Listen to Luke's Sam Bendrix at the Bon Sor

[Source]

Luke MacFarlane in "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Sor"

uploaded by TedNguyen

listen to ‘Luke MacFarlane in "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Sor" ’ on Audioboo

THEATER REVIEW: Luke Macfarlane stars in “Sam Bendrix At The Bon Soir”

[Source]

THEATER REVIEW: Luke Macfarlane stars in “Sam Bendrix At The Bon Soir”
Jean Lowerison - SDGLN Theater Critic
September 28th, 2012

Photo credit: J. Katarzyna Woronowicz

Luke Macfarlane of "Brothers & Sisters"

fame stars in Keith Bunin’s “Sam Bendrix

At The Bon Soir.”

Bartenders spend their working hours listening to tales of love, loss and desertion. But it’s not often that a bartender is the storyteller.

It’s a cold, snowy night in Greenwich Village and barkeep Sam Bendrix (Luke Macfarlane) has decided to leave New York. On this, his last night, he gets a chance to provide the entertainment and tell his story.

Keith Bunin’s “Sam Bendrix At The Bon Soir” is the third in La Jolla Playhouse’s “Without Walls” theater series of off-campus productions. Martini’s Above Fourth in Hillcrest is the location (the first time an actual bar has been used) for the show that has already been extended through Oct. 17. Mark Rucker directs.

It’s pre-Stonewall 1958, a time when even talking about being gay could lead to unpleasant consequences, and doing more might mean loss of job or even life.

Backed up by a boffo three-man combo on piano (Charlie Reuter), bass (Kevin Cooper) and percussion (Danny King), the closeted Sam sings nearly 20 songs and tells the sad “Story of My Life,” beginning with his father’s desertion and ending with another unhappy event.

Sam describes childhood with his single mom in Nebraska, where “the landscape is so flat, you can watch your dog run away for five days.” It was here that his mom gave him a cello and encouraged him to sing.

After the war, he goes to New York, where he meets the no-nonsense Helene from Joliet, Ill. (“It’s the biggest maximum-security prison in the country. And there’s a jail.”), who becomes his best gal pal. When he mentions he’d like to sing, she advises him to work in a bar and take it from there.

The other major person in Sam’s New York life is Joel, also closeted and fearful of exposure, who brings both joy and sadness for Sam.

Macfarlane, perhaps best known for his work as Scotty on the TV series “Brothers & Sisters,” is a convincing actor, but his too-cautious approach to singing gets in the way of connecting with the audience. It’s a pity, because many of the songs – by the likes of Kurt Weill, Cole Porter and George Gershwin – are classics.

Still, the band is great, the martinis are strong, and where better for a show like this than a nice Hillcrest bar?

The details

"Sam Bendrix At The Bon Soir" plays through Oct. 17 at Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Suite 200, Hillcrest.

Monday through Wednesday at 7:30 pm; Saturday at 2 pm; Sunday at 2 and 7:30 pm.

For tickets, call 858-550-1010 or visit HERE.

To read more reviews by SDGLN Theater Critic Jean Lowerison, click HERE.

Jazz 88 - Inside Art

[Source]

Inside Art


Host:Dave Drexler

I missed recording this air, so I borrowed the audio from yinyang077. Thanks.

KUSI.com - KUSI News Luke's interview

[Source(http://www.kusi.com/video?clipId=7742847)-deleted]

Luke Macfarlane stars in "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir"
Last Modified: Sep 20, 2012 3:56 AM

La Jolla Playhouse's Sam Bendix at the Bon Soir (9/24-10/10)

Luke will star in LaJolla Playhouse's Sam Bendix at the Bon Soir

There are some news - TheaterMania, BroadwayWorld.com

I wish...

Best Solo - post-gazette.com

[Source]

Best Play(s): 'House & Garden'
Thursday, December 22, 2011
By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

--snip--

Best solo show: Jessica Dickey was magnificent in her own "The Amish Project" (City). Keith Bunin's "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir" (also City) is a cabaret that morphs into a drama, with the charming Luke Macfarlane as Sam. And of Alan Cumming's cabaret for the 25th annual Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force benefit (Public), I predicted, "it's going to take an awful lot of great theater to keep this evening off my annual list of the Top Ten theater evenings."

A review from Talkin' Broadway

[Source]

Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir

City Theatre

Luke Macfarlane

Spend an evening away from the holiday hustle and bustle, and step back in time with Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir and the songs of Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Vernon Duke and Jerome Kern (to name a few). Luke Macfarlane is Sam Bendrix, the "man you came to see when you can't see the man you really came to see," at the 1958 New York nightclub Bon Soir. As it is outside the Hamburg Studio doors, it's a cold winter night in the Bon Soir, and it's truly a delight and a respite to immerse yourself in the cozy little world created by Macfarlane, author Keith Bunin, director Mark Rucker, and a snappy 3-piece band (music director Douglas Levine, Jeff Mangone & Paul Thompson alternating on bass, and R.J. Heid on drums). This is not a cabaret show, though there are an impressive number of songs performed by Macfarlane and the band (I counted 16, but I may have missed a couple of titles), but a rich musical story about Sam Bendrix, who came of age in World War II, made a life in New York bartending and singing, and found friendship, romance and family with the women and men he met. 

It might be best to break this show down into components. Let's start with the superb list of songs performed. These are standards, nightclub songs of the '40s and '50s, but not the typical mix you might expect to hear. And each one is a gem. Yes, they start with Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," and there's the Gershwins' "Nice Work If You Can Get It," but we're also treated to Burt Bacharach and Hal David's lovely "The Story of My Life," "The Land Where the Good Songs Go" (Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse), "Too Close For Comfort" (Jerry Bock, George David Weiss, and Larry Holofcener), "Blame It On My Youth" (Oscar Levant and Edward Heyman) and beautiful "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II). You could strip away the story, and this would make a fine cabaret show, but here, each song fits within the story, but neatly so (no hitting over the head with symbolism). I'll credit the song selection to Bunin and Levine, and say that it is a key part of the success of this show. 

The story is another key component done well. It's not an earth-shattering story, but neither is it predictable. It's compelling, expertly placed in period and, except toward the end where maybe things get a wee bit maudlin, it's impossible not go along with the ride. Besides a telling of Sam Bendrix's backstory, there's also a lesson in bartending (Martinis 101, delivered to the band, of course, and a demonstration on how to make the beautiful pousse-café—made in a glass or, when necessary, a vase), as well as a deeper story of what it was like to be gay in 1958, or at least what it was like for Sam. Keith Bunin has carefully crafted this show (like that pousse-café); it's a treat to be able to sit back and enjoy a show without being distracted by plot holes or anachronisms. 

Great songs and a great story, of course, are nothing without someone to put it all across. And Luke Macfarlane is absolutely sublime as Sam Bendrix. His work on television, and a part in the accomplished ensemble of the recent Broadway production of The Normal Heart, didn't quite prepare me for what he does here. Yes, he sings (and plays the cello!) just fine, but what is really impressive is how he carries the show for 100 minutes. It's not that it's a burden, and the band does play a part, but it really is all Sam (and all Luke), and the energy never flags. Not to mention how the charm factor is off the charts. A handsome guy, who is very natural and appealing as a club singer of the era—not a Rat Pack ring-a-ding club singer, but a sincere, earnest real guy singer who is comfortable with a microphone and an audience. The moves are all there; he doesn't seem to be acting like a nightclub singer—he just is one. The connection Macfarlane has with the audience, right from the start, is palpable. How well does he sing? In a local feature piece, it was stated that he hasn't sung since performing with a band in high school. But it's hard to believe he hasn't trained for this role. His style comes off a little like Tony DeSare, but Sam isn't "the guy you came to see," and Luke seems to fit right in character there: not a headliner, but he would be a pleasant surprise perfectly capable of erasing the disappointment if you had to "settle." Some songs are delivered solidly, with a great balance between strong and smooth. A few songs seem a bit out of his range in places, but it's not unreasonable to think he'll work out those details. 

 

The sweetening components of the show are the expert band—great players always in character—and the cozy nightclub set by Tony Ferrieri. There's fine work from Angela M. Vesco (costume), Andrew David Ostrowski (lighting), and Brad Peterson (sound). The pieces all fit together so well, it's amazing that this is the first post-workshop production. With a little trimming of the last half hour (but don't cut any of the songs!), Sam Bendrix's gig at the Bon Soir has a great future. 

Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, a world premiere with music. By Keith Bunin. At the City Theatre 

through December 18. For performance and ticket information, call 412.431.CITY (2489) or visit www.citytheatrecompany.org/. The City is also hosting a one-night After Hours at the Bon Soir! following the December 16 performance of Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir at 9:45pm. Billy Porter will host and special guests include Luke Macfarlane, Lenora Nemetz, Daphne Alderson, Chris Laitta, Bria Walker. Tickets for that event include a free drink and are $30 each ($25 for City subscribers).

Photo: Suellen Fitzsimmons

See the current Schedule of Pittsburgh Theatre.

-- Ann Miner

TRIB LIVE | A & E - 01/Dec/2011

[Source]

Review: 'Sam Bendrix' a tribute to dreams of a bygone era

By Alice T. Carter, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 1, 2011

Playwright Keith Bunin arrived in Greenwich Village long after the Bon Soir and the era in which it lived had passed into history.

So, his play "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir," which is playing at City Theatre through Dec. 18, is woven from threads of fact and fiction, reality and creativity.

"I guess Sam Bendrix is a version of the person I might have been," writes Bunin in his program notes. The play, Bunin explains: "is my attempt to pay tribute to the men and women who walked the streets of downtown New York long before I got there: the people who paved the way."

The play is set in 1958 in the fondly remembered Bon Soir, a tiny basement club that featured up-and-coming performers who included Barbra Streisand and Phyllis Diller, as well as lots of others like the fictional Sam Bendrix, who tends bar while hoping to grab a moment in the spotlight. "I'm the man you see when you can't see the man you came to see," he announces ruefully.

In an era when morals seemed as rigid as Sam's crisply starched button-down shirt and as narrow as his fashionably skinny tie, cabarets and their employees could lose their licenses for voicing an incautious word or opinion or showing too much skin. The Stonewall riots and marches against the Vietnam War or for racial equality were unimaginable.

So, when Sam takes the stage on his last night before leaving New York, it's not surprising that he's 45 minutes into the show before he gets to the heart of the matter.

Those familiar with the era and its coded language will already have realized where this tale of almost-requited love is leading.

But that in no way diminishes its poignance and anguish.

Playing Sam is Luke Macfarlane, whom some know from his role on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters."

Macfarlane's Sam is a slim, cool, attractive young man you might find in an episode of "Mad Men." As he waits for that special someone to fill the empty seat at the front-row table, he's alternately vulnerable, hopeful, resigned and cautious.

As he reveals himself and his story over an intermissionless 100 minutes, he engages the audience with a songbook of 20 songs of the era, such as "Blame It on My Youth," "It Never Was You," "That's Him" and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." He also demonstrates how to customize a martini and construct a multilayered pousse-cafe cocktail, and plays the cello.

He's a pleasant and intelligent singer who uses the songs to advance the journey of his story, which is the central mission.

Scenic designer Tony Ferrieri and lighting designer Andrew David Ostrowski provide the proper setting -- a dimly lit basement cabaret space with wood paneling and floors, tiny tables and the subtle haze once generated by cigarette-smoking patrons.

Offering musical support is drummer R.J. Heid, musical director and pianist Douglas Levine and -- depending on the performance you see -- either Jeff Mangone or Paul Thompson on bass. The musicians, most notably Levine, provide cameo performances during the proceedings.

The production at City Theatre marks the play's world premiere. Although some trimming and tightening is likely, it's already a tender, sensitive tale of love and loss that should have a future.

Pittsburgh CityPaper - 23/Nov/2011

[Source]

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir

While the show at present isn't what playwright Keith Bunin wants it to be, what it is is swell.

BY TED HOOVER

Luke Macfarlane in City Theatre's Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir.
Photo courtesy of Suellen Fitzsimmons.

Boy -- if there was ever a show with my name written all over it, it's Keith Bunin's Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, now world-premiering at City Theatre. Mark Rucker directs Luke Macfarlane (late of TV's Brothers & Sisters) in the role of Sam Bendrix -- a bartender at the legendary New York cabaret in 1958 -- who has coerced the owners into letting him perform for one night only. And thanks to a few too many cocktails, his between-song patter turns into self-confession.

Tony Ferrieri has designed the sumptuous recreation of the Bon Soir, made even more atmospheric by Andrew David Ostrowski's moody and expressive lighting.

Pittsburgh's musical genius, Douglas Levine, is not only music director but plays the nightclub pianist, and his terrific jazz combo runs through a list of American Songbook standards which could have been lifted directly from my iTunes.

So I was totally prepared to fall in love.

And yet I have to say that I was less than enthralled. It's not bad, certainly, and never less than entertaining. But on the whole, the show feels generic and unmoored.

Bunin has set his play in the '50s and, for the life of me, I can't tell why. Nothing in the show's plot or attitude is either necessary to, or even formed by, that time. The character of Bendrix processes the world around him with a sensibility so firmly rooted in the 21^st century that there's no way to emotionally locate him in Bunin's chosen period.

But while the show at present isn't what Bunin wants it to be, what it is is swell. And a lot of that is because Macfarlane is just about as charming as anyone has a right to be; with his honest vulnerability, there's not a second we're not cheering him on. He also happens to be quite a good singer -- but, like the script, his voice is out of place. This was an era of brooding crooning (think Sinatra), not the bright, clear, unshaded singing Macfarlane provides.

As it stands, the show needs to amp up the authenticity. But until they get that, they've got the entertainment part covered.


Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir continues through Dec. 18. City Theatre, 13^th and Bingham streets, South Side. 412-431-2489 or www.CityTheatreCompany.org

post-gazette.com - 22/Nov/2011

[Source]
'Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir' charms at City Theatre
Stage review
Tuesday, November 22, 2011

By Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

John Heller /Post-Gazette

Luke Macfarlane brings an understated tenderness and regret tinged with hope to the one-man show "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir."

City Theatre has discovered an effective time machine and finely tuned it to 1958 to re-create the mood and music of that year for its charming "Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir."

It's the premiere of Keith Bunin's emotional biography of a gay man looking for love in the wrong decade framed with evocative romantic show songs of the mid-20th century.

Reminding us a bit of "Mad Men's" Don Draper in his white shirt, narrow tie and slick hair, Luke Macfarlane plays Sam with an understated tenderness and regret tinged with hope. Bartender and fill-in singer at the tiny Bon Soir club in New York's Greenwich Village, Sam is saying farewell to his unhappy Manhattan history with a final performance.

'Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir'

Where: City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side.
When: Through Dec. 18; Tuesday-Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 5:30 and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Nov. 30 and Dec. 7, 1 p.m. matinees.
Tickets: $35-$60. 412-431-2489 or www.citytheatrecompany.org.

Blending great songs by Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Weill and even Pittsburgh's Oscar Levant with his sad tale of searches for a lover in the closeted '50s, Sam risks all by baring his soul to the habitues of the cozy club.

Once inside City Theatre's second stage, the intimate Hamburg Studio, audiences pass through that time machine into a genuine New York basement dive. All that's missing from scenic designer Tony Ferrieri's nicely realized set is a cloud of cigarette smoke.

From the cramped bar to the small tables and the cheap wood paneling behind the band, his Bon Soir immediately evokes the feel of the times. Add the hip music from the combo led by pianist Douglas Levine and the world is 53 years younger.

Credit Brad Peterson for sound design and Andrew David Ostrowski for lighting as well.

Under the direction of Mark Rucker, City Theatre's " 'way back machine" works its magic, transporting its audiences in a way only live theater can do. Mr. Macfarlane, who logged hours on the TV prime-time soap "Brothers & Sisters," gracefully holds center stage for most of the one-act show, which is probably 20 minutes too long.

While he movingly tells the ups, but mostly downs of his character's love life in the Big City, Mr. Macfarlane as a singer seems more comfortable in the lower registers. He and the band have a great rapport, however, a tight relationship that draws the audience in on the performance.

Playwright Bunin's vision of what gay men faced in the 1950s echoes the writing of Christopher Isherwood and more closely the fine Tom Ford film with Colin Firth, "A Single Man." It's a familiar story, told afresh thanks to the great musical framework that saves the story from mawkish sentimentality.

Bob Hoover: bhoover@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1634.

First published on November 22, 2011 at 12:00 am

Luke and Keith Bunin was on Pittsburgh TODAY

Luke Macfarlane and Keith Bunin was on Pittsburgh TODAY on the 16th of November.
Original clip was posted on facebook.

Various News

Post-gazette.com A&E / THEATER & DANCE - 17/Nov/2011

TRIB LIVE | A & E - 16/Nov/2011

Playbill.com - 16/Nov/2011

Playbill.com - 12/Nov/2011

Broadway World.com - 12/Nov/2011

An announce from City Theatre - 11/Nov/2011

Photo by Justin Merriman - 10/Nov/2011

POP City - 09/Nov/2011

An announce from City Theatre - 09/Nov/2011

Sam Bendrix at The Bon Soir starring Luke Macfarlane

♪You'd be so nice to come home to
You'd be so nice by the fire
While the breeze on high, sang a lullaby
You'd be all that I could desire

Under stars chilled by the winter
Under an August moon burning above....(fade out)

Ask Luke Macfarlane: City Theatre's Backstage Blog

[Source]

Ask Luke Macfarlane.
Published November 7, 2011

ASK LUKE.

.Luke Macfarlane, star of ABC’s Brothers & Sisters joins City Theatre for the world premiere of Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir by Keith Bunin.

He will be doing lots of interviews with the Pittsburgh media, but we thought it would be fun to let our Facebook fans have a chance to ask him questions!

All you have to do is click the “submit a question” button below and add your question in the comment box on the facebook page.   It’s that easy! We will shoot an interview with Luke where he answers your questions. Look for it on our Facebook page!

An article from City Theatre’s Backstage Blog

[Source]

SAM BENDRIX brings a song to our art
Published October 19, 2011

After a weekend of previews and a (well-deserved) day off, the Time Stands Still company was back in rehearsal yesterday afternoon on the Mainstage, continuing to refine the production for evening preview performances headed towards Friday’s opening. But yesterday we also welcomed Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir—the first music rehearsal for that show, next up in the season, was underway in the rehearsal hall as Time Stands Still was rehearsing onstage. Music director Doug Levine and actor/singer Luke MacFarlane (best known for his role on ABC’s Brothers and Sisters, recently in the cast of the acclaimed New York revival of The Normal Heart) are clearly relishing the standards of the American songbook, as well as some lesser known but no less wonderful pieces, that playwright Keith Bunin has assembled into the “cabaret” performance of the character Sam Bendrix. Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir will play in the Hamburg Studio, which we’ll be transforming into the legendary nightclub of the title.

Luke MacFarlane will be playing Sam in SAM BENDRIX AT
THE BON SOIR by Keith Bunin.

I intended to stay for just a few minutes at the beginning of the rehearsal yesterday but I ended up sitting and listening for a couple of hours. I noticed that playwright Keith Bunin was smiling along with me as we enjoyed the easy rapport that was quickly established between Luke and Doug, who will be playing Sam’s band leader, and the clear promise of a charismatic performance as Sam by Luke–who is a great singer. You can hear that for yourself by listening here to a couple of the tracks he recorded with his band “Fellow Nameless”  – I especially like “Ahead of Me,” “Bone Dry,” “Take You Home,” and “The Wild.” (By the way, you can find a link to purchase Luke’s album while you’re there.) Of course, Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir is much different stylistically — it takes place in 1958 and Sam, backed by a three-piece ensemble, performs songs that were written more or less around the mid-20^th century: classics from the American songbook by such musical giants as Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein II, to name a few.

Buy your tickets to Sam Bendrix while you’re here to see Time Stands Still. Or before that at 412-431 (CITY) or online–before it sells out!

Broadway World.com - 07/Sep/2011

[Source]

Luke Macfarlane Joins City Theater's SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR 11/12-12/18
Wednesday, September 7, 2011; Posted: 11:09 AM - by BWW News Desk

City Theatre has announced that Luke MacFarlane, star of ABC's hit series Brothers & Sisters, will perform the title role in the world premiere of Keith Bunin's Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir. Mark Rucker will direct the play, also featuring music by legendary songwriters like Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and the Gershwins. Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir plays on City Theatre's intimate Hamburg Studio Stage November 12 - December 18, 2011. The Opening Night performance is Friday, November 18 at 8 pm.

Mr. Macfarlane recently played Scotty Wendell on ABC's Brothers & Sisters and appeared in the 2011 Broadway production of The Normal Heart. Audiences will also recognize him from FX's Over There and the feature film Kinsey.

"Sam Bendrix requires an actor loaded with charisma and charm," states City Theatre Artistic Director Tracy Brigden, "someone who can tell an emotional story, and - most importantly - someone who can perform these wonderful songs. Luke's magnetic star power on the very intimate Hamburg stage is going to make for an unforgettable evening of theatre."

City Theatre will announce the entire production team, including musicians and designers, shortly.

The drinks and the music flow at the legendary Bon Soir. In 1958 Greenwich Village, a young singer and his band take the stage for a final performance before he quits New York City forever. While a chair he's holding for a special someone sits empty all night, Sam Bendrix tells a classic tale of an era not yet ready for the revolutionary changes on the horizon.

CITY THEATRE PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir
When: November 12 - December 18, 2011

Preview Schedule
Saturday, November 12 at 5:30 pm; Sunday, November 13 at 7pm;
Tuesday, November 15 and Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm;
Thursday, November 18 at 8 pm

PRESS / OPENING NIGHT
Friday, November 18 at 8 pm

Regular Run Schedule
Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 pm; Wednesday at 1 pm;
Thurs. and Fri. at 8 pm; Sat. at 5:30 & 9 pm; Sun. at 2 pm

Where: City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street on Pittsburgh's South Side

Single tickets start at $30.

Students and age 26 and younger may reserve $15 tickets, subject to availability.

Seniors (age 60 and older) may purchase $22 rush tickets at the Box Office beginning two hours before show time, subject to availability.

Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts.
Call Kari Shaffer at 412.431-4400 x286.

Tickets are available at 412.431.CITY (2489) or CityTheatreCompany.org.

City Theatre is Pittsburgh's largest producing company located outside of downtown's Cultural District. Now in its 37th year and settled on Pittsburgh's historic South Side, City Theatre specializes in contemporary and new plays and has brought to Pittsburgh playwrights such as Adam Rapp, Christopher Durang, Eric Simonson, and Jeffrey Hatcher. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tracy Brigden, Managing Director Mark R. Power, and a 45-member Board of Directors, City Theatre's mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge a diverse audience. www.citytheatrecompany.org