HOT SUMMER NIGHTS

Internationally acclaimed Pianist/Actor/Liberace Tribute Artist David Maiocco trained classically at Boston and New England Conservatories of Music.

David is a 2 time Bistro and MAC award winner for musical direction and for his portrayal of Liberace in Lee Squared - The Liberace and Peggy Lee Comeback Tour. He is a Broadway World Nominee for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Liberace in Brent Hazelton's one man stage musical "Liberace!" at Farmer's Alley Theatre, Kalamazoo MI and Theatre in the Circle, Cleveland OH. He was the Musical Director and Orchestrator for the Judy Garland Musical I Will Come Back! by Timothy Gray and Hugh Martin at the Players Theatre Off-Broadway.

David appears in Zack Snyder's 2022 Oscar Fan Favorite winning film Army of the Dead and can be seen as Liberace in The Paul Lynde Christmas Special written by Bruce Vilanch - Keeping The Yuletide Gay- A Very Special Paul Lynde Christmas starring Michael Airington, Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Jack Plotnick and Seth Rudetsky, among other special guests streaming on WOW Presents Plus and Amazon Prime. He also appears in an episode of Noches Boleros Y Son in Mexico City for national TV station Canal Once.

Follow him on Facebook, Instragram, and www.davidmaiocco.com

2-time Tony Award nominee Natasha Yvette Williams is currently starring as “Mama Morton” in CHIGCAO and starred as “Sweet Sue” in SOME LIKE IT HOT on Broadway and won a 2024 Grammy Award as a principal vocalist in the category of Best Musical Theater Album for her outstanding contribution to Some Like It Hot.

On Broadway for 17 years, she has been in eight Broadway shows; four creating roles as an original cast member and four as a replacement. Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (Zelma), Chicken and Biscuits (Brianna), Waitress (Becky), Chicago (Mama Morton), A Night with Janis Joplin (Aretha, Joplinaire), The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Mariah), The Color Purple (Sofia).

Selected TV/Film Credits: “Harlem” (Rebecca), “FBI” (Mrs. Adamu), “New Amsterdam” (Esther), “The Good Fight”. You can catch her in the historical thriller “Alice” (Ruth), the Disney+ movie “Better Nate Than Never” (Principal) and Fall 2022 on Netflix’s “Partner Track”.

After originating the role of Andre in the Broadway production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Cris went on to play the Phantom some 860 performances with three major companies: New York, Toronto, and the Canadian National Tour. Other Broadway credits include Anthony Hope in SWEENEY TODD, the roles of George, the Soldier, and Louis the Baker in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (both shows recreated for PBS), Major Rizzolli in PASSION, and Miles Gloriosus in the 1996 revival of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. He originated the role of Father in the National Tour of RAGTIME, and he played Jules in the Kennedy Center revival of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. With the New York City, Cleveland, Portland, Tulsa, and Syracuse Opera companies he has played such roles as Danilo in THE MERRY WIDOW, the title role in CANDIDE, Captain Corcoran in HMS PINAFORE, the Caliph in KISMET, and Ravenal in SHOW BOAT.

Concert performances include a Carnegie Hall debut (1994), a televised Boston Pops, the Montreal Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Moscow Radio and TV Orchestra, and the Russian Philharmonic. He has also sung a concert entitled ‘THREE PHANTOMS IN CONCERT' with various symphonies around the country.

Mr. Groenendaal and his wife, Sue Anderson, have produced three solo albums: ALWAYS, A CHRISTMAS WISH, and most recently, MOSTLY LIVE. Other recordings include the role of Billy Crocker on EMI’s ANYTHING GOES, RCA’s A STEPHEN SONDHEIM EVENING, and Book-of-the-Month Records’ SONGS OF NEW YORK and SONDHEIM albums.

Sue’s career has been full and varied, ranging from Broadway productions to films to recordings. As a conductor and musical director, Ms. Anderson has worked with the Broadway and national touring companies of PIRATES OF PENZANCE, ME AND MY GIRL, and CATS. She played in the orchestra pits of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG , WOMAN IN WHITE, A CATERED AFFAIR, SPAMALOT, THE LION KING and SOMETHING ROTTEN. She has conducted Pops concerts with the Milwaukee, Detroit, Phoenix, Portland and Shreveport orchestras and most recently conducted the London Philharmonia at Abbey Road Studios.

An accomplished pianist, Ms. Anderson was the featured on-stage pianist in Broadway's JERRY’S GIRLS. Working with her husband, Cris Groenendaal, she has conducted the orchestra or accompanied him on piano for several of his pops appearances around the country including a Carnegie Hall debut entitled Broadway Classics. She also performs regularly at Carnegie Hall with the all-state choirs produced by Field Studies International.

Sue was the musical director for The First All Children's Theater, The Broadway Local (an improvisational comedy group), SoundBites (a political satire group for National Public Radio), the premiere of MARTIN GUERRE (directed by Mark Lamos, at Hartford Stage) and has toured many times with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. She has been musical director at the Westchester Broadway Theatre for MISS SAIGON, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, BYE, BYE BIRDIE, NINE and BIG RIVER. She worked on the films "Clever Jack," "Svengali," and "The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley" in various capacities.

Some of the fun and unusual things Ms. Anderson has done were coaching Rex Harrison in the revival of MY FAIR LADY, teaching Peter O'Toole to play the piano, playing duets with Richard Chamberlain, enjoying the finest chocolates with Katherine Hepburn, and being repeatedly kissed by Kevin Kline.

Sue has also been fortunate to be involved with many local choruses and musical groups including the Chappaqua and the Scarborough Singers. She’s the proud mother of two children, Lucas and Emily.

Raissa Katona Bennett, who performed the role of “Christine” on Broadway in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and was in the first national tours of CATS and PARADE has a voice that has been called “lovely…very pure, my favorite kind of voice,” by Tony & Drama Desk Award Nominee Composer/Librettist, Michael John La Chiusa and “a tart tongued commentator on modern life…her theatrical soprano…is an effective vehicle for witty story telling” by Stephen Holden of The New York Times. www.raissakatonabennett.com

“Raissa Katona Bennett is always a welcome performer on any stage. With rock of Gibraltar confidence and Park Avenue elegance, Ms. Katona Bennett has only to smile your direction, bat an eyelash at you, and run her pretty soprano up the scale... and you not only want to yell bravo at her, you need to. When a performer displays this much A-Game, they become invincible, able to seduce even the most cynical and sullen of audience members. Raissa Katona Bennett, looking like a million bucks and sounding like an MGM movie star of the great musicals, is certainly equal to the task.” – Stephen Mosher - Broadwayworld.com

“Raissa Katona Bennett not only has a sweet yet sturdy voice — even piercing and fierce when she wants — but she puts a generous helping of intelligence behind what she does. She also inserts a heap of courage (read chutzpah) into her act, because she doesn’t believe in luring and lulling audiences by clinging to tried-and-true material that remains the usual option for the majority of cabaret purveyors.” – David Finkle – Village Voice

“What a joy it is to hear a confident and lovely vocalist sing some of the greatest songs written for the American musical theater.” – Bart Greenberg - Cabaret Scenes