Ripley

Broadway star Alice Ripley and her band, Ripley performs in concert at Birdland. This evening is part of The Winter Season, presented by Jim Caruso in association with TheaterMania.com, which features top Broadway and cabaret performers at the world-class music room.

Ripley is a New York City-based, self-produced power pop band whose sound features layers of soaring vocals/crunchy guitars, big fat drums and bass, and spastic keyboards. Their influences are Elvis Costello, the Beach Boys and the Beatles, but Ripley’s sound has a decidedly 21st century ring. Lead singer/guitarist Alice Ripley (who is the main songwriter in the band) is a Broadway actress who has starred in James Joyce’s The Dead, The Rocky Horror Show, Sunset Boulevard, the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, and was a Tony nominee for her performance as Violet Hilton in Side Show. Her two most notable recordings are “Duets” and “Unsuspecting Hearts” (Fynsworth Alley), teaming up on both with her Side Show companion Emily Skinner. She recently released her debut solo album, “Everything’s Fine” on the Sh-K-Boom label. With Ripley, the Band, Alice’s noted lyrical sense has been sharpened, and the music rocks much harder. Ripley also includes percussionist Shannon Ford, base guy Skip Ward and keyboard man Christopher Schelling.

Birdland has been a world-class music room on the Manhattan nightclub scene since 1949. Jazz superstars Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dinah Washington, and more recently Ann Hampton Callaway, Diana Krall, John Pizzarelli and Tito Puente have all performed on the Birdland stage. The room offers top-flight music in a world class setting, good sight lines and acoustics, and a menu featuring award-winning Southern cuisine. Most recently, it’s become the home of Jim Caruso’s Cast Party, the weekly Monday late night showbiz gathering featuring impromptu performances by the Broadway, jazz and nightclub crème de la crème.