August 9th, 2008 admin
Over the last several years, John has conducted extensive research for a proposed Broadway musical based on the life of Hollywood musical director Busby Berkeley. The show entitled “The Berkeley Girl” is based on a man’s obsession with finding the perfect woman.
A Busby Berkeley film was distinctive for several reasons. He auditioned as many as 3000 women for 150 roles in his musical numbers during the Great Depression. His unbridled use of the camera, movement and special effects was legend. And, it is no exaggeration to say that Busby Berkeley literally created the Hollywood musical form.
Busby had been a choreographer/dance director on Broadway for several years when Sam Goldwyn called him to direct the dance sequences of a film entitled “Whoopee”. Not long after Busby came to the notice of Hollywood studios, he was signed to a seven year contract with Warner Brothers where he created fantastical almost surreal musical extravaganzas including “42nd Street”, “Dames”, “Goldiggers” of 1935, 1937 and 1939. These early musicals in the 1930’s and 1940’s were to performance art on film what Cirque du Soleil is to performance art on stage.
Berkeley went on to another seven year contract with MGM producing several movies with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. His work with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland in “For Me and My Gal” showed his development in to more serious work involving more emphasis on story and less emphasis on production numbers. Many of you may remember the outlandish “The Gang’s All Here” starring Carmen Miranda with the infamous dancing bananas scene. He is also the director who created the incredible water movies like “Million Dollar Mermaid” starring world famous swimmer Esther Williams.
John felt that Busby’s unique style made for a perfect vehicle for a Broadway musical. The show is not all fluff though. Busby had a tumultuous life including seven marriages, alcoholism and was charged with second degree murder in the death of an individual when he was driving to Pacific Palisades one night. Warner Brothers paid $100,000 in legal fees to get him acquitted. On the sound stage, Busby was surrounded by a fantasy world where he thrived. Outside the sound stage, he seemed to be a fish out of water.
The reasons the show is entitled “The Berkeley Girl” is due to Busby’s obsession with finding women who “matched like a string of pearls”. He even went so far as to design a mannequin of the perfect Berkeley girl including height, waist size, figure, bust size, hair color, eye color and so on. During auditions, hopeful starlet’s had to stand next to the inanimate mannequin to see how they stacked up.
“The Berkeley Girl” was optioned by Radio City Music Hall to be a permanent addition to its long running shows like The Radio City Christmas Extravaganza”. Due to a purge of some of the producers on staff, the optioned lapsed.
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July 23rd, 2008 admin
The world of comedy is no stranger to John Bernardoni and vice versa. The story begins in the 1st grade of an all girls Catholic School in San Antonio. In fact, there were about 100 young boys in a school predominantly occupied by young girls and ladies that ran from Grade 1 to Grade 12. During one of the classes, the nun took a prolonged breath and John finished the sentence. The class laughed. John then met Mr. Pointer. He never knew when something was going to pop out of his mouth until it had already left his lips. Thus, the interconnection between pleasure (laughter) and pain (the pointer) were inextricably intertwined.
The dye was cast for what would become an odyssey through the foundation of comedy in its many forms - on stage or off. Over the years, in his formative years, John would perform various comedy sketches courtesy of Bill Cosby learning from the master about comic timing, the use of silence to punctuate the punch line and the milking of the gag. He worked in musical comedies as a character actor which was usually the comic foil in the play. Ultimately, his work in comedy lead him to The Improvisation in New York.
The crowning moment in this voyage came together when John created a one man show on the life of legendary comic, Lenny Bruce. Lenny paved the way for comedians like Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, George Carlin and other comics whose stage performances were steeped in colorful language and imagery to put it diplomatically. Lenny Bruce was doing bits in the 1950’s and 1960’s on homosexuality, communism, racism, Jackie Kennedy, the Lone Ranger as a poof in “Thank You Masked Man” and more for which he was arrested 280 times, mostly for language banned by obscenity laws in most cities.
Fast forward to today. The next foray in to unholy ground is in the developmental stages for a wicked new show called:
“The Arc Angel: Kicking ass and taking names for God”. The premise of the character and the show is based on the Arc Angel’s take on life in today’s world on earth covering every topic on the planet. God is pissed at the woeful state of affairs down below and he’s sent his main agent to deliver the message that what’s coming next will make the 10 Commandments look like Snow White if his children don’t change their evil ways.
John is writing the piece and will perform as The Arc Angel in live venues and for possible television sitcom.
Stay tuned for more.
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June 18th, 2008 admin
In a constant effort to provide cutting edge production technology for the entertainment events we produce on behalf of corporate America, the John Bernardoni Production Group is about to utilize one of the most mind boggling and sensational digital projection system – Pandora’s Box - at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. The Kodak Theatre is the home of the Academy Awards.
The corporate event for 3400 people will feature Jay Leno and Foreigner who JBPG will produce. However, the primary use of the Pandora’s Box technology will be used during the 90 minute Foreigner set only. The digital projection system offers an infinite variety of special effects including “warping” images to fit any surface – flat or curved. Pandora’s Box also can project 360 degrees on a sphere as well as creating 3D images. And that is just the beginning of the range of its abilities.
Our veteran programmers will create a palette of images featuring Foreigner, the client’s corporate logo and a scintillating cornucopia of images that will blow the audience out of their seats. The system allows for the maximum creative input to customize a show that eclipses hard sets for a Broadway show. The great thing about a digital projection system of this quality is that we can change “the set” anytime we want rather than being tied to a hard set. A hard set ages quickly, requires a great deal of labor to build and move on stage, must be warehoused and touched up and can become obsolete and irrelevant very quickly as a corporate client’s branding changes.
Here’s more information on Pandora’s Box.
TECHNOLOGY
Modern entertainment and communication systems have to integrate and control media distribution, projection, lighting and sound and more.
Furthermore, media integration demands remote control of all involved elements and their interaction with the environment, no matter if it is a moving set tracked by video projection or a visitor in a museum initiating a series of events by proximity sensors as they move about a space.
The Pandora’s Box Media Playback System renders in real-time, so any changes concerning the content, the design or data from external files, applications or controlling systems will be executed immediately and thereby are directly visible.
Watch changes to every effect’s parameter or switch between several sources, clips or effects and do not waste precious time waiting for images to be re-rendered.
Fore more information check out:
http://www.coolux.de/
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June 17th, 2008 admin
Some years ago, we worked with the then Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua Invitational in Maui, Hawaii. The tournament is now the Mercedes Invitational. Our firm acted as the official producer of record for such major concert touring stars as Vince Gill, the Four Tops, Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, a stand in by Steven Stills and Hootie and the Blowfish.
At the time, there were a number of newspaper articles and media queries about where the band got the name “Hootie and the Blowfish”. Most fans and the media thought lead singer Darius Rucker was “Hootie”. The band apparently got a big kick out of this and they just let it lie. Finally, the truth came out. “Hootie” turns out to be a friend of the band from Columbus, South Carolina and has nothing to do with the band itself other than friendship.
One of my staff hatched the idea of creating some tee shirts to make a gag of the whole “Who is Hootie” phenomenon. We put a great big blowfish on the back in fabulous colors. On the front of the tee shirt it said, “I’m not Hootie”. Prior to sound check at the show, we handed them out to the band and their crew. It was very cool to see their reaction to what had become an inside, running gag.
FYI – Joe Pesci – who regularly plays the pro am at the Mercedes Invitational - is an avid golfer besides being an incredible actor in films like the “Lethal Weapon” series, “Casino”, “Good Fellas”, “My Cousin Vinnie” and many more. What most people don’t know is that Joe was in the 1950’s band Joey and the Starlighters for many years in his early show business days. We groveled but we couldn’t get him to do a tune. A score of musicians have moved on to become fine actors on Broadway, television and film like Reba McIntyre. Even Jon Bon Jovi did a stint in a television series and was extremely effective.
Whether it’s an entertainment concert touring star, a celebrity, a sports icon, a world renowned speaker and more, we can help you realize your vision with panache and theatrical punch. We challenge all meeting planners, event planners, incentive planners, association planners, sporting event planners and trade show planners to raise the bar with a powerful entertainment package to create a climactic and spine tingling “finis” to your events.
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June 12th, 2008 admin
Throughout the last twenty years of booking and producing major concert touring stars from the entertainment industry for corporate events, we have had the distinct honor to have worked with the finest incentive planners, event planners, meeting planners, trade show managers, convention planners, association planners, fund raising planners and corporate event planners. These consummate professionals must juggle an immense amount of work and moving parts to stage large conferences around the world. As such, they depend on us to provide a turnkey service as an entertainment production company so that we lighten the load allowing them to focus on myriad details.
Part and parcel of their world, they belong to the top meeting planner trade associations including Meeting Planners International, American Society of Association Executives, Society of Incentive Travel Executives, Professional Convention Managers Association, Financial and Insurance Conference Planners, the Motivation Show, International Special Events Society, Association of Fund Raising Professionals, the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour, the LPGA Tour, International Association of Association Management Companies, National Association of Exposition Managers, Incentive Travel Managers Exposition, National Trade and Professional Associations, Pharmaceutical Research/Manufacturers.
Everyone at The John Bernardoni Production Group applauds these planners and their trade associations.
www.site-intl.org/
www.afpnet.org/
www.asaecenter.org
www.iaamc.org/
www.iaem.org
www.ises.com
www.motivationshow.com
www.lpgatsa.org
www.mpiweb.org
www.phrma.org/
www.ficpnet.com
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June 12th, 2008 admin
Presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton, recently bowed out of the race for the White House at the historic National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The building is stunning with eight Doric columns in what, is essence, one giant room.
The National Building Museum was originally built during the Civil War to house the cavalry. You may have also have seen this majestic building during the annual “Christmas in Washington” television special which features many major entertainment stars, the President and members of Congress.
Our firm had the pleasure of producing Natalie Cole in the National Building Museum on behalf of the LPGA Championship and Mazda – the title sponsor of the tournament at that time. The event, chaired by Barbara Bush, was attended by many legends from the LPGA including Betsy Rawls. As the show was about to begin, the entire lighting board did a memory dump losing all cues painstakingly generated during the show set up. Our lighting engineer didn’t miss a beat as he ran the show manually which is unbelievably difficult with that many lighting cues. Natalie and the audience never knew what had happened and the show was a huge success. Glitches and unknowns are common in live entertainment events. Our professional stage crews and the on site producer are veteran professionals who can turn a potential nightmare in to victory.
Additionally, we produced Marvin Hamlisch in the National Building Museum on behalf of Kemper Insurance and the previous Kemper Open PGA Tournament in the Washington, D.C. area. Marvin was the composer and lyricist for such mega hits as “A Chorus Line”, “The Way We Were” and “The Sting” among many others.
The John Bernardoni Production Group, an international booking and production company, has produced over 400 major entertainment concert touring stars for three decades throughout the U.S. and abroad. Stars as diverse as Hootie and the Blowfish, Itzhak Perlman, Vince Gill, Denise Graves, Kool and the Gang and Rita Rudner are just a few of the entertainment stars available for your event through our firm.
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June 12th, 2008 admin
One of the most spectacular performing arts venues in the world is the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo. We had the honor of producing Gordie Brown - the top musical impressionist in North America - on behalf of a Fortune 500 insurance company for 500 of its attendees.
The Monte Carlo Sporting Club was built by Prince Rainier, the monarch of Monaco and husband to former actress Grace Kelly who passed many years ago in an auto accident among the twisting roads in the mountains overlooking Monte Carlo.
The venue is a technological wonder, both in terms of staging and the facility itself. Once the show had begun, the entire ceiling opened and the gigantic glass walls literally disappeared in to the floor. All eyes turned to Monaco which looked like a floating fairyland high above the ocean
Past stars have included George Benson with Natalie Cole, Andrea Bocelli, The Beach Boys, Diana Krall, Lionel Richie and Julio Iglesias, among many others. Diana Ross and Carlos Santana will be performing during an upcoming festival at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club.
The John Bernardoni Production Group has booked and produced major entertainment concert stars in venues around the globe including stadiums, arenas, performing arts centers including the upcoming Kodak Theatre and home of the Academy Awards, convention center’s like the Moscone in San Francisco and The Monte Carlo Sporting Club.
www.sportingmontecarlo.com
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June 11th, 2008 admin
A few years ago, we were hired to produce Roy Firestone as the headliner entertainment for a gala benefiting the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Women and Children in Orlando, Florida. We actually ended up reprising our role as producer for Mr. Palmer three years running. But that’s not the story.
I had just arrived at the Orlando Airport and picked up my rent car to drive to Bay Hill Country Club – Arnold’s home course and the current location of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I was to play golf that day with my main contact with the event – a lifelong friend of Mr. Palmer’s. Somehow, I got turned around going the opposite direction from Bay Hill. I was winging my way down the highway for 30 minutes before I realized I was headed for the Kennedy Space Center. There were no exits as it is a type of toll road.
Finally, I found a small store, stopped and used the pay phone. I had left my cell phone in Austin by mistake. I called the golf shop at Bay Hill to tell them of my mistake and that I would be a little late for our golf round. The pro at Bay Hill said, “Well, don’t kill yourself getting here but you’re playing golf with Arnold Palmer today”. I almost passed out. I jumped in the car, raced down the highway the right way, screeched in to the parking lot at Bay Hill, jumped in a golf cart, threw on my golf shoes and was taken to the 2nd hole. The group had already played the 1st hole.
Arnold and the others had already hit their tee shots to a difficult and long, uphill par 3. I went to the tee and they all watched. I did not hit one warm up ball. I remember saying out loud…”I’m at Bay Hill about to tee off in front of Arnold Palmer with no practice and my hair is on fire”. Then, I had an out of body experience. Floating above my person, I saw myself take the 3 iron back, eyes rolling over in my sockets, forgetting 30 years of golf lessons and hit the ball. It felt like I hit a rock. By some miracle, though, I was the only person to hit the green. Mr. Palmer said, “Nice shot John”. Can you spell “Heaven”? It gets better.
Mr. Palmer has a habit of walking right down the fairway after he hits his next shot even though there are players behind him ready to hit their next shot. I don’t think he does it on purpose. I believe he can’t fathom any one with a golf game so rotten that they might hit him in the back or head. Now, I had hit a few bladed shots that day being nervous and all. As I stood over the ball – with Arnold Palmer in front of me some 50 yards – I thought to myself…”I am going to kill Arnold Palmer. Every golfer in the world will hunt me down. I will be the pariah of golf for generations”.
Now, I did have my “go to” shot which was a fade. So, I decided to play a really BIG fade taking the ball well to the left of Mr. Palmer and watching it come back well in front of the legend. All this worked well even though I was hyperventilating after each shot. Ultimately, though, I came upon my ball in the sand trap next to the green. It was a deep trap with virtually no green to work with. Mr. Palmer was standing right next to the pin. Those who know me know full well that I am not the greatest sand player. When I miss the shot, it is a bladed rocket coming out at warp speed. This was not a shot I could bull my way through. So, I said to Mr. Palmer…”This isn’t my best shot. You may want to back up a bit”. Arnold moon walked in the opposite direction of the pin. Yet another miracle occurred when I hit a lovely flop shot right next to the pin.
Roy Firestone whom I was to produce that night, is a fabulous guy. He is multi talented as a singer, informal comic and impressionist beyond his legendary sports broadcast career. Being a huge Arnold Palmer fan, Roy produced an unbelievable video of Arnold’s highlights for the show that night. You could hear a pin drop followed by a lot of sobbing followed by an uproar of shouting and clapping.
Not only did I produce a great headliner – I got to play golf with and around Arnold Palmer. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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June 11th, 2008 admin
You’re probably wondering what this subject has to do with a producer in the entertainment industry. Beyond producing major concert touring stars throughout the U.S. and abroad, I am also a writer. I have been developing a treatment for a feature film entitled “The Children of Mons Olympus”. The film involves the subjects of the ancient Maya, the U.S. and Russian space programs, time travel and the ethereal music of the Mayan culture. More on that project later.
There is a Mayan guide (American) in Akumal not far from where I stay in Puerto Morelos in the Yucatan Peninsula. I’ve used him a couple of times. He was married to a Mayan girl and lived in their village for 13 years before they divorced. He speaks perfect Yucatec Maya (one of 28 languages – not dialects – from the Mayan legacy). His Mayan/Mexican name is Helario. This guy is a character. He is ADD x 10 (he said it) and almost impossible to keep on point for a given subject. I’ll ask him a question and he’ll give me 10 seconds of feedback and then float off to another subject. He is also a genius which is probably linked to how his mind works. Any way, we were driving down the road together, and out of the blue he said these words:
“THE MAYA PAINTED THEIR MUSIC
AND PLAYED THEIR PAINTINGS”
I’m only just now beginning to grasp the profound nature of this statement. Helario is also a master diver who goes down 100’ in caves with no light, turns off his light, and does sensory deprivation like the Mayan kings used to do. Except the Mayan kings did it in a tiny space atop the pyramids which barely had enough of a crack in the stones for air. They would use indigenous hallucinogens. I think the shamans did the same thing. He says he has the most incredible clarity of mind and connection with the spirituality of the ancients when he is in these caves.
The Maya are the most incredibly complex society I have ever encountered. Thus, I avail myself of people like Helario and some scientists I have come to know (archaeologists, epigraphers – people who de-code glyphs, paleontologists, archaeo-astronomers – real astronomers who study ancient pottery, paintings and glyphs that are ripe with astronomical events which coincided with social events where Mayan tribes would come from hundreds of miles around to commune. The Maya were brilliant at astronomy (predicted eclipses 200 years in advance to the day, built cities and buildings where celestial events lined up perfectly with light going through a small window to illuminate something and more), time keeping (p.s. the Mayan calendar stops December 23, 2012. It began around 3112 BC – none of the scientists feel this is an apocalyptic event), mathematics (their buildings are built on geometrical designs that are dead on perfect to existing geometrical shapes (the 3:4:5 ratio of the interiors of some of their buildings), writing (the world has worked for 70 years to de-code the glyphs. They are about 80% of the way there. The big breakthrough came when one epigrapher realized the glyphs were phonetic more than words). I got hooked on this in 1978 on my first trip to the area to Chichen Itza, one of the top 6 sites around Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize). I felt a “presence” – very subtle but very strong – while at Chichen Itza. The more I read and learn, the more I realize I don’t know. It goes on and on.
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May 30th, 2008 admin
“If we can’t book it – it’s immortal”
After 30 years of booking and producing hundreds of major concert touring stars, Broadway touring musicals and every type of performing arts troupe one can imagine, we still find ourselves thrilled with the next challenge.
We have been honored to have been chosen to produce Jay Leno and Foreigner for a large California corporate concern in Los Angeles in the late Fall of 2008 for 3400 attendees.
Yes, a California corporation hired an Austin producer to handle all elements of this impressive event for a venue in Los Angeles. It ain’t where the producer lives that counts – it’s who he knows and his experience that matters. We’ve produced major events throughout the U.S. and abroad in every venue on the planet.
I’ve worked with Jay Leno twice before he got the Tonight Show gig. By the way, Jay is as nice a guy as you would ever meet beyond being a brilliant comic.
So, one night backstage at the Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas at Austin before a show for a packed house, I noticed Jay’s suit. It had that 1950’s silver sheen to it. I said, “Jay, that’s a great suit”. Jay said, “John, how much do you think I paid for this suit”. Now, I got jittery. If I went low, he might be insulted. If I went high, he might think that I thought he was a rich boy. I tried to pick a middle ground. “$500”, I said. Jay came closer to me and said “I paid $40 for this suit at St. Vincent de Paul”. He wasn’t kidding. He then said, “John, I still can’t believe I have more than 10 cents in my pocket”. He was making a ton of money even before the Tonight Show as he did over 200 concerts a year in those days. But, the memory of the lean years never left him.
It’s moments like this where the humanity of a star comes in to play like a shining beacon of normalcy. The great stars are as human as the next person, even more so. Their on stage persona is one thing and their personal life is another. I have found them to be incredibly genuine as well as consummate professionals and I’ve produced a ton of them.
We did have a sphincter check on this upcoming date. Jay’s contract with the Tonight Show was slated to have ended about two weeks before our event. No one knew what he might do. He could have decided to take a vacation or take some time off with his family and “poof”, no deal. As it turned out, he extended his departure date to some time early in 2009 and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
John Bernardoni
Executive Producer
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