3/19 - Sandy Hackett, Ed Achorn

Friday March 19, 2010

"What's Cookin' Today" with Erik and Jack

 Live Monday-Friday (7-8 AM PT) CRN1

Sandy and Lisa Hackett  “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show”
Direct from Las Vegas, “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show” kicks off its National Tour at San Francisco’s Marines Memorial Theatre (609 Sutter St., 2nd floor) for a limited engagement beginning Thursday, April 15, 2010. Opening night is scheduled for Saturday, April 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre box office, by phone at (415) 771-6900 and on the web at http://www.marinesmemorialtheatre.tix.com/  Marking a half century since the original Rat Pack’s legendary Las Vegas performances at the Sands Hotel, “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show” takes audiences on a journey back to the days of highballs, hi-jinks and happy hour with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Dean Martin. Produced by Sandy Hackett - son of the late, great comedian and actor Buddy Hackett - and Lisa Dawn Miller - daughter of legendary songwriter Ron Miller – “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show” features the classic songs everyone knows and loves such as “For Once in My Life,” “My Way,” “Mack the Knife,” plus original, never-before-heard songs written by the late Miller.  Directed by Billy Karl, “Sandy Hackett’s Rat” Pack Show stars Sandy Hackett as Joey Bishop, David DeCosta as Frank Sinatra, Doug Starks as Sammy Davis, Jr.,Tony Basile as Dean Martin and Lisa Dawn Miller as ‘Frank’s One Love.’ Buddy Hackett himself is the voice of God, thanks to a voiceover recorded before his passing in 2003. Music Director Maestro Christopher Hardin leads the show’s fine tuned orchestra, conducted by Joseph Spraker. Technical Director, Mark Matson, and Art Director, Jeanne Quinn, round out the artistic team.

Ed Achorn - ""Fifty-Nine in '84"
Fifty-Nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had
In his first book, Achorn, an editor at the Providence Journal, takes an in-depth look into the game of baseball when it was still in its infancy, especially the hard-nosed players rarely seen in today's incarnation of the national pastime, including one of the greatest pitchers that most of today's fans know nothing about. In the 1884 season, pitching for Providence, R.I., Radbourn—the son of English immigrants—endured one of the most grueling summers imaginable in willing his team to the pennant. The stress on his right arm, which caused such deterioration that he couldn't comb his own hair, also gave him a baseball record of 59 wins that will never be broken, in a year of unparalleled brilliance. Achorn wonderfully captures this era of the sport—when pitchers threw balls at batters' heads, and catchers, playing barehanded, endured such abuse that some would need fingers amputated. It's no wonder that, in some circles, as Achorn writes, baseball was thought to be one degree above grand larceny, arson, and mayhem, and those who engaged in it were beneath the notice of decent society. From the early stars of the game to archaic rules that seem silly by today's standards, there's plenty to devour (and learn) for even the biggest of baseball savants.