April 16, 2025 • 28 mins
Showman extraordinaire Chaz Esposito joins us for a fun chat about his musical journey and upcoming show, Legends of the 60s, at Legacy Theatre in Branford, CT, May 1–18. Having toured extensively as Bobby Darin in Mack the Knife: The Life and Music of Bobby Darin, Chaz now brings the magic of the swinging ‘60s to life with a powerhouse big band and timeless hits from Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Tom Jones, Neil Sedaka, Dion, Frankie Valli, Neil Diamond, Elvis Presley, and more. Get ready for an unforgettable night of music, storytelling, and nostalgia!
Dates: May 1–18
Venue: Legacy Theatre, Branford, CT
Tickets & Info: Legacy Theatre
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Oh, I see the lights on the camerahere, Joyce.
That must be ready.
To go, Well, welcome, welcome.
Welcome to your show.
Oh, yo.
To our show, joy. This is what's good.
Yeah, definitely subscribe on YouTube.
If you can't, it's free.
And, we've been having a whole bunchof fun doing this and.
And leading great people.
Really great people.
(00:20):
I mean, every now and then, we
we typically have our, our half hourbroadcast each and every week.
And then we bring in a guest anda gentleman I've known for a long time.
Joyce, I know you have to.This guy is so talented.
He can do it all.
And he has a show coming to the LegacyTheater in Branford, which I love.
Stony Creek is beautiful. Oh, no.
I used to be the. Puppet theater.
Now, but,
(00:41):
he he just going to be doing a show, like,featuring a lot of the 60s vocalist.
Who is this guy?
What is that?
I think it's over there.
What's his name?
To the sea or. Is back or.
No, it's Chaz Esposito.
Chaz.Good to have you, man. John. Hi, Joyce.
This is great.
This is great.
It's so great to have you on. Long timeno. See.
I know she. Looks exactly. The same.
(01:02):
Oh, she had a great show.
I love you, okay? And no Botox.
That Joyce talks. That's,
Yeah, sure.
Come and get some Joyce talks.
Yes, Joyce wants it, but. This is great.
This is great. What you have.
What's good with John and Joyce,I love it. Oh, we're really.
And thanks for inviting me.
We got some great people here.
(01:22):
We got David and Steph in the background.We're only as good as they are.
Yeah, they do their part to help us.
Great people sound good?
Yeah. He did great makeup.I have no shine.
So I know she's the first person.
Who's ever done makeup on.
I don't knowif that's positive or negative.
But George has.
Let's get into this.You know right away about your story.
I mean, you're well knownaround these parts and also nationally.
(01:43):
You played Broadway.
And tell us about some of the auditionprocesses you've gone through.
And crazy.
Not easy.
I mean, you have to developa lot of Teflon in the business.
You're in the entertainment businessand go there
and realizethat people could not be so nice.
Sometimes when they reject.Yeah, business.
There's there's a lot of that,especially coming up.
Right.
Absolutely.
There's there's more rejectionthan, you know, gain.
(02:05):
But you,you fit the gain into the rejection.
You learn, you learn to live with it.
And part of my businessI went into was as a casting director.
I've been casting for 25, 30 years.
Commercials, and industrials.
Films.
And I think I've learned to give it backto people
like to be nice to peoplebecause it's tough.
I know what it's liketo be on both sides of the camera
(02:27):
and the both sides of the stage.
So, you know, treat peoplelike human beings and be nice.
And it comes backto, you know, more than you give it.
So, you know,I know what it's like to be there.
So when I audition, people, I'm gracious.
They're there, and I thank them.
And it could be a lot nicer business,let's put it that way.
May I enjoy some?
She'll tell you her story a little bit,but she's worked with so many great people
(02:49):
like Michael Bolton and John Mellencampand Carly Simon, Mariah Carey,
and you seen them.
And, you know,
sometimes people
can not be so nice to them on the way upor even when they made it.
Yeah, absolutely.
But there's a way to communicatewith people.
You can say something
and a critical way, but do it, like yousaid, in a very nice way.
Treat people, treat people.
With respect, and they'll come back to youno more than you,
(03:10):
more than you can expect.
So I knew Joyce
back in the Michael Bolton dayswhile Michael was still with her, but.
Michael Lotan, right.
Is below typical. Peloton bike tracks.
Yeah yeah yeah oh yeah.
She was, his right hand person and Yeah.
Then Oakdale Theater, Oakdale Theater,when he,
it was 1988 before he really, really hit.
(03:31):
Right. You know, with a Grammy winand all of that.
And you were down at the palacefor some years.
See Palace Theater. Don't forget memory.
You might need makeup.
My brain is still there. You know.
I have a little shine.
But other than that, that neuroplasticity.
So we're. Still going.I have to remember. A lot of lyrics.
That surprise you.
Remember that?
Oh, no,I totally over that. Remember your office?
(03:53):
But she was a good girl. Theater.
We work together.
Back in the days you used to promote.
The original guys Bo and, Ben.
Yeah.
Yeah. Boy, do I love them.
I learned so much from Ben Siegel.
That was the Oakdale.
Great part.
In the round. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah,you get. Better than that.
Did you ever. Play those shows there?
(04:14):
I did not know. I did not.
Did you introducesome acts there or anything?
You know, I did, you know, I.
Knew there was an association with youwith the old.
Saint Ray fields used to do, a benefit,and I did perform there.
What the heck was it called?
It was a it was some sort of benefit,
but I performed there a couple of timeswith that, but, lot more here.
(04:38):
Less make up.
You know,
that's funny, Joyce.
But I'll tell you, Chaz, I mean,you really you really know how to play a
crowd.
I mean, you're Bobby Darin is spot on,but not just Bobby Darin, right? Yes.
I mean, you channel a lot of great artistslike Frank Sinatra and Frankie Valli
and Elvis, of course.
And, I had a passion for the Darin thing.
And, you know,
(04:59):
I performin a couple of touring shows now.
One is Mac Is Back,which is my story of Bobby Darin.
And the new show
that we're doing at the LegacyTheater is like, Legends of the 60s.
Is that going to be again?
That's going to be May 1st to May throughMay 18th, 15 performances.
Legacy theater is beautiful.
This is my third time, coming in thereperforming I can't wait.
(05:21):
It's intimate.
It's it's it's really a place to be.
We'rebringing the whole band in 12 pieces.
So we really, you know, sometimes when Igo to small venues, people who follow me,
they'll say, oh, you shorten the band up,and now the band is the band.
If it's 100 seat or 1000 seater,because we recreate that sound, whether,
you know it's Tommy James or the Shondellsor it's Sinatra, Strangers in the night,
(05:43):
and you have to really produce that againto make it sound well.
So, you know, we don't cut cost for bandit hat the band is the show.
People are there on stage.
You remember the record,they want. To hear the record.
That's that's that's exactly.
And especially when it's
not the artists doing the record,but it started off doing it off Broadway
show called Mack the Knife, which, I didfor about 3 or 4 months off Broadway.
(06:07):
And then we toured itfor about 6 or 7 years.
It had the, endorsement of the Bobby Darinestate, which was very, very difficult.
Yeah, it was very big.
And, Steve Loughner was the, trustee
for the state,who's Bobby's former manager.
That great career he had.
And a great guy to know.
I mean, he produced EasyRider, the monkeys, because he had it.
(06:29):
Screen GemsEntertainment managed Bobby. So.
So that's how it ends? Yes.
That's right. And Steve ran that.
So just just getting him
to sayyes was a very difficult hill to climb.
But, you know,I discovered Bobby as a kid.
My mother sang a little bit.
And I remember watching the NBC specialand, you know, the chart at the end.
(06:53):
He would always sing Mack the Knife,and I didn't know who he was a kid.
And my mother said,I love Bobby and I. And.
And it just stuck in us.
My mother love Bobby Darin.
I want to ask you about this. Sure.
Because you said you do. The story of him.
But I remember my mom feeling sorryfor him because he had a heart condition.
Very young.
Yeah.
Rheumatic heartfever from like 13, 12, 13.
(07:16):
He wasn't supposed to make it to 17,18 years old.
So, you know,that's a great story to go off of.
So when people listen to downer,
when we did the original showand even when I did, the Mac is back,
which is my stories of doing his showand his stories and,
and meeting Wayne Newton and DickClark and Frank Gorshin and so.
Gorshin, the. Riddler, the Riddler.
(07:37):
I have a story for thattelling in the show, but I'll tell you,
you know, so the biggest problem Steve
Blinder would have with Bobbyis his fluctuation of mood music.
You know, from country.
You're the reason I'm living to big bandbeyond the sea to Mac to Splish splash.
And, you know, he would finally say,you know, you have a lifetime.
(07:59):
I don't have time.
So I. Knew that.
Oh, he knew it was coming. Sure.
He knew he he knew he was going to liveto 80 years old.
So when he had the urge to change music,he did it.
He didn't say, well, my audience went out.
Some of the stories I've heardwhen he played the Copa in the late 60s,
he was doing his, you know, protest songs.
(08:21):
He was getting booed.
He four piece band didn't care.
So this is what I'm singingnow. That's it.
Take it or leave it.
I mean, he was that
strong of a willed guy,and he knew what his life was all about.
And this is what I'm doing now. And sorry.
I remember when he was younger,he said, he was going to be a millionaire
before he was going to be 25 yearsold, legend.
Before 25.
(08:41):
And he became Sinatra.
And he,
he accomplished a lot of me because,like you said, he started out as a rock
and roller, then became a little bit moreof a lounge singer, like, like Sinatra.
And then he would doif I Were a Carpenter, which.
Many people don't even know.
That was Bobby Darin. 1966.
It was written by Tim. Hart, Tim Hardin.
And also Johnny Cash and June Carter.
Cash had a number one countryhit with that. Correct.
(09:03):
But but Bobby Darin, when he.
I love that song.I love his interpretation of that.
Totally great.
And his last top ten hit went to numbereight in like 68, 66, 67.
And when I did it Off-Broadwayor toured it, people say,
I didn't know he sang.
That Was Him was a great.
Song that that he could be a chameleon.
He could just change.
(09:23):
And and he didn't read music,wrote 180 songs.
He was one of
I think he and George Harrisonwere one of the first to had synthesizers.
Yeah. Synthesizer fiddles.
We, actually do, Beatles song in the show,
and it might be a George HarrisonBeatles song.
So, Joyce, you might be. Yeah.
Hopefully my chops will impress with,my George Harrison.
(09:44):
Just as much as you saidthat he didn't write.
He didn't read music,
but neither did, you know,the Beatles didn't know how to read music.
Elvis didn't know how to read music.
Correct. And Elvis thing.
Right?
No, no, Bobby wrote the Beatleswrote a lot.
And Phil Collins, it still to this day,doesn't know how to read music.
Amazing. Yes. His own syncopation systemthat came up with him.
I read and, I don't know,
I was just with, rehearsingwith my guitarist the other day.
(10:07):
And I was like, how do you play?
Not him, but like, Darrenand some of the people were talking
and you don't know where you're goingnext.
It's like driving blind,but you're going to get there.
You know, I can't understandbecause I read music.
I don't know if it's a positiveor negative, but, you know.
They feel. Like they hear it.
(10:27):
Like hereit is like a Keith Richards is out there.
Does he is he reading musicyou think or just feeling.
Yeah. I don't know if he reads. I mean,at that point it's in their head.
They know where they're going.You know, Especially at this. Stage.
They're at this stage satisfaction.
They played a few times.
I think, oh.
I don't maybe a thousand. Or two.
Yeah.
Let's let's go back to your roots there.
Jazz. Well, what did you do before.
(10:50):
And then all of a sudden you decideyou not want to sing.
Yeah.
I was singing somethingyou always wanted to do.
Or was that like a later decision.
You know,
you know as a kid I remember liking itand I said my mother studied voice.
She was a trained opera singer.
And you were talking about your voice.But she had polyps.
They did throat surgery, annihilatedher voice, could never sing again,
barely could speak. But,
(11:12):
I guess I heard it.
There was music in the house, and,
I played sports for years.
I got cut from a team,and I said I needed something to do.
And I remember going home.
I said my, you know, I was like a junior.
Senior in high school.
I said, they're doing a musical.
And I went to an all guys,prep school, Catholic school.
And she said, oh,you know, always encouraging. That's good.
(11:33):
You should get involved.You meet girls and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I did, and I tried outand I had no idea what I was doing.
I obviously and I sang,they said, you got to dance.
And sometimes
sometimes being stupid is goodbecause I was totally stupid and I did it
and I went home.
I said, man, you know,I think I got one of the leads.
And my mother said, oh, that's great.
She said, when I went opening night,I was shaking.
(11:54):
Said, this kid never sang, never dance.
And it was the boyfriend.
The play.
And I played Bobby VanUse and I had a tango and I had to do
all these dances and singing,and it just bit me.
And I fell in love with it.
And, I didn't stop from there.
I just said, somehow I'm going to workin this business casting, producing, on
(12:15):
stage, music,directing churches, wherever music
is and actors and performing is.
That's where I want to be.
And I had to find a way to doit, and I did it.
And there's a lot of rejectionand the business, as.
We said, we were talking off camera more,more than not more, you know, how.
Do you handle that?
Because so many people watching right now
(12:36):
or always curiousto hear the success stories,
but they want to know how you overcameadversity.
You just, you know,you have to just take it very lightly.
Some people, as a casting directorand working with actors,
you know, you have to say,this is a minute in your life
and this isn't any.
Do an audition,do it as best as you can and move on.
Go to the next one,go to the it's a numbers game.
(12:57):
You know if you're going toif you're going to audition
once a month and hoping for a job,that's tough.
You got to rehearse 100.
You have to audition 100 times a month.
And if you work off a 10% now,you get ten jobs.
If you audition once a month,you know, those numbers don't work.
So it's a numbers game.
You just so with me,I get rejected, go to the next call,
go to the next theater, go to the next.
Because you just you can't
(13:19):
you can't say, oh boy, John hurtmy feelings of Joyce said this to me.
You know, you got to get Khaleesiand not rude, but move on.
Yeah.
Hey, for some reason, I'm not supposed tobe there in the in this world right now.
That's not supposed. To.
Joyce. That's a great point.
Because if it was meant for you,I'd be there.
It wasn't meant for you,was meant for someone else.
So it blessed them.And that guy, you better come your way.
(13:40):
And that's how I think of it now.
It wasn't meant for me to be at that placeat that time.
So something else will come along.
And you also have the positivityand the tenacity to keep to keep doing.
Tenacity is the word.
Yeah, I could use another word, but.
Once I got past then I just.
We've got to try to keep itclean here. A you.
Know that when you see.
Me May 1st, May 18th,I might use that word.
(14:02):
I can't wait, but yes.
No, you have to have a little bit of that.You do?
Yes you. Do.
And it just, you know, you have to knowyou're doing your best work.
You know, whether you're on stage,
you're you're you're a mechanic, you'rean electrician, you're a truck driver.
Do your best.
And what's going to come back to youin the world, it'll come back to you,
you know?
And I'm,you know, my joy is what I do get is,
(14:26):
making people happy.
I mean, when you see, as a performer,the faces of people,
Pavarotti said, it's oxygen for us.
And it is totally, you know,when you just see those smiles or someone
meet you backstage or at a restaurantafter, say, you sang or you did
or you told that story.And I remember my mother.
I got a great story. I'm playing LongWharf Theater.
(14:46):
This is the original Off-Broadway show,and we're playing there for a week. And,
I had advertisements
from when Derek, Bobby, Darren playedthe arena,
New Haven Arena, New Haven Arena.
Oh, and the tickets were $3.
But get this, Joyce,if you didn't have enough money,
you could go to the rehearsalfor a dollar. Really?
(15:09):
I didn't knowthey did that. They did that? Yes.
If you give me a dollar,you can come to my rehearsal next week.
Joyce,
You know what's my first dress?
Just my.
You know, all of that $0.50 each.
And so you won't believe this.
It's after the show.
Two women come backstage
crying, and they said
(15:31):
we couldn't.
My parents couldn't afford to see him.
And we they gave us a dollarto see the show, to see his rehearsal.
And you just you brought us back to 1960.
And that it was worth.
Oh, yeah, everything you could imagineto see their eyes and light up.
And you made somebody's dayor night or week or whatever.
(15:52):
And from the performers point of viewthere, there is nothing better than that.
I know you could have gone homeat that point,
was that you could have gone homeat that point.
It was the end of the show. I did.
But thanks, Joy, thanks.
But for sure.But you're out there on the stage
and you're singingCan't Take My Eyes Off of You.
All of a sudden people are out thereand they're going back to 1967.
(16:13):
Yeah.What they were doing at that time, who.
You were with, who you were.
With. Yeah.
And you're hearing and plus the musicyou're doing, quite frankly.
Now some people might think,oh, it's older music,
but everything oldies do againdo a whole new generation.
So these 18, 19, 20 yearolds are loving a lot of these classics
as much as their parents and grandparentsdid. Right.
It's timeless.
A classic is a classic for a reason,right?
(16:34):
Can't take my eyes off you now.Jersey boys coming in and the film.
So a younger generation knows that song.
And, you know,
we do a lot of Neil Diamond stuff.
I was talking to youa little bit about the monkeys.
He wrote one of the songs.
I'm a believer. I'm.
I'm glad I was trying to keep thata secret. Just.
No, John. No, no,they know what I'm saying.
Bobby Darin wrote.
(16:55):
Are you saying Bobby Darin wrote, I'm a.
Diamond, Neil. Diamond,I'm a. Believer for the. Money.
We actually doa couple of more of his songs,
but we do some of his writingbecause we talk a lot.
In The Legend of the 60s.
We talk a lot about the Brill Building.Yes, the Brill Building.
Carole King.
Yeah, that's right,
Carole King, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka,Bobby Darin, Sonny Bono.
So wethis is where they went into a cubicle.
(17:15):
They had a small piano.
They maybe had a vocalist come inand they would say,
we could hear the personplaying a song next door and all what?
You're taking their chords and you'reyou're trying to write your own songs.
So we talk a lot about the Brill Buildingbecause we focus a lot
on those artists of the 60sthat wrote there.
So it's it's. Just so interesting.
Building. It's the Burrell Building.
(17:37):
B right.
PLL have the Brill Building building.
Are you a joy to think about that area?
There were more hit songs from that area,high school
people that went to that high schoollike Carole King and Paul Simon.
Right.
They went to the same schoolthan any other area in the USA.
That I think it started from Tin PanAlley.
Yes, but the 60s, it was hugebecause in that building
(17:58):
we're not only songwriterswere publishers, record label.
So they saidyou never had to leave the building.
You could write a song, find a publisher,move it to a record.
There's a one stop, right? Do a demo.
And it was it was amazing.
So, I mean, that doesn't exist anymore,but I love that,
like talking about playing legacyand playing nightclubs,
which we could talk about
(18:18):
where I started the intimate Cof being this close to people.
And I look right in their eyes.
And I mean, we do old school jokes.
I mean, I bring them.
There you are.
Now, as I said, the band is on stage,the audience is on stage.
They are partyou have to get dragged into it.
And my beginnings,which I talk about, started as nightclub.
(18:40):
I was youngand there were still a few left.
So I would go every Saturday nightand sing with the house band.
It was a scene out of Goodfellas.Yes, yes.
It was a scene because it was. It was.
They'd come at 7:00and they start with their cocktails
and they go to dinner,and there was a house band.
And the first,the first, first time I did it,
I won't mention the club, but,I was there.
(19:02):
I had my three songs ready, and, the ownersaid, well, the band's
over there on break, and I went upand the three guys are very friendly.
I they said, I still rememberI was singing on a Clear Day.
Oh, you could see forever.
You could see forever.I was doing Delilah.
Yeah. And, Marla ephemera.
Jimmy speaking at Jimmy Roselli, right?
Yeah. And I and they lookedand I said, great.
(19:22):
What key? And these keys and what it.
And they're eating.
They're very, you know, they're lookingthey're very intent.
I said, so when do we rehearse?
He said, I don't know.We'll just call you on.
I thought JoeFrazier punched me in the jaws.
Like you're just going to call me on.
I never did that and that.
And then there's 400 people, here'sjazz coming in, and I.
(19:43):
My whole body was convulsed, sayinglike, oh, my God, I can't find a way.
To get it done, don't. You?
You know, and so people look at younow and say, why are so calm out there so,
well, you do that for years and notknowing what the band's going to play,
what the people are going to reactto, you get very good at it quick
or at least comfortable.I should say good.
I don't wanna be pompous,but you get comfortable, you.
(20:04):
Learn to pivot.
You learn.
Great training.
It was my college. I say that on the show.
It was my performingthat I'm singing on a clear day.
Joyce and a woman's.
This close to you?
Probably a few context, because I can't.
Hear you and I like.
I can't hear me, right? Right.
The number of the vocal,the mic was going down, my couldn't.
(20:25):
Be further down my throat.
I was like, I gotta get out of here.
Wow. And I kept going back.It was like a drug.
I kept going back.
But I'll do it more.
I'll do itmore until I, you know, just loved it.
Now that's how I started.
And your performances,especially in the early days.
Did you ever have peoplethat were heckling?
Oh, they do that.
They just did it.
The last show I did.
Oh no, oh no.
Real love it.
You you feed off that?
(20:46):
Oh I encourage. It.
Oh you response not from U2. No.
Yeah. Something like oh.
That Joyce was so nice.
You know, that's her. Throw her out.
Know you stop and address it. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. We had.
What do you what do you say?
Just, you.Know, razzing back, you know? Okay, just.
I could go into my Don Rickles routine.
(21:08):
Oh, like, oh, you're doing this30, 40, you know, 35 years.
You know, you get to learn and they thinkyou're going to catch you sick.
You're not you're not going to catch mewith a line or whatever.
You know. So it's fun.
And then the audience gets into it.
Especially if I had a woman
that's I. So but go
shows like the title of a song.
(21:30):
I had this.
Woman in the front row and,last show we did,
and she was people
five people contactedme, said she she was shill.
Right?
You set her up there, she threw more linesand we did more back and back.
Audience was hysterical.
I should pay her to be there.
She was that funny and good. Yeah.
(21:52):
And then everybody tells. Everybody said,well, she's joining in.
Let me say another woman popped in.
I was drinking my little,Tito's on stage to relax, too.
How about the lemon cello?
So I said, all right, next time. I bring,let me chill.
So it just.
Yeah, I love it,I love it, and then. Yeah.
What's that? It's like a big party.
It's got to be, you know,it's got to be, you know, and they just,
(22:12):
you know,
I, I did, Idid we were talking about my casting work
and I did something for RobinLeach years ago and
one of his shows, I'm in New Yorkand I'm 60th.
So Goodfellas had come up.
I walk up,
he's 60, then I'm standing on East and I'mlooking at the buildings and I'm like,
where was the cop?
I know I'm close.So there's a doorman to the left of me.
(22:33):
I said, excuse me, you know,you tell me where the cop is.
He goes, you're staring at it.
And I'm like,this is where Ray Liotta parked his car.
Goodfellas.
I was there, and I'm Stan.
I'm looking at, you know, the Copa.
And I would talk so much about it
with Steve Blount or regarding Bobby Darinand and everybody who played there.
And it was only 700 seats.
(22:53):
It was two levels, 303, 50 and 350.
And and you know, they had a staging.
But as people kept coming in in Goodfellas
and they brought the table,the staging went further, less and less.
And when you were working on a fourby eight, there was nothing to work.
You know, it was justand just the intensity
and how closeand that's that's what I feed off of that.
(23:13):
And that's where legacy isjust just great.
It's just great. It's perf.It is. Yeah. Perfect.
One of the greatest places to see a show.
Because again, you feel like it's onebig living room. That's correct.
And I love that approach.
Even being in the entertainment business
myself,you know, with the deejay business, I love
when people are right there with youand you can interact with them.
Absolutely. I think this you absolutely.
Similar to that would have been a LongWharf theater, which I. Yes.
(23:35):
Oh yeah.
And the old Oakdale with the.
With the in. The round. Yeah.
That was the Oakdale wasand that was for 3000 seats.
It was still intimate.
Yeah.
That that was what we were talking about
show I might be doing with in Connecticutwith Roselli, Jimmy Roselli.
And I remember I must have seen himthree, three times there and Sergio
Franchi and Pat Cooper and justand that such great style.
(23:57):
Yes. Entertainment that, you know,
I talk about this
in legends,but you look at like a Sinatra,
a Jerry Lewis or a Dean Martin,and there's celebrities out there today
and they're wonderful.
But they were masters of recordingconcerts, TV, film.
When you think back, they were mostpeople don't do it in those genres today.
(24:19):
They might be a recording artist
or maybe a film artist,but they're not cutting across.
I mean, Dean Martin had the biggestratings show on TV for 12 or 14 years.
Sinatra had Reprise records.
He had consummate concerts,never stopped for.
Like, a Bing Crosby.
All the stuff he did. Oh, he was good,you know?
And, was you.
Owned a bunch of baseball.Teams. Tina. Yeah.
And he owned part.You didn't know Tropicana?
(24:41):
Yeah, he was an owner in orange juice.
He was extraordinarily.I really impressed you, Joyce.
Yeah. You know.
You were talking about the Tropicanachoice.
It's quick. Right? Yes.
Isn't there a club cover Tropicana.
For that quarterly?
What did that coffee
Bailey shot, I didn't know.
Yeah, right.
(25:01):
Oh, yeah. That's me.
I get some brandy and, Oh, man.
Yeah. But that's, you know, that's.
You know, I'm probablytoo young for my age of the music I love.
They should probably be 110, but.
I think, God, you'rebringing that music back.
Yeah, you know that. Keep it alive.
And I think there are a lot of peopleout there that enjoy it to hear this.
(25:23):
Especially.
Legends of the 60s,where there's a variety of of artists,
as I said,Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Darin,
Sinatra, Dean Martin,I mean, the list is the monkeys on and on.
Oh, we do love and spoonfulfor Wayne Newton.
So it's justthere's something for everyone.
And I and I will say,if I do connect the stories, I bring it
(25:45):
to, to full, you know, a full resolveof beginning to end.
And I think people like.
This kind of the gluethat keeps it all together. Correct.
I think the artists of today,the new artists, appreciate that.
Also, I think they're going back.
To do some of that. And checking it out.
Now, I must say,these chairs are comfortable,
but I feel like I'm on the dating game.Like I said, number two,
(26:06):
I gotta tell you two,
I think Joyce had given up here. Wow.
I stuck with me.
I don't know,I got gotta like the gentleman.
I'm just trying.
Bachelor number one. Yeah.
Give me a question. I get to do not.
Like talking too much.I'm probably telling you too much.
I know, I think I think your audienceis really enjoying it.
Yes, he encompasseshe like I'm talking to third person.
(26:29):
But this is what's good, right?
You do? I mean, thank you.
That's what's good.
You have infectious, beautiful energy.
Thank you.
And hopefully this comes outduring our shows.
So yes.
I just love the whole ideaof the storytelling, like you said,
because I learned a long time agothat facts tell, stories sell.
You know, people learn by stories, right?
Yes, 100%. And as we wrap up here. Sure.
(26:52):
Tell us about the show again.
And when it's happening.
We, we open up at LegacyTheater in Branford, Connecticut
on, Thursday, May 1st.
We run to May 18th, 15 performances.
So it's Thursday through Sundayfor three weeks.
12 piece band, two backup singers.
We are so thrilled.
(27:14):
I'm historic.
Just to go back there for my third timeand just knock their socks off.
But audiences are going to.
Enjoy just your energy level alonehas sold this year.
My gosh. You're. Watching it right nowand you love that music.
This is just an added bonuswith, you know, Chaz up on the stage.
Just thank you and to see you guys again.
This is like so great to see you.
(27:35):
Thank you. It's so great.Thank you for being on our show.
This was totally a pleasure.I hope you invite me back.
Oh we're going to go.Come back any time, any time.
But thanks so much for stopping by.
Thank you so much for tuning in toWhat's Good You to check us out.
Each and every week we have new episodes,30 minute episodes each and every week.
Tell a friend about us.
And by the way, subscribefor free on YouTube.
(27:58):
Just go to YouTube and type inWhat's good with Johnny Joyce.
Tell a friend about uswho needs something positive and upbeat.
I think people are thirsting and hungryfor good. Absolutely.
And remember
to find the what's good in your life,because there's always something good
in each day.
That's right.
And the more you look for that,the more you're going to see it.
Gratitude. Thanks. Till next time.
Bye for now.
Oh, I see the lights on the camerahere, Joyce.
That must be ready.
To go, Well, welcome, welcome.
Welcome to your show.
Oh, yo.
To our show, joy. This is what's good.
Yeah, definitely subscribe on YouTube.
If you can't, it's free.
And, we've been having a whole bunchof fun doing this and.
And leading great people.
Really great people.
(00:20):
I mean, every now and then, we
we typically have our, our half hourbroadcast each and every week.
And then we bring in a guest anda gentleman I've known for a long time.
Joyce, I know you have to.This guy is so talented.
He can do it all.
And he has a show coming to the LegacyTheater in Branford, which I love.
Stony Creek is beautiful. Oh, no.
I used to be the. Puppet theater.
Now, but,
(00:41):
he he just going to be doing a show, like,featuring a lot of the 60s vocalist.
Who is this guy?
What is that?
I think it's over there.
What's his name?
To the sea or. Is back or.
No, it's Chaz Esposito.
Chaz.Good to have you, man. John. Hi, Joyce.
This is great.
This is great.
It's so great to have you on. Long timeno. See.
I know she. Looks exactly. The same.
(01:02):
Oh, she had a great show.
I love you, okay? And no Botox.
That Joyce talks. That's,
Yeah, sure.
Come and get some Joyce talks.
Yes, Joyce wants it, but. This is great.
This is great. What you have.
What's good with John and Joyce,I love it. Oh, we're really.
And thanks for inviting me.
We got some great people here.
(01:22):
We got David and Steph in the background.We're only as good as they are.
Yeah, they do their part to help us.
Great people sound good?
Yeah. He did great makeup.I have no shine.
So I know she's the first person.
Who's ever done makeup on.
I don't knowif that's positive or negative.
But George has.
Let's get into this.You know right away about your story.
I mean, you're well knownaround these parts and also nationally.
(01:43):
You played Broadway.
And tell us about some of the auditionprocesses you've gone through.
And crazy.
Not easy.
I mean, you have to developa lot of Teflon in the business.
You're in the entertainment businessand go there
and realizethat people could not be so nice.
Sometimes when they reject.Yeah, business.
There's there's a lot of that,especially coming up.
Right.
Absolutely.
There's there's more rejectionthan, you know, gain.
(02:05):
But you,you fit the gain into the rejection.
You learn, you learn to live with it.
And part of my businessI went into was as a casting director.
I've been casting for 25, 30 years.
Commercials, and industrials.
Films.
And I think I've learned to give it backto people
like to be nice to peoplebecause it's tough.
I know what it's liketo be on both sides of the camera
(02:27):
and the both sides of the stage.
So, you know, treat peoplelike human beings and be nice.
And it comes backto, you know, more than you give it.
So, you know,I know what it's like to be there.
So when I audition, people, I'm gracious.
They're there, and I thank them.
And it could be a lot nicer business,let's put it that way.
May I enjoy some?
She'll tell you her story a little bit,but she's worked with so many great people
(02:49):
like Michael Bolton and John Mellencampand Carly Simon, Mariah Carey,
and you seen them.
And, you know,
sometimes people
can not be so nice to them on the way upor even when they made it.
Yeah, absolutely.
But there's a way to communicatewith people.
You can say something
and a critical way, but do it, like yousaid, in a very nice way.
Treat people, treat people.
With respect, and they'll come back to youno more than you,
(03:10):
more than you can expect.
So I knew Joyce
back in the Michael Bolton dayswhile Michael was still with her, but.
Michael Lotan, right.
Is below typical. Peloton bike tracks.
Yeah yeah yeah oh yeah.
She was, his right hand person and Yeah.
Then Oakdale Theater, Oakdale Theater,when he,
it was 1988 before he really, really hit.
(03:31):
Right. You know, with a Grammy winand all of that.
And you were down at the palacefor some years.
See Palace Theater. Don't forget memory.
You might need makeup.
My brain is still there. You know.
I have a little shine.
But other than that, that neuroplasticity.
So we're. Still going.I have to remember. A lot of lyrics.
That surprise you.
Remember that?
Oh, no,I totally over that. Remember your office?
(03:53):
But she was a good girl. Theater.
We work together.
Back in the days you used to promote.
The original guys Bo and, Ben.
Yeah.
Yeah. Boy, do I love them.
I learned so much from Ben Siegel.
That was the Oakdale.
Great part.
In the round. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah,you get. Better than that.
Did you ever. Play those shows there?
(04:14):
I did not know. I did not.
Did you introducesome acts there or anything?
You know, I did, you know, I.
Knew there was an association with youwith the old.
Saint Ray fields used to do, a benefit,and I did perform there.
What the heck was it called?
It was a it was some sort of benefit,
but I performed there a couple of timeswith that, but, lot more here.
(04:38):
Less make up.
You know,
that's funny, Joyce.
But I'll tell you, Chaz, I mean,you really you really know how to play a
crowd.
I mean, you're Bobby Darin is spot on,but not just Bobby Darin, right? Yes.
I mean, you channel a lot of great artistslike Frank Sinatra and Frankie Valli
and Elvis, of course.
And, I had a passion for the Darin thing.
And, you know,
(04:59):
I performin a couple of touring shows now.
One is Mac Is Back,which is my story of Bobby Darin.
And the new show
that we're doing at the LegacyTheater is like, Legends of the 60s.
Is that going to be again?
That's going to be May 1st to May throughMay 18th, 15 performances.
Legacy theater is beautiful.
This is my third time, coming in thereperforming I can't wait.
(05:21):
It's intimate.
It's it's it's really a place to be.
We'rebringing the whole band in 12 pieces.
So we really, you know, sometimes when Igo to small venues, people who follow me,
they'll say, oh, you shorten the band up,and now the band is the band.
If it's 100 seat or 1000 seater,because we recreate that sound, whether,
you know it's Tommy James or the Shondellsor it's Sinatra, Strangers in the night,
(05:43):
and you have to really produce that againto make it sound well.
So, you know, we don't cut cost for bandit hat the band is the show.
People are there on stage.
You remember the record,they want. To hear the record.
That's that's that's exactly.
And especially when it's
not the artists doing the record,but it started off doing it off Broadway
show called Mack the Knife, which, I didfor about 3 or 4 months off Broadway.
(06:07):
And then we toured itfor about 6 or 7 years.
It had the, endorsement of the Bobby Darinestate, which was very, very difficult.
Yeah, it was very big.
And, Steve Loughner was the, trustee
for the state,who's Bobby's former manager.
That great career he had.
And a great guy to know.
I mean, he produced EasyRider, the monkeys, because he had it.
(06:29):
Screen GemsEntertainment managed Bobby. So.
So that's how it ends? Yes.
That's right. And Steve ran that.
So just just getting him
to sayyes was a very difficult hill to climb.
But, you know,I discovered Bobby as a kid.
My mother sang a little bit.
And I remember watching the NBC specialand, you know, the chart at the end.
(06:53):
He would always sing Mack the Knife,and I didn't know who he was a kid.
And my mother said,I love Bobby and I. And.
And it just stuck in us.
My mother love Bobby Darin.
I want to ask you about this. Sure.
Because you said you do. The story of him.
But I remember my mom feeling sorryfor him because he had a heart condition.
Very young.
Yeah.
Rheumatic heartfever from like 13, 12, 13.
(07:16):
He wasn't supposed to make it to 17,18 years old.
So, you know,that's a great story to go off of.
So when people listen to downer,
when we did the original showand even when I did, the Mac is back,
which is my stories of doing his showand his stories and,
and meeting Wayne Newton and DickClark and Frank Gorshin and so.
Gorshin, the. Riddler, the Riddler.
(07:37):
I have a story for thattelling in the show, but I'll tell you,
you know, so the biggest problem Steve
Blinder would have with Bobbyis his fluctuation of mood music.
You know, from country.
You're the reason I'm living to big bandbeyond the sea to Mac to Splish splash.
And, you know, he would finally say,you know, you have a lifetime.
(07:59):
I don't have time.
So I. Knew that.
Oh, he knew it was coming. Sure.
He knew he he knew he was going to liveto 80 years old.
So when he had the urge to change music,he did it.
He didn't say, well, my audience went out.
Some of the stories I've heardwhen he played the Copa in the late 60s,
he was doing his, you know, protest songs.
(08:21):
He was getting booed.
He four piece band didn't care.
So this is what I'm singingnow. That's it.
Take it or leave it.
I mean, he was that
strong of a willed guy,and he knew what his life was all about.
And this is what I'm doing now. And sorry.
I remember when he was younger,he said, he was going to be a millionaire
before he was going to be 25 yearsold, legend.
Before 25.
(08:41):
And he became Sinatra.
And he,
he accomplished a lot of me because,like you said, he started out as a rock
and roller, then became a little bit moreof a lounge singer, like, like Sinatra.
And then he would doif I Were a Carpenter, which.
Many people don't even know.
That was Bobby Darin. 1966.
It was written by Tim. Hart, Tim Hardin.
And also Johnny Cash and June Carter.
Cash had a number one countryhit with that. Correct.
(09:03):
But but Bobby Darin, when he.
I love that song.I love his interpretation of that.
Totally great.
And his last top ten hit went to numbereight in like 68, 66, 67.
And when I did it Off-Broadwayor toured it, people say,
I didn't know he sang.
That Was Him was a great.
Song that that he could be a chameleon.
He could just change.
(09:23):
And and he didn't read music,wrote 180 songs.
He was one of
I think he and George Harrisonwere one of the first to had synthesizers.
Yeah. Synthesizer fiddles.
We, actually do, Beatles song in the show,
and it might be a George HarrisonBeatles song.
So, Joyce, you might be. Yeah.
Hopefully my chops will impress with,my George Harrison.
(09:44):
Just as much as you saidthat he didn't write.
He didn't read music,
but neither did, you know,the Beatles didn't know how to read music.
Elvis didn't know how to read music.
Correct. And Elvis thing.
Right?
No, no, Bobby wrote the Beatleswrote a lot.
And Phil Collins, it still to this day,doesn't know how to read music.
Amazing. Yes. His own syncopation systemthat came up with him.
I read and, I don't know,
I was just with, rehearsingwith my guitarist the other day.
(10:07):
And I was like, how do you play?
Not him, but like, Darrenand some of the people were talking
and you don't know where you're goingnext.
It's like driving blind,but you're going to get there.
You know, I can't understandbecause I read music.
I don't know if it's a positiveor negative, but, you know.
They feel. Like they hear it.
(10:27):
Like hereit is like a Keith Richards is out there.
Does he is he reading musicyou think or just feeling.
Yeah. I don't know if he reads. I mean,at that point it's in their head.
They know where they're going.You know, Especially at this. Stage.
They're at this stage satisfaction.
They played a few times.
I think, oh.
I don't maybe a thousand. Or two.
Yeah.
Let's let's go back to your roots there.
Jazz. Well, what did you do before.
(10:50):
And then all of a sudden you decideyou not want to sing.
Yeah.
I was singing somethingyou always wanted to do.
Or was that like a later decision.
You know,
you know as a kid I remember liking itand I said my mother studied voice.
She was a trained opera singer.
And you were talking about your voice.But she had polyps.
They did throat surgery, annihilatedher voice, could never sing again,
barely could speak. But,
(11:12):
I guess I heard it.
There was music in the house, and,
I played sports for years.
I got cut from a team,and I said I needed something to do.
And I remember going home.
I said my, you know, I was like a junior.
Senior in high school.
I said, they're doing a musical.
And I went to an all guys,prep school, Catholic school.
And she said, oh,you know, always encouraging. That's good.
(11:33):
You should get involved.You meet girls and blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I did, and I tried outand I had no idea what I was doing.
I obviously and I sang,they said, you got to dance.
And sometimes
sometimes being stupid is goodbecause I was totally stupid and I did it
and I went home.
I said, man, you know,I think I got one of the leads.
And my mother said, oh, that's great.
She said, when I went opening night,I was shaking.
(11:54):
Said, this kid never sang, never dance.
And it was the boyfriend.
The play.
And I played Bobby VanUse and I had a tango and I had to do
all these dances and singing,and it just bit me.
And I fell in love with it.
And, I didn't stop from there.
I just said, somehow I'm going to workin this business casting, producing, on
(12:15):
stage, music,directing churches, wherever music
is and actors and performing is.
That's where I want to be.
And I had to find a way to doit, and I did it.
And there's a lot of rejectionand the business, as.
We said, we were talking off camera more,more than not more, you know, how.
Do you handle that?
Because so many people watching right now
(12:36):
or always curiousto hear the success stories,
but they want to know how you overcameadversity.
You just, you know,you have to just take it very lightly.
Some people, as a casting directorand working with actors,
you know, you have to say,this is a minute in your life
and this isn't any.
Do an audition,do it as best as you can and move on.
Go to the next one,go to the it's a numbers game.
(12:57):
You know if you're going toif you're going to audition
once a month and hoping for a job,that's tough.
You got to rehearse 100.
You have to audition 100 times a month.
And if you work off a 10% now,you get ten jobs.
If you audition once a month,you know, those numbers don't work.
So it's a numbers game.
You just so with me,I get rejected, go to the next call,
go to the next theater, go to the next.
Because you just you can't
(13:19):
you can't say, oh boy, John hurtmy feelings of Joyce said this to me.
You know, you got to get Khaleesiand not rude, but move on.
Yeah.
Hey, for some reason, I'm not supposed tobe there in the in this world right now.
That's not supposed. To.
Joyce. That's a great point.
Because if it was meant for you,I'd be there.
It wasn't meant for you,was meant for someone else.
So it blessed them.And that guy, you better come your way.
(13:40):
And that's how I think of it now.
It wasn't meant for me to be at that placeat that time.
So something else will come along.
And you also have the positivityand the tenacity to keep to keep doing.
Tenacity is the word.
Yeah, I could use another word, but.
Once I got past then I just.
We've got to try to keep itclean here. A you.
Know that when you see.
Me May 1st, May 18th,I might use that word.
(14:02):
I can't wait, but yes.
No, you have to have a little bit of that.You do?
Yes you. Do.
And it just, you know, you have to knowyou're doing your best work.
You know, whether you're on stage,
you're you're you're a mechanic, you'rean electrician, you're a truck driver.
Do your best.
And what's going to come back to youin the world, it'll come back to you,
you know?
And I'm,you know, my joy is what I do get is,
(14:26):
making people happy.
I mean, when you see, as a performer,the faces of people,
Pavarotti said, it's oxygen for us.
And it is totally, you know,when you just see those smiles or someone
meet you backstage or at a restaurantafter, say, you sang or you did
or you told that story.And I remember my mother.
I got a great story. I'm playing LongWharf Theater.
(14:46):
This is the original Off-Broadway show,and we're playing there for a week. And,
I had advertisements
from when Derek, Bobby, Darren playedthe arena,
New Haven Arena, New Haven Arena.
Oh, and the tickets were $3.
But get this, Joyce,if you didn't have enough money,
you could go to the rehearsalfor a dollar. Really?
(15:09):
I didn't knowthey did that. They did that? Yes.
If you give me a dollar,you can come to my rehearsal next week.
Joyce,
You know what's my first dress?
Just my.
You know, all of that $0.50 each.
And so you won't believe this.
It's after the show.
Two women come backstage
crying, and they said
(15:31):
we couldn't.
My parents couldn't afford to see him.
And we they gave us a dollarto see the show, to see his rehearsal.
And you just you brought us back to 1960.
And that it was worth.
Oh, yeah, everything you could imagineto see their eyes and light up.
And you made somebody's dayor night or week or whatever.
(15:52):
And from the performers point of viewthere, there is nothing better than that.
I know you could have gone homeat that point,
was that you could have gone homeat that point.
It was the end of the show. I did.
But thanks, Joy, thanks.
But for sure.But you're out there on the stage
and you're singingCan't Take My Eyes Off of You.
All of a sudden people are out thereand they're going back to 1967.
(16:13):
Yeah.What they were doing at that time, who.
You were with, who you were.
With. Yeah.
And you're hearing and plus the musicyou're doing, quite frankly.
Now some people might think,oh, it's older music,
but everything oldies do againdo a whole new generation.
So these 18, 19, 20 yearolds are loving a lot of these classics
as much as their parents and grandparentsdid. Right.
It's timeless.
A classic is a classic for a reason,right?
(16:34):
Can't take my eyes off you now.Jersey boys coming in and the film.
So a younger generation knows that song.
And, you know,
we do a lot of Neil Diamond stuff.
I was talking to youa little bit about the monkeys.
He wrote one of the songs.
I'm a believer. I'm.
I'm glad I was trying to keep thata secret. Just.
No, John. No, no,they know what I'm saying.
Bobby Darin wrote.
(16:55):
Are you saying Bobby Darin wrote, I'm a.
Diamond, Neil. Diamond,I'm a. Believer for the. Money.
We actually doa couple of more of his songs,
but we do some of his writingbecause we talk a lot.
In The Legend of the 60s.
We talk a lot about the Brill Building.Yes, the Brill Building.
Carole King.
Yeah, that's right,
Carole King, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka,Bobby Darin, Sonny Bono.
So wethis is where they went into a cubicle.
(17:15):
They had a small piano.
They maybe had a vocalist come inand they would say,
we could hear the personplaying a song next door and all what?
You're taking their chords and you'reyou're trying to write your own songs.
So we talk a lot about the Brill Buildingbecause we focus a lot
on those artists of the 60sthat wrote there.
So it's it's. Just so interesting.
Building. It's the Burrell Building.
(17:37):
B right.
PLL have the Brill Building building.
Are you a joy to think about that area?
There were more hit songs from that area,high school
people that went to that high schoollike Carole King and Paul Simon.
Right.
They went to the same schoolthan any other area in the USA.
That I think it started from Tin PanAlley.
Yes, but the 60s, it was hugebecause in that building
(17:58):
we're not only songwriterswere publishers, record label.
So they saidyou never had to leave the building.
You could write a song, find a publisher,move it to a record.
There's a one stop, right? Do a demo.
And it was it was amazing.
So, I mean, that doesn't exist anymore,but I love that,
like talking about playing legacyand playing nightclubs,
which we could talk about
(18:18):
where I started the intimate Cof being this close to people.
And I look right in their eyes.
And I mean, we do old school jokes.
I mean, I bring them.
There you are.
Now, as I said, the band is on stage,the audience is on stage.
They are partyou have to get dragged into it.
And my beginnings,which I talk about, started as nightclub.
(18:40):
I was youngand there were still a few left.
So I would go every Saturday nightand sing with the house band.
It was a scene out of Goodfellas.Yes, yes.
It was a scene because it was. It was.
They'd come at 7:00and they start with their cocktails
and they go to dinner,and there was a house band.
And the first,the first, first time I did it,
I won't mention the club, but,I was there.
(19:02):
I had my three songs ready, and, the ownersaid, well, the band's
over there on break, and I went upand the three guys are very friendly.
I they said, I still rememberI was singing on a Clear Day.
Oh, you could see forever.
You could see forever.I was doing Delilah.
Yeah. And, Marla ephemera.
Jimmy speaking at Jimmy Roselli, right?
Yeah. And I and they lookedand I said, great.
(19:22):
What key? And these keys and what it.
And they're eating.
They're very, you know, they're lookingthey're very intent.
I said, so when do we rehearse?
He said, I don't know.We'll just call you on.
I thought JoeFrazier punched me in the jaws.
Like you're just going to call me on.
I never did that and that.
And then there's 400 people, here'sjazz coming in, and I.
(19:43):
My whole body was convulsed, sayinglike, oh, my God, I can't find a way.
To get it done, don't. You?
You know, and so people look at younow and say, why are so calm out there so,
well, you do that for years and notknowing what the band's going to play,
what the people are going to reactto, you get very good at it quick
or at least comfortable.I should say good.
I don't wanna be pompous,but you get comfortable, you.
(20:04):
Learn to pivot.
You learn.
Great training.
It was my college. I say that on the show.
It was my performingthat I'm singing on a clear day.
Joyce and a woman's.
This close to you?
Probably a few context, because I can't.
Hear you and I like.
I can't hear me, right? Right.
The number of the vocal,the mic was going down, my couldn't.
(20:25):
Be further down my throat.
I was like, I gotta get out of here.
Wow. And I kept going back.It was like a drug.
I kept going back.
But I'll do it more.
I'll do itmore until I, you know, just loved it.
Now that's how I started.
And your performances,especially in the early days.
Did you ever have peoplethat were heckling?
Oh, they do that.
They just did it.
The last show I did.
Oh no, oh no.
Real love it.
You you feed off that?
(20:46):
Oh I encourage. It.
Oh you response not from U2. No.
Yeah. Something like oh.
That Joyce was so nice.
You know, that's her. Throw her out.
Know you stop and address it. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. We had.
What do you what do you say?
Just, you.Know, razzing back, you know? Okay, just.
I could go into my Don Rickles routine.
(21:08):
Oh, like, oh, you're doing this30, 40, you know, 35 years.
You know, you get to learn and they thinkyou're going to catch you sick.
You're not you're not going to catch mewith a line or whatever.
You know. So it's fun.
And then the audience gets into it.
Especially if I had a woman
that's I. So but go
shows like the title of a song.
(21:30):
I had this.
Woman in the front row and,last show we did,
and she was people
five people contactedme, said she she was shill.
Right?
You set her up there, she threw more linesand we did more back and back.
Audience was hysterical.
I should pay her to be there.
She was that funny and good. Yeah.
(21:52):
And then everybody tells. Everybody said,well, she's joining in.
Let me say another woman popped in.
I was drinking my little,Tito's on stage to relax, too.
How about the lemon cello?
So I said, all right, next time. I bring,let me chill.
So it just.
Yeah, I love it,I love it, and then. Yeah.
What's that? It's like a big party.
It's got to be, you know,it's got to be, you know, and they just,
(22:12):
you know,
I, I did, Idid we were talking about my casting work
and I did something for RobinLeach years ago and
one of his shows, I'm in New Yorkand I'm 60th.
So Goodfellas had come up.
I walk up,
he's 60, then I'm standing on East and I'mlooking at the buildings and I'm like,
where was the cop?
I know I'm close.So there's a doorman to the left of me.
(22:33):
I said, excuse me, you know,you tell me where the cop is.
He goes, you're staring at it.
And I'm like,this is where Ray Liotta parked his car.
Goodfellas.
I was there, and I'm Stan.
I'm looking at, you know, the Copa.
And I would talk so much about it
with Steve Blount or regarding Bobby Darinand and everybody who played there.
And it was only 700 seats.
(22:53):
It was two levels, 303, 50 and 350.
And and you know, they had a staging.
But as people kept coming in in Goodfellas
and they brought the table,the staging went further, less and less.
And when you were working on a fourby eight, there was nothing to work.
You know, it was justand just the intensity
and how closeand that's that's what I feed off of that.
(23:13):
And that's where legacy isjust just great.
It's just great. It's perf.It is. Yeah. Perfect.
One of the greatest places to see a show.
Because again, you feel like it's onebig living room. That's correct.
And I love that approach.
Even being in the entertainment business
myself,you know, with the deejay business, I love
when people are right there with youand you can interact with them.
Absolutely. I think this you absolutely.
Similar to that would have been a LongWharf theater, which I. Yes.
(23:35):
Oh yeah.
And the old Oakdale with the.
With the in. The round. Yeah.
That was the Oakdale wasand that was for 3000 seats.
It was still intimate.
Yeah.
That that was what we were talking about
show I might be doing with in Connecticutwith Roselli, Jimmy Roselli.
And I remember I must have seen himthree, three times there and Sergio
Franchi and Pat Cooper and justand that such great style.
(23:57):
Yes. Entertainment that, you know,
I talk about this
in legends,but you look at like a Sinatra,
a Jerry Lewis or a Dean Martin,and there's celebrities out there today
and they're wonderful.
But they were masters of recordingconcerts, TV, film.
When you think back, they were mostpeople don't do it in those genres today.
(24:19):
They might be a recording artist
or maybe a film artist,but they're not cutting across.
I mean, Dean Martin had the biggestratings show on TV for 12 or 14 years.
Sinatra had Reprise records.
He had consummate concerts,never stopped for.
Like, a Bing Crosby.
All the stuff he did. Oh, he was good,you know?
And, was you.
Owned a bunch of baseball.Teams. Tina. Yeah.
And he owned part.You didn't know Tropicana?
(24:41):
Yeah, he was an owner in orange juice.
He was extraordinarily.I really impressed you, Joyce.
Yeah. You know.
You were talking about the Tropicanachoice.
It's quick. Right? Yes.
Isn't there a club cover Tropicana.
For that quarterly?
What did that coffee
Bailey shot, I didn't know.
Yeah, right.
(25:01):
Oh, yeah. That's me.
I get some brandy and, Oh, man.
Yeah. But that's, you know, that's.
You know, I'm probablytoo young for my age of the music I love.
They should probably be 110, but.
I think, God, you'rebringing that music back.
Yeah, you know that. Keep it alive.
And I think there are a lot of peopleout there that enjoy it to hear this.
(25:23):
Especially.
Legends of the 60s,where there's a variety of of artists,
as I said,Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Darin,
Sinatra, Dean Martin,I mean, the list is the monkeys on and on.
Oh, we do love and spoonfulfor Wayne Newton.
So it's justthere's something for everyone.
And I and I will say,if I do connect the stories, I bring it
(25:45):
to, to full, you know, a full resolveof beginning to end.
And I think people like.
This kind of the gluethat keeps it all together. Correct.
I think the artists of today,the new artists, appreciate that.
Also, I think they're going back.
To do some of that. And checking it out.
Now, I must say,these chairs are comfortable,
but I feel like I'm on the dating game.Like I said, number two,
(26:06):
I gotta tell you two,
I think Joyce had given up here. Wow.
I stuck with me.
I don't know,I got gotta like the gentleman.
I'm just trying.
Bachelor number one. Yeah.
Give me a question. I get to do not.
Like talking too much.I'm probably telling you too much.
I know, I think I think your audienceis really enjoying it.
Yes, he encompasseshe like I'm talking to third person.
(26:29):
But this is what's good, right?
You do? I mean, thank you.
That's what's good.
You have infectious, beautiful energy.
Thank you.
And hopefully this comes outduring our shows.
So yes.
I just love the whole ideaof the storytelling, like you said,
because I learned a long time agothat facts tell, stories sell.
You know, people learn by stories, right?
Yes, 100%. And as we wrap up here. Sure.
(26:52):
Tell us about the show again.
And when it's happening.
We, we open up at LegacyTheater in Branford, Connecticut
on, Thursday, May 1st.
We run to May 18th, 15 performances.
So it's Thursday through Sundayfor three weeks.
12 piece band, two backup singers.
We are so thrilled.
(27:14):
I'm historic.
Just to go back there for my third timeand just knock their socks off.
But audiences are going to.
Enjoy just your energy level alonehas sold this year.
My gosh. You're. Watching it right nowand you love that music.
This is just an added bonuswith, you know, Chaz up on the stage.
Just thank you and to see you guys again.
This is like so great to see you.
(27:35):
Thank you. It's so great.Thank you for being on our show.
This was totally a pleasure.I hope you invite me back.
Oh we're going to go.Come back any time, any time.
But thanks so much for stopping by.
Thank you so much for tuning in toWhat's Good You to check us out.
Each and every week we have new episodes,30 minute episodes each and every week.
Tell a friend about us.
And by the way, subscribefor free on YouTube.
(27:58):
Just go to YouTube and type inWhat's good with Johnny Joyce.
Tell a friend about uswho needs something positive and upbeat.
I think people are thirsting and hungryfor good. Absolutely.
And remember
to find the what's good in your life,because there's always something good
in each day.
That's right.
And the more you look for that,the more you're going to see it.
Gratitude. Thanks. Till next time.
Bye for now.
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