Richard Skipper Celebrates

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Set amid the beginning turmoil of New York's COVID crisis, Beyond the Mask is a fictional psychological chronicle of six health care workers in a callous city hospital system. 

Ellen Matzer was born in the late-fifties and was raised first in California before moving to Queens. She attended public school. Ellen, like Valery found the ICU to be over- run with young men coming in with severe respiratory symptoms progressing rapidly to death. This became the focus of her career for the following fifteen years. In 1985 she joined the staff of St. Clare’s Hospital and Health center, the first designated AIDS CENTER in NYC, the first RN hired specifically to work in the AIDS Center.  The first wave saw health care workers making ethical decisions right in the emergency departments, no time to think, discuss or plan. Intubate or not. Period. When PPE was in short supply, no vaccination available, death was inevitable.

Valery Hughes was born in the mid-fifties and was raised in Queens with her two sisters. She attended public school. She received her RN degree (as an Associate of Applied Science) from the City University at Queensborough Community College in the mid-seventies and worked as a registered nurse for several years before continuing her education. Along the way she worked in hospitals as a staff nurse in surgery, intensive care, surgical intensive care and emergency medicine. She spent a short time in Thailand working in the Admissions Ward (Emergency Department) at the hospital at the Khao-I-Dang Refugee Camp at the Thai-Cambodian border. The Cornell Clinical Trials Unit is a part of the NIH AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG).

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Sixty years ago, author David Bean played a Jet named “Tiger” in the original West Side Story movie. In 2021, he made his “comeback” with a cameo role in Steven Spielberg’s new West Side Story film. These events are the “bookends” of David’s memorable new memoir, which one reviewer described as “brilliant, witty and lively”… ..... In his richly illustrated memoir, When You’re a Jet, David Bean offers a wonderful potpourri of stories about his “extraordinary, ordinary life” ― a life that began in California, and brought him to stage and screen in New York, Hollywood and England. From tap dancing on the streets of Hollywood, to Broadway performances as a young teenager, David Bean grew up in the world of theatre. He appeared in "Peter Pan" on Broadway with Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard.  David and his wife Jean (also a talented dancer) performed over the years in numerous theatre and television shows together. Together, they also built a network of businesses with the passion of a couple on a mission. David currently lives with his wife of sixty years in upstate New York ― and they can often be spotted at the Jeanie Bean & Family Deli and Café in Clinton Corners, NY. As David would say, "For more details, read my book!" ... and now we can add: "And tune in to 'Richard Skipper Celebrates'"! For your 2021 West Side Story, post-Oscar discussion, attached are the two most relevant photos. ... and you'll find lots of relevant info on the Amazon page of When You're A Jet: www.amazon.com/When-Youre-West-Side-Story/dp/1883551218/

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One of America's most loved actresses was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922. Her first starring movie role was in Romance on the High Seas (1948). The next year, she made two more films, My Dream Is Yours (1949) and It's a Great Feeling (1949). Audiences took to her beauty, terrific singing voice and bubbly personality, and she turned in fine performances in the movies she made (in addition to several hit records). She made three films for Warner Bros. in 1950 and five more in 1951. In that year, she met and married Martin Melcher, who adopted her young son Terry, who later grew up to become Terry Melcher, a successful record producer. In 1953, Doris starred in Calamity Jane (1953), which was a major hit, and several more followed: Lucky Me (1954), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and what is probably her best-known film, Pillow Talk (1959). She began to slow down her filmmaking pace in the 1960s, even though she started out the decade with a hit, Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960), Do Not Disturb (1965), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968) and With Six You Get Eggroll (1968). Martin Melcher died in 1968, and Doris never made another film, but she had been signed by Melcher to do her own TV series, The Doris Day Show (1968). She ran Doris Day Animal League in Carmel, California, which advocates homes and proper care of household pets. Doris died on May 13, 2019, in Carmel Valley Village, California. She was 97.

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While Brian Epstein was basking in the attainment of fame with the Beatles and traveling worldwide, he also was struggling with a concealed darker side of life. The artists he managed had no knowledge of the demons Brian hid within, but due to a chance meeting, Larry Stanton became a mutual confidant. Hide Your Love Away takes place during the sixties music revolution with Brian in the forefront of historical changes and both in the midst of Hollywood and British luminaries. Notorious London gangsters and music moguls who played in the demise of the internationally recognized manager are disclosed. Hide Your Love Away narrates the details of Brian and Larry’s four-year close and personal relationship and the introduction of a young manipulative man who became the toxic lover may be responsible for Brian's early death. 

Robin Bragg-Marcelli: Career achievements at UCLA in budget and multiple management executive roles; managed 5 UCLA Extension off-site campus buildings, UCLA Alumni – Certificate in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, trained and licensed (not active) Emergency Medical Technician and Emergency Room Technician, Medical Reserve Corp. volunteer, Los Angeles Fire Dept. CERT Program volunteer-Battalion 14 Coordinator for 16 years.

Rick Marcelli: Writer & Author. Hollywood born and raised. Responsible for creating major campaigns for stars and political campaigns. Worked with a 2-time academy award winner for training films for the Police Department. 2nd Vice President for the Conference of Personal Managers, a member of Story Analyst Guild, AFTRA SAG, and is a current member of the Producers Guild Of America and the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and FBI InfrGard member and FBI Citizens Alumni (FBICAAA).

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My Friday Wrap Up! April Fool's Day! It's April Fool's Day! Things are not always what they seem...or are they? Please tune in for some major surprises! Also follow me on Instagram at @richard.skipper.celebrates. Look for my daily LIVE video around 1PM announcing my WORD OF THE DAY. Send me questions based on the word of the day and we will pick a winner at the end of the week to appear on our Round up Friday Show as part of our #FanFriday! Assyrian New Year. It's Also Boomer Bonus Day! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Fools_Day I recount my journey to NY and my first days.

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Debra Danielsen debuted on MTV June 11, 2009, in the reality television series which began under 16 and Pregnant which told the stories of the hardships faced by teenage girls, families, and "baby daddies" while in high school. The show was an unexpected hit and MTV picked up the series as Teen Mom and Teen Mom OG (Original Girls).Debra also can be seen on the VH-1 show Couples Therapy with her daughter, Farrah Abraham and Dr. Jenn Mann in 2013. Dr. Phil interviewed Debra on his talk show April 19, 2013, “Teen Mom Farrah Exposed,” concerning her thoughts about her daughter's sex tape and DUI. Debra also appears in the WEtv television series Marriage Boot Camp for the series' tenth season, titled Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition, alongside her daughter, Farrah, and former husband, Michael.[Ratings for the season were among the highest for the series and other series on WEtv during May and June 2017. Danielsen launched her music career with a MTV special Being Debra, which aired February 2017[ and chronicles the making of her first music video for the song "Debz OG". Debz OG released the singles "Suga Momma" and "22X" In December 2014, Debra released her book Vapor, which recounts her encounter with a catfish.

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Debra Danielsen debuted on MTV June 11, 2009, in the reality television series which began under 16 and Pregnant which told the stories of the hardships faced by teenage girls, families, and "baby daddies" while in high school. The show was an unexpected hit and MTV picked up the series as Teen Mom and Teen Mom OG (Original Girls).Debra also can be seen on the VH-1 show Couples Therapy with her daughter, Farrah Abraham and Dr. Jenn Mann in 2013. Dr. Phil interviewed Debra on his talk show April 19, 2013, “Teen Mom Farrah Exposed,” concerning her thoughts about her daughter's sex tape and DUI. Debra also appears in the WEtv television series Marriage Boot Camp for the series' tenth season, titled Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition, alongside her daughter, Farrah, and former husband, Michael.[Ratings for the season were among the highest for the series and other series on WEtv during May and June 2017. Danielsen launched her music career with a MTV special Being Debra, which aired February 2017[ and chronicles the making of her first music video for the song "Debz OG". Debz OG released the singles "Suga Momma" and "22X" In December 2014, Debra released her book Vapor, which recounts her encounter with a catfish.

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Born to legendary entertainer Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft, Lorna Luft made her performing debut singing on “The Judy Garland Show.” Since then, she has had dozens of starring and guest-starring roles on film and television, ranging from Grease 2 and Where the Boys Are ’84 to the series “Murder She Wrote” and “Sean Saves the World.” Lorna was co-executive producer of “Life with Judy Garland,” the 5 time Emmy award-winning miniseries based on her best-selling memoir, Me and My Shadows. For the past several years, Lorna has been starring in American and British productions of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Her other theatrical credits include her Broadway debut in Promises, Promises; Off-Broadway’s Snoopy and Extremities; the national tour of They’re Playing Our Song; a British tour of Pack of Lies; and Gypsy, Grease, Guys and Dolls, Mame, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, among many others. Lorna is also a gifted concert and cabaret artist, performing in the world’s most prestigious venues, including The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The London Palladium, and L’Olympia in Paris. Her highly acclaimed multi-media production, Songs My Mother Taught Me-The Judy Garland Songbook, melds one of the world’s most familiar songbooks with personal memories. It won two Ovation Awards, and a CD based on the show was released by First Night Records.

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Michael has enjoyed tremendous success as a true ‘song and dance’ man. He has appeared in eight Broadway shows – including Ragtime, Smokey Joe’s Café, Victor/Victoria (with Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, and Raquel Welch), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, The Goodbye Girl (with Bernadette Peters), Grand Hotel (with Cyd Charisse), Starlight Express and Honky Tonk Nights. He appeared in the New York City Opera production of Porgy and Bess, as well as performing in countless television specials, live corporate events and numerous Broadway National Tours – including Ragtime, Smokey Joe’s Café, The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber (with Michael Crawford), Starlight Express (lead role of Electra), Five Guys Named Moe (featured as Eat Moe) and Joseph and His Amazing… (Benjamin Calypso vocalist). Michael also received much critical acclaim as the star and headliner in two productions at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City - Zoot Suit Strut and Club Indigo. He has also enjoyed NYC cabaret stage success with his one man shows “Unfinished” and “A Little Talk With Myself”. He continues to work on music and hopes to release an album of ‘favorites’ in 2022.

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Tino Orsini was born in Italy and grew up in London where he started appearing in the school plays then trained in Los Angeles at the Stella Adler Conservatory as well as in the UK. He started acting professionally on stage and has appeared in a number of feature films , short films, TV shows such as ‘Berlin Station’ with Richard Armitage and most recently on the multi-award winning ‘Ted Lasso’ with Jason Sudeikis. As well as acting he has also directed and produced Theatre bringing a famous Neapolitan comedy ‘Filumena Marturano’ to the London stage to critical acclaim. Tino hosted his own arts podcast interviewing a variety of creatives and arts practitioners from around the world which was nominated for ‘Best Arts Podcast’ at The British Podcast Awards. One of his short films ‘Panettone’ about a homeless man trying to reconcile with his daughter was screened at various film festivals and for which he won the ‘Best Performance’ award along with the cast at the IL Film Festival. Most recently he was the face of the NHS ‘Stoptober’ campaign and starred in a new play about Joe Orton and his partner Kenneth Halliwell called ‘Joe and Ken’ which I’d being proposed for a UK tour this year. He loves to travel and is a keen painter.