songs he sung on Broadway in a solo cabaret show at the Rittenhouse Grill in the Warwick Hotel.<\/p>\n

Pascal has not given his show a name, but he says it runs the \u2018whole gamut of songs I\u2019ve performed during my musical theater career along with stories and anecdotes about what went on as each show developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just looking at the shows Pascal did, his Rittenhouse performance has to include all styles of music from the rock of \u201cRent\u201d to standard pieces and specialty material.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the great part of being an actor,\u201d Pascal said. \u201cYou get to play so many roles and even play against type. I love it when audiences, or fans who know me from \u2018Rent\u2019 see me in another role and say, \u2018It doesn\u2019t sound like him\u2019 or \u2018It doesn\u2019t look like him.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like singing several styles of music. You\u2019re constantly doing something new. Acting continues to be alearning process. I\u2019m fortunate to learn on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter \u2018Aida,\u2019 I made a conscious decision to continue to do musical theater. It expanded me. After 29 years, I look forward to doing more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also enjoyed the rapport I have with the audience. The audience feels everything. That\u2019s especially true in a cabaret environment where the audience is so close to you and responds so clearly. They are focused and centered in a way that in turn focuses and centers you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a cabaret show, you are yourself. You don\u2019t have a character. That\u2019s what makes it so challenging to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so personal. It\u2019s terrifying in a way. But the energy that comes from the give and take with the cabaret audience is exciting. You\u2019re not several yards from your audience. You can see them. You connect with them, and they with you. There\u2019s nothing else like it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to singing the songs from different kinds of shows, I share how I navigated mycareer. I have to tell you I am as surprised as anyone I have been on a steady path for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides appearing so often on Broadway, Pascal has written and recorded rock songs he wrote, song that also vary in style.<\/p>\n

He said he would not be doing any of his original material at the Rittenhouse, adding he prefers to perform songs he did in shows in a cabaret setting.<\/p>\n

Of course, Pascal acknowledges the importance \u201cRent\u201d had on his career.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018Rent\u2019 has a mystique that affects people in a positive way. I am proud to be a part of something that made so many people so happy on a grand scale.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018Rent\u2019 certainly opened doors for me. What happened during and after \u2018Rent\u2019 is the story I tell between songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pascal performs at 8 p.m. Sept. 29 and 30 as this fall\u2019s opening act at the Rittenhouse Grill, 17th and Locust streets in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The Rittenhouse cabaret series is produced by longtime Philadelphia impresario Randy Swartz and the Rittenhouse Grill\u2019s owner, Garth Weldon.<\/p>\n

Tickets range from $75 to $225.<\/p>\n

Dinner, seating at 5:30 p.m. is included with some tickets. Call 215-772-1701 for information and reservations.<\/p>\n

Ex-\u2018MMR personality moving to B101<\/p>\n

Kathy Romano, who was laid off after more than 20 years from the market\u2019s ratings-leading \u201cPreston and Steve Show\u201d on WMMR (93.3 FM), starts Tuesday as the host of a rival 6 a.m. program on WBEB (101.1 FM), better known at B101.<\/p>\n

B101 morning listeners needn\u2019t worry about anything happening to current dawn patrol hosts Bobby Smith and Laura Boss.<\/p>\n

They will remain as Romano\u2019s sidekicks. When Smith announced Romano\u2019s hire on the air, Romano said one of the first things she wants to do is huddle with Smith and Boss to figure out all the things they can do on the show.<\/p>\n

Romano and Smith also assured that some of B101\u2019s running features will continue to be part of the morning format while Romano brings some of her bits, including her charity drives to her new show.<\/p>\n

B101, as most Philadelphia listeners know, has already begun playing its nonstop Christmas music.<\/p>\n

Romano told Smith the all-Christmas-all-the-time between now and January doesn\u2019t daunt her.<\/p>\n

Christmas, she said, is her favorite holiday as she confided that even while working at \u2018MMR for all of those years, she listened to B101\u2019s Christmas playlist on her own time.<\/p>\n

As for Preston and Steve, they expressed happiness that Romano landed so solidly when they were guests on \u201cMIKE!\u201d That\u2019s Mike Jerrick\u2019s new 11:30 p.m. weeknight show on Channel 29.<\/p>\n

They even mentioned that they have kept Romano\u2019s studio mic live since her departure in the hopes she\u2019d one day be back with them.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Unexpected 3rd\u2019 playing People\u2019s Light<\/p>\n

Kathryn Grody conducted an experiment.<\/p>\n

The actress, now age 78, covered her gray hair with a stylish brown wig and took to the streets of Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see if people would treat me differently from the way they do when I emerge as my physical self and look visibly elder,\u201d she said during a telephone call from her New York home.<\/p>\n

Her experience reinforced what she expected.<\/p>\n

\"ObieObie Award-winning actor and writer Kathryn Grody and her solo show, \u201cThe Unexpected 3rd: A Radical, Rollicking Rumination on the Optimism of Staying Alive,\u201d are playing at People\u2019s Light in Malvern. (COURTESY OF LAUREN THOMAS)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was perceived as being younger, no one held out unnecessary hands to help me across the street or spoke to me in a voice that implies I might not understand them if they speak normally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one patronized me the way they do when I appear as I am \u2026 older. Ideas and reactions to aging frankly get Grody \u201cpissed off.\u201d<\/p>\n

She expresses her anger, with observation and humor, in her one-woman show, \u201cThe Unexpected 3rd,\u201d playing at Malvern\u2019s People\u2019s Light Theatre through Oct. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do things have to wind down or diminish as one ages? Sure, there are obstacles.\u00a0You can recognize and deal with the challenges, yet soldier on and have new experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does no one talk about the possibility of an older person \u2018becoming?\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

Conversation with Grody, who I saw on stage when we were both in our twenties in 1975 and who performed regularly at Joe Papp\u2019s Public Theatre, is free-wheeling and fun.<\/p>\n

She has many stories, is a keen student of life in general, and is funny while talking about her frustrationswith prevailing attitudes regarding age and other matters that are part of everyday living, such as waiting for one\u2019s uncomplicated coffee order to arrive at a busy Starbuck\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I never saw an example of an able, capable older person in movies or television. In fact, the examples I saw were no one I wanted to become.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat pissed me off, and I decided I had to talk about it, to stop this negative commentary and talk more frankly and realistically, while acknowledging the difficulties, about getting older.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes some disdain for delaying, disguising, or sanitizing aging with all of the items people try to sell you in commercials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grody says \u201cThe Unexpected 3rd\u201d was three years in the making.<\/p>\n

While it now has a different script from when it had its world premiere at Berkeley Rep, it themes and intentions remain the same (reaction to being angry).<\/p>\n

One is adapting to changes in ourselves and not just surviving.<\/p>\n

Another is about how much we worried about the future when we were younger. One more is about the repairs we have along the way, not cosmetic repairs, but the serious medical treatments and proceduresthat keep people going.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the things people do to appear young terrify me,\u201d Grody says. \u201cSometimes people have so much done, their faces no longer look human. I worry about people who look for the new thing, who try this dye or this ointment to mask the effects of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy I stopped coloring my hair,\u201d Grody says before launching into her experiment with the brown wig.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome positive things occurred. But I also noticed the subtle, or not so subtle, differences when someone judges a person by his or her perceived age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI resent it when people presume I need their help or attention. I want to be seen as an individual, not as someone who fits into a generalized category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversation wended to the theater and to experiences we had at the Public Theatre, I as a member of the audience, Grody as a performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI landed in a beautiful place when I landed at the Public. Joe Papp supported writers and actors in a way few producers do. While working, I imagined my whole life would be spent among extraordinary actors, writers, and designers who enjoyed playing together and telling stories together.\u201d<\/p>\n

For people interested in the Public and how it developed, Grody recommended Gayle Merrifield Papp\u2019s \u201cJoe Papp and the Public Theatre,\u201d for which she recorded the audio version.<\/p>\n

Grody has also been married for several decades to the actor Mandy Patinkin, who somehow did not come into our conversation at all.<\/p>\n

Passing of Bernie Parent<\/p>\n

Just before filing this column \u2014 just after that amazing Eagles comeback win over the Rams \u2014 I heard Eagles play-by-play announcer Merrill Reese talk about the hush at Lincoln Financial Field when it was announced that the talented goalie from the Flyers\u2019 Stanley Cup years, Bernie Parent, died at age 80.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Flyers goalie Bernie Parent during a ceremony for public address announcer Lou Nolan prior to an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Saturday, April 9, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Derik Hamilton)<\/p>\n

Parent was one of those people that made the cliche about someone brightening the room by entering it a true and powerful statement.<\/p>\n

I first met Parent through my cousin, Events Magazine publisher, Jim Cohn, a hockey fan who frequently included Parent in programs he produced for both the public and\u00a0 people in the events planning field. I was always impressed with how friendly and happy he seemed and how he brought a special glow to any place he was.<\/p>\n

I had a longish conversation with Parent when we were both guests on Lauren Hart\u2019s talk show.<\/p>\n

\"PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia Flyers goalie Bernie Parent pours champagne into the Stanley Cup after the Flyers beat the Boston Bruins in Philadelphia in May 1974. (AP Photo)<\/p>\n

Again, I was impressed with how upbeat Parent was in spite of talking about some issues he was having as he aged, and how much life she brought to a room.<\/p>\n

Fame gained as a sports figure, especially who is acknowledged as one of the best of all time at his position, endures and establishes a player\u2019s place in the ages.<\/p>\n

Bernie Parent transcended that. I was never in his presence without thinking what a gift he had for makinganywhere he was lively and positive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adam Pascal did not take the usual route to theater stardom. While growing up on Long Island, and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":246155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,171,1269,1448,2830,1311,1072,11104,7156,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-246154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-opinion","11":"tag-pa","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-philadelphia","14":"tag-things-to-do","15":"tag-top-stories-dtd","16":"tag-tv-and-streaming","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115247611146453034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}