I’ve been on a bit of a music break since the summer fundraisers in Ontario. The talent that played was great, the audiences were wonderful Thanks again to my great friends who took part, including Noah Zacharin, Jon Travis, Evan Palazzo, Jeff Kahl, Greg Bie and the rest of the performers. Also, to my good friends Ted Knapp and May Pang for their help with the great items we had at the silent auction, and the charity people – Rebecca Lewellyn of the Children’s Aid Foundation, Jade DeSisco of The Sick Kids Foundation, and Jill Osborne of The Children’s Health Foundation.
I’m look forward to producing a similar event this December, here in New York City. I’m pleased to officially announce that on Saturday, Dec. 19th at 7:00 we will be taking over the second floor of the Slattery’s. The Preston and Friends Holiday Benefit for Children’s will once again feature some of the best indie talent from New York, Toronto and other colorful places. More details to follow next month. We will also be returning to Toronto in 2010 for another fundraiser for the Children’s Aid and Sick Kid Foundations as well.
I will be performing this Saturday, Oct. 10, in Bergen County, NJ. My friends Pete and Bernie DeMaio will once again be hosting their Music in the Yard – Food Bank Drive in Little Falls, NJ. The address is 2 Elm Street, Little Falls. The show starts at 2 PM and will run until 8 PM. I’ll be going on some time after 3, and will be playing a set with Pete and Lenny (they were bass and drummer for the May show in NYC). It’s a great cause and if you come, we request you bring your own chair, refreshments, and food items.
Also, I’ll be posting some new videos this week to my website You can see and here me on http://www.PrestonsBeat.com under the music section. When they are posted, I’ll send out a brief note.
Broadcasting notes. May Pang has a talk radio show podcast this Friday, Oct. 9th at 11:00. Dinner Specials with May Pang and Cynthia Nielson premieres on the anniversary of John Lennon’s birthday. May will be talking about her personal experiences with John and The Beatles, and will have guests as well, including Chris O’Dell, who has just written MISS O’DELL: My Hard Days and Long Nights with the Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved. The show will be on BlogTalkRadio.com and you can click on this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/maypang/2009/10/10/Dinner-Specialsserving-it-up-with-May-Pang-and-Cyn.
Other performance notes – I’m producing Coming Home, a two performance show featuring alumni from my high school , Ridgefield Memorial High , sometime in the spring. The performances will be raising money for the Alumni Scholarship Fund, of which I’ve had the pleasure of working with on several events and was founded by dear friend Michele Petrillo. They just had a Boot Camp fundraiser with fitness celebrity, former RMHS alumni and neighbor of mine, Rocco Castellano, several weeks ago and their next event is a NY Giants football party on Nov. 1. Rock on Michele – keep up the great work!
Other notes. I’m producing my first major play for the ACC – Wait Until Dark, which will run from Nov. 2 thru Nov. 14. Tickets are not available as the ACC is a private theater club and attendance is by invitation only, but of course if you are a friend of mine and would like to attend, just give me a shout – just know that seating is very limited! It’s a very tense murder and we hired an excellent director for the show, Andrea Andresakis, a seasoned director and choreographer who was also in the original Fame film, as well as the series.
And finally, I’ll be in the UK for ten days in late November and will be playing at some various places yet to be named. Looking forward to chilling, playing, traveling the country, and catching a good scrum (rugby reference) aswell!
And one final, final note – Thanks to all my longtime friends for coming out the RMHS Class of ‘79 30 Year Reunion. It was truly remarkable to once again to be among so many longtime friends and many who I had not seen it at least 30 years. And to my dearest of friends, Joann Riggi, for putting this whole thing together. It was the gathering of a lifetime, and a weekend we will always remember!
That’s all for now my friends!
Peace and love,
Mark Preston
www.PrestonsBeat.com
www.PrestonForKids.com
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Preston and Friends Holiday Benefit for The New York Foundling Hospital and The Children’s Aid Foundation