NiteTalk: Showbiz Boss Jim Caruso Dishes to Niteside

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
Showbiz boss Jim Caruso is the host of his own show, Cast Party, the Monday night soiree at Birdland, just steps away from the Broadway lights. But his involvement in the entertainment biz doesn't stop there. He toured with the legendary Liza Minnelli and performed at the President Clinton's first state dinner. He released a new studio album this month, which is currently in the top 100 Vocal Jazz albums on Amazon. Caruso gave a glimpse into his world when he sat down with Niteside this weekend. 

What was your favorite part of creating your latest album, "The Swing Set?"
Having it finished and in my very hands. (laughs) No, the choosing of the music was exciting. I've never done a studio recording before. I've done live CDs, so this was really a whole new experience. I wanted it to certainly have a jazz feel with the great American standards but some quirky songs too because I think that's what people, if they think of me at all, think of me doing. They think of me with kind of unique material and funny things, so we found some of those. ... It's kind of like what we do at Cast Party - it's a lot of friends entertaining each other at the piano and that's kind of the feeling I want on this album.

Let's talk about Cast Party. You've had some legendary guests, but who would you label as your favorite?
There have been some really historic moments there. The lyricist Betty Comden, from Comden and Green, made her last public appearance there I think. She came and she was all in black and diamonds and she still looked fantastic. She motioned to Billy Stritch, who was at the piano that night, and said 'Do you think it would be okay if I sang a song?' And of course we fainted. We got her right up and she sang a song called 'One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man' from a show that she wrote with her partners. She remembered every word and she was hilarious and got every laugh. She died maybe within the next year. That was something I'll never forget. And of course every time Liza comes, it's pandemonium. People freak out and she sings her head off. That's a woman that can stop a room.

Is there anyone you'd like to come perform that hasn't yet?
I do have a short list of people that I'm desperate to get in to Cast Party. I could say that they are my heroes growing up - Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett - I just know they'd love it. I have a feeling that Ricky Martin would really be into it. He has show business in his blood. He gets it and loves it. Kathy Griffin is somebody that I know pretty well. She'd never come in but I know she would think it would be hilarious.

Tell me about working with Liza Minnelli.
Oh Liza Minnelli... I could talk about her forever. I was on the road for three years with Liza in the show that became 'Liza's at the Palace,' which won the Tony. Nobody has been kinder and more supportive of me and my career than that lady. She's extraordinary. If you have her as a friend, you've got a friend.

What's next for you?
We are doing a very special Cast Party at Town Hall on February 17. It's going to be a benefit for Broadway Cares. That's going to be crazy great. Billy Stritch and I are also going to do Cast Party in Los Angeles in March and that's one of my favorite things to do. I love taking Cast Party on the road and celebrating local talent, which can be Carol Channing or it can be a songwriter that you've never heard of that blows you away. That's really exciting to me to be able to celebrate fabulous talent and to get to know these shockingly talented people all over the country. It's like my own Ed Sullivan show.

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.

A Night With East Village Radio DJ's Two for Tennis

Tim Lee, me, and Messenie from "Two for Tennis" at East Village Radio.

check them out online at www.eastvillageradio.com

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

Radio hosts Tim "Love" Lee and "Coach MP" Mike Messenie, the pair who make up DJ duo Two for Tennis, spend Tuesday evenings spinning at the streetside East Village Radio studio -- but the real show is often outside. 

"We get a lot of strange looks, but I give a lot of strange looks," said Messenie, as a group of tourists stopped to snap photos outside the small, glass-front, mirror-walled space that serves as the station's studio on 1st Avenue and 1st Street in Manhattan. 

"One of the greatest things about New York is to people watch, and we are sitting in front of a gigantic window on the corner of 1st and 1st -- the nexus of the universe -- just observing people walk by. Everybody is represented on this corner -- a guy walks by, crying, drinking a 22-ounce Budweiser and then a lawyer will walk by."

"We see everything."

Two for Tennis -- which lists Steely Dan and Gentle Giant among their musical favorites and boasts listeners from the UK, Australia, and Asia -- has watched as confused passerby walk into the studio, mistaking it for a bar or club or some sort of dance party.

"Because of the mirrors, we have people wandering in thinking they're walking into this happening joint and it's just me and Mike in here," Lee said. "But sometimes people stay and we've ended up with nine or ten people all crammed into this little room. Several times it will turn into a mini night club back here just by people coming in by accident."

Lee and Meesenie said the spontaneity of the show adds to the experience and is even reflected in the music they play. The DJs pride themselves in not having a set list of songs and say it's part of what adds character to the show. 

"There's always a solution to not having a plan," Messenie said. "If you can't think of one thing to play, play five things."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.

NBA No. 2 Draft Pick Evan Turner Parties at Jay-Z's Club

Evan Turner on the red carpet at Club 40/40.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
Recent Ohio State grad Evan Turner said last night that the thrill of being the No. 2 pick in the first round of the NBA draft -- and being grabbled by the Sixers -- had yet to sink in.

"I'm just so tired right now because I've been going all day," the 21-year-old hoops phenom told NiteSide at the Official NBA Draft After Party at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in Manhattan last night.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I can relive this whole thing with my friends and family."

Friends, fans, and fellow NBA ballers -- including Chris Bosh -- attended the bash sponsored by Skullcandy/RocNation Aviators &Ace of Spades. Turner, who will play for the 76ers, said his rise to fame has been a whirlwind.

"This has been fun times," Turner said. "I'm making great memories and am trying to enjoy it all."

Turner is not only looking forward to tomorrow, but also for what his future now has in store for him.

"Coach told me I need to be ready to play hard," he said. "That's what I'm gonna do."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.


Update: This story got picked up by NBC Philadelphia and ran on their homepage!!! It ran under the headline "Sixers New Star Parties at Jay-Z's Club"

Meet the Party Captain: Luxury Cruise Helmsman Fred Ardolino

me and Captain Fred Ardolino at the yacht's helm.

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

Capt. Fred Ardolino has been at the helm of his luxury yacht The Atlantis for countless number of formal events -- but the swank sunset cruise held on board the sleek vessel last night was among his favorites. 

Last night, the Friends of Animal Rescue hosted a cruise around Manhattan where patrons sipped cocktails and bid on a silent auction to benefit animals as Capt. Ardolino navigated the East River alongside the glittering skyline. 

"I'm an animal lover, too," Ardolino said during the cruise. "I have enough of my own: three turtles, two dogs, fish all over the place and a bird."

The 150-foot custom cruiser was designed by Ardolino and boasts three massive decks, a dining salon that can fit 300 guests and amenities that include a Jacuzzi, VIP suite, and custom fish aquarium. He has hosted weddings, benefits and even events for the USA Olympic basketball team aboard his ship. But this benefit was different. 

"The people that are here are animal lovers and they wanted to do what they can to find a quality home for them and many times it's out of their own pockets," he said. 

He added, "An animal is a true friend. He doesn't care about what you look like or where you are. He's just going to be loyal to you."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.

Bridal Gown Designer Takes Another Path to Success

Bridal gown designer and owner of Dress as Ritual, Stacia Adams.

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

Aspiring dress designer Stacia Adams, a tall woman with simple style, both in her appearance with unpainted fingernails and only a touch of makeup, and in her fashion designs, sat at a desk working on her latest design.

Her long, dark fingers held a Pentel pencil, used to sketch in one of the many design books she keeps on her desk. She switched to a Prismacolor marker, and the bright color brought the design to life.

Adams is one of many people who are trying to break into the fashion industry as a gown designer, but at the age of 29, she hasn’t made it yet, and statistics show it won’t be getting easier for her anytime soon.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008 there were approximately 22,700 employed designers in the country, and the employment of fashion designers is projected to grow by only 1 percent between 2008 and 2018, making this a very competitive industry.

Despite the odds, Adams is still going after, what she calls, her passion in life.

A study done by the USBLS shows the majority of fashion designers start out by working for another designer in order to gain experience and an understanding of the industry before they open their own business, which is the path Adams followed.

After obtaining her associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and her bachelor’s degree from New School University, both schools in New York, Adams went to work for designer Carolina Polokova, attending fashion events and cutting garments. 
Because Adams feels so strongly about having creative freedom, she decided to open her own business instead of working for someone else again. She now owns and runs her own bridal business, Dress as Ritual.

“The clothing label was created to liberate women from restrictive clothing and offer dresses that symbolize spiritual practice,” Adams said. “Dresses actually empower women and are a symbol of our identity.”

According to Dorothy Silver, the director of sales and merchandising at Kleinfeld’s in New York City, launching a clothing business right now in a recession is challenging, but she believes the bridal business has a better promise for success than other clothing industries.

“There will always be brides getting married every year, so the future in bridal will always be strong,” Silver said.

Dress as Ritual hasn’t drawn in the buyers Adams is desperately seeking and she feels she’s trying everything she can. She’s hoping getting her masters degree at New York University might be the answer.

“At NYU I am learning how to be a relationship builder and make connections with influential people,” Adams said. “These people can help me send a message (about my business) to those who matter.”

The USBLS says those who want to run their own business often combine an undergraduate degree in fashion design with an advanced degree in business, marketing or fashion merchandising, but this is where Adams differs from her peers. She is going for a degree in a field that studies are finding is dwindling due to the state of the economy—public relations and corporate communication.

"My leap from fashion to PR was a combination of hard work and passion," Adams said. "I believed in my unrealized potential as both a professional communicator and a fashion designer."

Adams did not disclose the amount of debt she has, but between the cost of materials needed for her business and paying for school, money is tight. She relies on student loans to cover her tuition at NYU, which as of spring 2010 was around $14,000 per semester. She runs an alteration service from home to help her finance her business.

While Adams says she does plenty of alterations, she prefers to focus on the promotion of her original designs for her company. Silver said self-promotion of dresses is important and even though there are major showcases for newcomer dresses to be seen, it is a tough industry.

“Every bridal market I go to has a section at the shows where they showcase new talent,” Silver said. “Some make it, and some do not.”

Adams likes to design when she has a specific goal in mind and tries to find inspiration to work on her designs as often as possible.

“Nature inspires me, and I think healing is a huge inspiration,” Adams said. “I rely on esoteric teaching as well as fashion pioneers (for inspiration)."

For Adams, these fashion pioneers include Iyanla Vanzant, Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta. She says the vision behind her dresses makes her unique and will help her achieve her long-term goal of having a storefront in SoHo alongside designers she feels her style is similar to, such as Vera Wang, Yoshiko and Ana Sui.

“I like to keep things fresh and in the moment,” Adams said. “Fashion is really about what is happening now.”

Silver says that no matter the economic situation, many designers don’t make it because of their lack of originality.

“You have to realize that most (women) have no idea or don’t care about the designers name,” Silver said. “All she cares about is how she looks in the dress. It’s the collection that has to stand out.

Aspiring Actor Serves Drinks to Bide Time

James Quinn serves drinks at Ad Lib.

Photo by: Brooke Niemeyer

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

The Broadway shows were all finished up for the night, and theatergoers and actors trickled into the Ad Lib bar in Midtown for a couple drinks and dessert.

This was the busiest time of the night for bartender and aspiring actor James Quinn.

Quinn talked with the guests about what plays they saw. He knew details about them all and even sang some of the songs from the musicals. He was smiling, but it was bittersweet. Quinn wishes he were on stage instead of behind a bar. His days are spent at unsuccessful auditions and his nights are spent mixing drinks.

"The thing about being a struggling actor is that you're just always one audition away ... from going from unemployed to employed forever," Quinn said.

A study done by Actor's Equity, an actors' union, found that 88 percent of their members in New York were currently without acting gigs.

And at 41, Quinn is much older than many of his struggling counterparts.

"Sometimes it makes me feel bad about myself that I haven't made it yet," Quinn said. "But I still keep trying."

According to the United States Department of Labor, the majority of acting jobs available for men go to those between the ages of 18 and 28. And mature roles usually go to established actors.

But these statistics don't make Quinn want to give up his dream.

"I'm committed to it at this point," he said. "I've come too far to turn back now.

Casting director Donna DeSeta, who also owns Donna DeSeta Casting Agency in Manhattan, said despite the odds, there is still hope for older actors.

"We are always looking for new interesting and gifted actors," DeSeta said. "We look for actors that are not identified with any given type of role or character."

But acting wasn't always the dream career for Quinn. He majored in English at Fordham University in the Bronx. Quinn, who lives on the Upper West Side, said he was painfully shy well into his 20s. Quinn recalled an experience while he was still in school where he decided to completely ditch a class after being just three minutes late.

"I didn't want to walk in late because I didn't want people to look at me," Quinn said. He said that people now laugh in disbelief when he tells them he was that shy for the earlier half of his life.

When Quinn was 25, his girlfriend encouraged him to try acting to get him over his social phobias. It wasn't until a tragic accident took her life that Quinn went to his first audition.

"She inspired me not to care what people thought and to be happy being me," Quinn said. "Acting makes me happy."

DeSeta says that the path of becoming an actor is not for the faint of heart, and it should be done only by those who find true happiness in what they're doing.

"Acting is only for those who can find no satisfaction in any other profession," DeSeta said. "A big break is kismet."

The first role Quinn got was as a firefighter on the soap opera "One Life to Live." He was a recurring character for about a week, which was two full days of filming.

"After being on 'One Life to Live,' I knew this is really what I'm supposed to be doing," Quinn said.

He returned to the set of "One Life to Live" a few months later after the director specifically requested him.

"He said that I did what I was told and didn't get in anyones way," Quinn said. "At that point, I was just happy to be acting."

He had roles on other television shows after that, including a recurring spot as a bartender being questioned on "Law and Order" and as a hospitalized man on "The Pretender." Quinn was also cast in the play "Epic Proportions" on Broadway, which ran for three months. But he said his best acting job was as a terrorist in "Die Hard 3."

"It was a big movie with a big cast, and I got to be part of it," Quinn said. "That was the most fun I've ever had."

Quinn says that after having a major role, he felt his career was going to take off, but the excitement of it all slipped out of reach when his next acting job didn't come for a while.

The last role Quinn had was in the summer of 2009 as a Russian nigh-school student trying to improve his English in the off-Broadway play "Primary English," which lasted for 25 performances.

Currently, he goes on an average of one audition per week.

As the bar emptied at the end of the night, Quinn cleaned up his area. He stacked liquor bottles under the bar while dreaming of his future.

"I'll have that audition that starts it all," Quinn said. "Until then, this pays the bills."


This is my first story that was published on New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute's publication, Pavement Pieces. 

Street Performer Gets Joy From Music, Not From Money

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

A young man carries four plastic buckets and a worn wooden drumstick with him whenever he walks the streets of Manhattan. The buckets vary in size and are placed within one another when he is on the move. The largest one has a white plastic piece on the top of the metal handle. The plastic has a splitting crack in the middle that is filled with a bit of dirt. Black scuffmarks scatter the sides of the buckets showing the wear and tear that they have gone through during their journeys.

This man, who refers to himself only as Thomas, stops at the intersection of two streets, looks out into the road and changes his mind. He then turns around and walks back a bit so he is under scaffolding that covers the sidewalk. He goes close to the corner building and takes out each of his buckets and places three in a row, with one further behind the rest. He removes his cap, turns it over, and places it on the ground before he sits down on the largest bucket. He begins to play what he calls his “musical craft.”

Thomas is a street musician and has been practicing his craft for 12 years. He started by playing for fun on the stairwell in his apartment building because of the great acoustics there. He says this is where he taught himself to play and learned what sounded good to him. He started playing on the buckets just as a way to relax at the end of the day.

He eventually got complaints of the noise from neighbors, so he moved to the stairs in front of his building. He later had to move out of that complex, he moved into one without stairs. After that, he started playing on a nearby street corner, but hasn’t stuck to just one location since then.

“I like to move around to find me new people to play for,” Thomas said. “My music comes with me no matter where I am so I can go wherever.”

Since his days on the stairwell, Thomas decided that his music could not only be a stress release for him, but also possibly help other people slow down a bit in their busy days. He says this is why he picks busy areas and also stays near the corners of streets.

“When people have to wait to cross the street, they can listen to me,” Thomas said.

Thomas bobs his head along with the beat of each song he plays and seems un-phased by the people going by, whether they rush by or pause in front of him. Some people throw coins into his hat as they pass by, while a few others stop and listen to him play.

One woman took a dollar bill out of her pocket and bent over to place it into his hat. Her foot tapped as she watched him.

“I like to see these people who just do their thing along the road or under at the subways,” Stacie Nielson said.

Nielson said that Thomas was one of the better talents she’d seen in a while. She said she stops to listen to the street performers when she has time.

“It can’t be easy for them to be ignored when they’re performing a talent,” Nielson said. “But they keep doing it and I admire them for it.”

Thomas says he doesn’t do this for the money, but doesn’t complain about it when people give it to him. He says he thinks people give him money because of his music with nontraditional instruments.

“I get a good sound with the buckets,” Thomas said. “It gets peoples attention because of how different it sounds.”

Thomas has found the buckets in dumpsters and alleyways and is always on the lookout for another one. He has replaced them over the years when they get too cracked or worn out.

When Thomas decided it was time to move on from this location, he stood up and turned over the bucket he was sitting on. He loaded each of the buckets inside the larger ones and then put the $7.29 he earned in the past hour into his pocket. He put his black cap back onto his head and was on his way.

Thomas placed a quarter into the crumbled Styrofoam Dunkin Donuts cup of a homeless man sitting on the ground before crossing the street in search of his next performance spot.

USA Today Reporter Stops at Nothing to Deliver the Story of the Destruction in Haiti

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER

MANHATTAN— The image of a woman lying dead on the floor of a nursing school in a Port Au Prince hospital in Haiti still haunts USA Today reporter Marisol Bello.

“I couldn’t bring myself to look at her face,” Bello said. “After I saw her, I just backed out of the room.”

Bello, 38, is a national desk general assignment reporter for USA Today and covers disasters and major breaking news, so it wasn’t unexpected when her boss came to ask her to cover the earthquake in Haiti, which killed around 230,000 people and devastated the city.

“People like to tell me that when they see me coming, they know something bad has happened,” Bello said.

She left her home in Washington DC the day after the earthquake.

Bello connected with the world relief agency World Vision and imbedded with them. Their first stop was to help give aid at what was considered to be one of the best hospitals in the city.

When they entered the nursing school wing of the hospital, where she came across the woman on the ground, she described it as eerily quiet in comparison to the rest of the city, where the streets were filled with screaming survivors and piles of bodies. In the midst of it all, Bello stopped to remember she had a job to do—report the stories.

“Feeling it wasn’t where I was at that moment,” Bello said. “I was trying to find the best method to tell the stories around me.”

Reporters in Haiti were working around the clock to get as much information as they could to send back home. Stories weren’t hard to find and people were more than willing to share their experiences with journalists. But problems arose when it came time to send stories back since Internet connection was about as scarce as food.

“Imagine if you didn’t have a working computer or email,” Bello said. “One time I typed an entire story from my blackberry, which wasn’t easy.”

Bello managed to get all her stories back to her editors and stayed even longer than she originally expected.

“Some of the things I’d seen were so daunting,” Bello said. “But I figured I’m here; I have to tell these stories.”

New York University journalism graduate student, Lauren Gerber, spoke of the dedication Bello shows for her job.

“She went through atrocious things that even some really resilient reporters might not be able to handle,” Gerber said. “She wanted the story to help the people.”

Bello explained that seeing so much death and destruction eventually wore on her brain and she had an emotional breakdown during her reporting trip in Haiti.

“I don’t know how you could see those images and not get emotional,” Gerber said. “That emotion is what really drives the story.”

Despite the challenges she faced in Haiti, Bello ended with a positive result.

“It was the single most amazing story I’ve ever covered.”