CAST & CREW
ROBERTA FABIANO – VOCALIST & GUITARIST
CLEVE DOUGLASS – IMPROVISATIONAL JAZZ VOCALIST
HELENE GRESSER – COMEDIEN/ACTOR
KATYA – VOCALIST
WITH
ELLEN KAYE
ETHAN FEIN & THE M57 BAND
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BROWN – BASS
REX BENINCASA – DRUMS
SETH GOLDMAN & ELLEN KAYE – HOSTS
ETHAN FEIN – MUSICAL DIRECTOR/ARRANGER/GUITAR/BANJO
BILL MOSS – ENGINEER
ANDREW RODRIQUEZ – PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
ROBERTA FABIANO
Guitarist/Vocalist
Roberta has performed for Presidents Reagan, Ford, Clinton and both Bushes, for Queen Elizabeth’s wedding anniversary and Prince Edward’s birthday, with Natalie Cole, Buster Poindexter, Lionel Richie, Sarah Jessica Parker and many others. She is the Grand Prize Winner of the New York Songwriter’s Showcase, co-wrote three songs with Doc Pomus and had a song features in the DVD of the movie “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.” Roberta has appeared in several films and numerous television shows, has been a long-standing guitarist with the Peter Duchin Orchestra, and has sung the national anthem for the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders. She is listed in “Who’s Who in American Women,” “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who in Entertainment,” and “Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America.” A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Roberta has performed on numerous albums. http://www.robertafabiano.com/bio.html
CLEVE DOUGLASS
Improvisational jazz vocalist Cleve Douglass began his vocal training in classical (operatic) vocal technique, then studied and worked in musical theater, which eventually led him to his passion: jazz and scat improvisations. His multi-cultural recordings embrace the styles of Bossa Nova, swing, Afro-Cuban, electronic, and standards from The Great American Songbook. After extensively touring and performing in Japan, Cleve brings an air of sophistication and retro-nouveau sensibility to a number of bands in New York City, appearing on dates at the Blue Note and NBC’s “The Today Show.”
HELENE GRESSER
Helene is a comedian, actress, and writer. Sometimes she writes funny songs. She may also serve you a drink tonight, and possibly some food. She co-created the webisode series “Hey Rude” and has been featured on the Tyra Banks show discussing rude behavior, even though she was so heavily made-up she could barely open her falsie-laden eyelids. Currently she is working on her one-woman, autobiographical comedy show, tentatively titled “SHEEZUS! (Comin’ To Get Ya!)” in which she reads from her very DRAMATIC childhood journals and occasionally breaks out into songs from Jesus Christ Superstar. Helene is also opening her delightfully cozy thrift store, Artistic Thrift, in her Ridgewood, Queens neighborhood, and hopes you come by to listen to ole-timey vinyl records and peruse her vast collection of tchotchkes, thingamajigs, and doo-dads. Originally from Shorewood, Wisconsin, she credits below-zero temperatures and consumption of vast quantities of sausage, cheese, and beer for her family’s bizarre sense of humor. Her brother John is far funnier, but he lives in Milwaukee, so he cannot steal her limelight now, thank Sheezus.
KATYA LAPAEVA
Katya Lapaeva was born in Russia and is a vocalist who’s completely self-taught. She moved to the United States about 3½ years ago and now resides in the beautiful borough of Brooklyn. Katya only started singing recently while working at M57. One night she joined Ellen on stage to sing the Russian version of a familiar tune. Since that moment, Ellen has had faith in Katya’s abilities as a vocalist and hopes she’ll begin her musical career by performing at Moscow 57.
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