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Joel Grey in Baltimore

I got to introduce the great entertainer Joel Grey Monday night at the annual benefit for the Edward A. Myerberg Senior Center, held at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. Grey, 77, looked fit and trim -- "Let me answer your first question: Five-foot-five," he told the audience -- with time taking nothing off his physical energy and expression-rich face. He addressed the audience from the podium in the sanctuary, dressed in a dark suit, without a tie, and he told old stories about his journey from childhood in Cleveland to the Tony Award, and then Oscar, for his role in Cabaret in the 1960s and 1970s. Grey was very funny and, accompanied by Frank Fiore at the piano, sang some of those hilarious Borscht Belt songs his father, the Catskills comedian Mickey Katz, had made famous with Spike Jones and the City Slickers. Gray sang an interesting arrangement of Cabaret, and signed off with For All We Know. He took questions from the audience. A woman about 30 rows back announced that she had had the privilege of seeing Joel Grey in his signature role as the emcee in Cabaret. "And I had a really good seat in the front," the woman said, "but you spit all over me!"  The audience roared with laughter as Grey stepped down, found the woman in the audience and . . .  well, I couldn't tell if he hugged her or offered her a towel.

 

 

Posted by Dan Rodricks at 8:57 AM | | Comments (0)
        

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About Dan Rodricks
Jan. 8, 2009, marked 30 years for Dan Rodricks' column in The Baltimore Sun. Over three decades, Dan has won numerous regional and several national awards for his reporting and commentary -- in print and on the air. "I've had opportunity to write a column and work in both radio and television, never having to leave my adopted hometown of Baltimore to have those experiences," he says. "I consider myself very fortunate." In addition to writing a twice-weekly column for The Baltimore Sun and his Random Rodricks blog, Dan is currently the host of Midday, on WYPR-FM, National Public Radio in Baltimore. An artful story-teller and social critic, he has observed local, state and national political and cultural trends for three decades, and has a lot to say about almost everything.
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