The Great Sophie Tucker Returns Almost in Person! October 4, 2015 By Myra Chanin The Great Sophie Tucker may have gone to her reward 50 years ago but she was certainly alive and kickin’ at Don’t Tell Mama where the Red Hot Mama was portrayed by Cheryl Ann Allen a few nights ago. Ms. Allen [...]
Bearing an uncanny physical resemblance to her zaftig and otherwise larger-than-life subject, Cheryl Ann Allen, in her current show at Don’t Tell Mama, nearly lives up to the title “Sophie Tucker in Person.” Not only does Allen look and dress the part, she sings like Tucker and has even nailed Sophie’s wheezy speaking voice. Written [...]
I was utterly delighted by Cheryl Ann Allen’s “Sophie Tucker In Person” at the Players Theater on October 23. Written and directed by Ian Finkel, son of the beloved veteran actor Fyvush, Allen richly captured Tucker’s stentorian, heavily exhalatory delivery, sang with a better, more powerful voice than Sophie herself, and convulsed us with lines [...]
"I thought the show was absolutely marvelous. All the more powerful with your extraordinary pianist as the orchestra. Man he SOITENLY has that full, take-no-prisoners style down pat. But the main attraction was you, my dear. WHAT a singer! Chops for days as they say but not only that – your acting skills enabled us [...]
Sophie Tucker’s theme song, “Some of These Days,” by Shelton Brooks, is one of the milestones the legendary performer credited to her best friend, Mollie Elkins, her African American maid. After being coerced into listening to the song, said Tucker, she knew it was a song that would be remembered through the years. Just as [...]
By Elli – The King Of Broadway My mother loved music, so our house was always filled with music. As a pre-teen, I remember coming home from school and upon entering the house, hearing something playing on the record player in my mother’s studio. When I closed the front door, the music suddenly stopped as [...]
Native sons and daughters of Brooklyn who have moved up and out to fame and fortune in the entertainment industry are legendary. Think Barbra Streisand, Danny Kaye, Mary Tyler Moore and the Neils (Diamond and Sedaka), just to name a few who did not return to live here. But one show biz family, though residing [...]
Ted Merwin Special To The Jewish Week Cheryl Ann Allen portrays Sophie Tucker in one-night revue. She broke taboos by publicly celebrating her body at a time when women were expected to be quiet and demure. Now Sophie Tucker, the “Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” comes back to life for one night only in [...]
Richard Z. Chesnoff Veteran of more than 40 years of global news work Sophie Tucker's Alive & Well She was "The Last of the Red Hot Mammas" and the first to dare sing risque songs about the glories of independent women-hood: "I'm Living Alone and Like It" and "Ain't Women Wonderful." For more than 50 [...]
