Ron DeStefano ONLINE!
Current News


CURRENTLY:
How To Succeed in Business...
The Champion (Animated Movie Musical)
Where Is Love... (Solo CD Recording)
Songs from the Lu’au Lounge
UPCOMING:
Lolli-POPS: Peter and the Wolf
REVIVAL: The Gospel According to the FPF
The Full Monty
RECENTLY:
Lolli-POPS Fall and Winter Season
The Jerusalem Syndrome
Royal Caribbean: Radiance of the Seas '07




How To Succeed in Business
Currently. . . I'm performing in the White Plains Performing Arts Center production of the 1962 Pulitzer-Prize-winning musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, a delightfully irreverent satire of the corporate world and all it holds sacred! This brilliant comedy from the authors of Guys and Dolls follows the rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, who uses a little handbook to climb the corporate ladder from lowly window washer to high-powered executive.  As the stupendously inept villain Bud Frump, I'm doing my best to thwart Finch's plans and beat him to the top!

Rehearsals began on April 1st, and opening night took place on April 25th (preview performance on April 24th).  Performances will take place Thursday evenings (8pm), Friday evenings (8pm), Saturday evenings (8pm) and Sunday afternoons (2pm) until May 11th at  Westchester's beautiful new 410-seat theatrical venue, the White Plains Performing Arts Center (located in the downtown City Center complex).  Single tickets are available for $35-$60 by visiting the theatre's website or by calling 914-328-1600.




The Champion
Also currently . . . I'm fulfilling another long-time dream of mine by lending my speaking and singing skills to a full-length animated movie entitled The Champion! As William, a young publishing-house employee who is caught in a fight between love and ambition, I'll be working both my comic and leading-man chops to figure out whether or not I want to get the girl or get ahead!  Recording sessions will be taking place throughout the spring and summer . . . and I can't wait to show up for 'performances' in a T-shirt and shorts!  More news on this exciting project coming soon . . .




Where Is Love
One of my greatest passions is bringing quirky characters to life in the world of musical theatre, but I have to admit that it has always been a dream of mine to share some of my own thoughts and energy via a solo CD. Well, I'm proud to say that this dream is becoming a reality as I put together my first complete studio recording! With the help of David Snyder’s incredibly creative arrangements, the theatre, cabaret and pop songs I've chosen to record will come together as a sort-of song cycle, starting from the rush of first love to heartbreak and then back to loving again. Keep checking back for more news about this exciting project, tentatively entitled “Where Is Love...”!




Songs from the Luau Lounge
During the month of March '06, the Fabulous Pink Flamingos worked our harmonic magic in the recording studio, recreating our evenings of Hawaiian hularity for our CD debut: Songs from the Lu’au Lounge. All fourteen of the songs from our fun show at the Encore NYC are represented, along with David Snyder’s beautiful vocal arrangements and selections from Russell Taylor’s wonderfully directed patter!

Songs from the Lu’au Lounge can be ordered in its entirety from CDBaby, or you may purchase individual tracks at iTunes.  Visit any of these sites for an audio sample of this great show!




The Lolli-POPS
Later this year . . . I'll rejoin The Little Orchestra Society as Buzz the Bee in their May production of Peter and the Wolf with The Lolli-POPS.  You may have seen and heard Peter before - but not this way! Enjoy Prokofiev's timeless classic brought to life with a kid-friendly twist by Bang, Bow, Buzz and Toot.

All Lolli-POPS concerts take place on Saturdays and Sundays at New York City's Kaye Playhouse (65th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues).  Single tickets are available for $40 (or purchase the 3-show winter/spring season for $99) by calling The Little Orchestra Society at 212-971-9500.
Peter and the Wolf
Saturday, May 17th (10:30am and 12) & Sunday, May 18th (1pm and 2:30pm)




Revival
This summer . . . our Back Stage Bistro Award-winning vocal trio makes a triumphant return to the NYC cabaret stage with a return engagement of Revival!: The Gospel According to the Fabulous Pink Flamingos!  Following the thematic success with our Christmas (Live at the Xmas Lounge) and Hawaiian (Live at the Lu'au Lounge) shows, we three can guarantee an all-out Hell-raising revival for the Gentile in all of us! L'Chaim!

The Revival will take place at NYC's hottest cabaret space, the Metropolitan Room (located at 34 West 22nd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.  Showtimes are 9:30pm on each of the last four Sundays in June (6/8, 6/15, 6/22 and 6/29).  More details and ticket info coming soon . . .




The Full Monty
This summer . . . I'll be in glorious Montana (courtesy of the Alpine Theatre Project) going all-the-way in The Full Monty, the incredibly heartwarming contemporary musical based on the 1997 British film.  The story tells the tale of six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers, low on both cash and prospects, who decide to present a strip act at a local club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of professionals. As they prepare for the show, working through their fears, self-consciousness, and anxieties, they overcome their inner demons and find strength in their camaraderie. As the sweet-natured Malcolm McGregor, I'll be overcoming some fears of my own as my birthday suit makes its stage debut!

Rehearsals in beautiful Whitefish, Montana begin on June 24th, and opening night is scheduled for July 15th at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center .  Performances will take place Tuesday through Saturday evenings (8pm) and Sunday afternoons (3pm) until July 27th.  Single tickets are available for $30-$35 by visiting the Alpine Theatre Project website or by calling 406-862-SHOW.




The Lolli-POPS
Most recently . . . I donned the bumblebee wings once again and had a grand time with The Lolli-POPS, a wonderful theatrical concert program created by The Little Orchestra Society which uses fun and friendly animal mascots to teach 3-to 5-year old children about orchestral music.  As Buzz the Bee, the leader of the brass section, I appeared in three different shows last fall and winter: Things That Go Bang (an exploration of rhythms and beats), A Musical Toy Store (using music based on children's games and toys) and The Orchestra: A Happy Family (a detailed introduction to the four families of instruments),

All Lolli-POPS concerts took place on Saturdays and Sundays at New York City's Kaye Playhouse (65th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues).
Things that Go Bang — Saturday 11/17 and Sunday 11/18
A Musical Toy Store — Saturday 12/1 and Sunday 12/2
The Orchestra: A Happy Family — Saturday 2/9 and Sunday 2/10




The Jerusalem Syndrome
Also recently . . . I helped make mayhem as multiple characters in a developmental staged reading of The Jerusalem Syndrome, an original madcap musical comedy with book and lyrics by 2006 Kleban Award winners Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman and a score by Kyle Rosen. The musical follows an ensemble of characters whose lives intertwine when they journey to Israel and experience this real-life psychological malady that affects about 200 tourists a year who arrive in the Holy City and suddenly come to believe that they are biblical characters. Zaniness ensues as Moses leads Noah, Abraham, John the Baptist and not one, but two Virgin Marys on an exodus from the psych ward while Jesus roams the Holy City working his own miracles.

This reading of The Jerusalem Syndrome took place on Monday, October 22 at 7:30PM at the York Theatre (619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street) as part of their Developmental Reading Series. 




Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
My big adventure of 2007? Sailing the ocean blue courtesy of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines! Until September 28th, 2007, I performed and played the piano in two fully-produced musical revues as a lead singer onboard the Radiance of the Seas.  Accommodating 2,500 passengers, this ultra-modern megaliner took me to destinations throughout the Eastern and Western Caribbean, the Panama Canal, around the Hawaiian Islands, up the coast of California and all the way to Seward (Anchorage), Alaska!
 
Rehearsals for the Radiance of the Seas began on January 4th, and I began performances aboard the ship on  February 10th. Check out photos from my amazing journey (with even more coming soon) in the Leisure section!