Spot On Entertainment

2009 marks the 100th Birthday of American master Johnny Mercer and music lovers around the world will celebrate all year long. SPOT-ON ENTERTAINMENT is proud to present Broadway and television star Linda Purl and Cabaret Legend Lee Lessack in a powerhouse evening as they sing their way through the heartwarming music of Georgia's favorite son. Lessack and Purl bring Mercer to life weaving heretofore unknown stories with such timeless tunes as Moon River, Autumn Leaves, Black Magic, My Shining Hour, Come Rain or Come Shine and many more.

LEE LESSACK’s graceful lyric baritone vocals and sophisticated yet endearing persona have made him a shining star of the international cabaret scene. Billboard Magazine calls his singing, “Cabaret romanticism of a high order.” Touring extensively in the United States and Europe to sold-out performances and releasing five albums, Lessack has proven himself both as performer and recording artist.
His fifth and most ambitious recording to date is the Bistra Award-Winning, In Good Company, which was released on LML Music last summer. Intimate and impeccably produced, the album beams with outstanding performances featuring duets with such music notables as Michael Feinstein, Maureen McGovern, Amanda McBroom, Ann Hampton Callaway and Stephen Schwartz.
Mr. Lessack, who attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, has also released four other critically acclaimed albums, including a live recording of a 2001 concert tour Too Marvelous For Words: The Songs of Johnny Mercer. “Too Marvelous,” recorded at the famed Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was chosen for the preliminary ballot for 2002 Grammy Awards®.
Other recordings include Mr. Lessack’s self-titled debut solo album, his GLAMA Award®-winning, I Know You By Heart, and the cast recording of An Enchanted Evening: The Music of Broadway.
Mr. Lessack also lends his voice to many philanthropic functions throughout the year including the annual S.T.A.G.E. Benefit in Los Angeles. As a companion to the launch of In Good Company, he will co-produce a live concert, to benefit Operation USA, the 25 year-old international relief organization known for supplying emergency medical supplies and housing to victims of natural disasters at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, CA., July 10th, 2005.
A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Lessack makes his home in Los Angeles, where in 1996 he founded LML Music (www.LMLmusic.com), whose catalog of CDs includes over 70 of the country’s top live recording artists and performers.

Award winning actress and singer Linda Purl was born in Connecticut and raised in Japan; Linda became the only foreigner to train at the Toho Geino Academy. She then continued her studies under the tutelage of Marguerite Beale in England, earning Bronze medals in Speech and Drama from LAMDA. Linda returned to the States to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Lee Strasberg Institute and later with Robert Lewis, an original member of The Group Theatre and co-founder of The Actor's Studio.
Linda's television credits range from "Happy Days" as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's fiancee) to Charlene Matlock on "Matlock" to Joe Mategna's wife on the acclaimed Supreme Court series "First Monday" co starring James Garner. Linda has over 30 television movies credits to her name, such as "Born Free", "The Last Days of Pompeii" (with Sir Laurence Olivier), "The Manions of America" (with Pierce Brosnan), "Like Normal People" the award winning docu-drama about a mentally retarded couple co-starring Shaun Cassidy. Linda's feature film credits include Disney's "Mighty Joe Young", "The Walking Major" (with Toshiro Mifune), "Crazy Mama" (directed by Jonathan Demme) and "Leo and Loree" (produced by Ron Howard).
Stage credits include Broadway: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"; "Getting and Spending"; Off Broadway: "The Baby Dance" (with Stephanie Zimbalist); Off-Off-Broadway: "Hallelujah, Hallelujah!". Regional work: the original production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Dinner With Friends" Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville; "Getting and Spending", The Globe Theatre; "The Road To Mecca" (with Miss Julie Harris), "The Baby Dance", Long Wharf; "John Brown's Body", Lobero Theatre; "Nora" (with Michael York), "All the Way Home' (with Miss Kim Hunter), "The Three Penny Opera" (with Betty Buckley), "The Baby Dance" (also at the Pasadena Playhouse), Williamstown Theatre Festival; "The Real Thing", "Hedda Gabler", Mark Taper Forum Rep; "Beyond Therapy", "Romeo and Juliet", L.A. Public Theatre; "A Doll's House", Allied International Productions; "The Man Who Could See Through Time", South Coast Repertory; "The Merchant of Venice", Globe Theatre; "Grease", Sacramento Music Theatre; "On a Clear Day ", San Bernardino Civic Light Opera; "Fallen Angels", Olney Theatre; "Oliver", "The King and I", Toho Imperial Theatre, Tokyo; "Love Letters" with both Stacey Keach and Desi Arnaz, Jr.; "Tusitala" (with Miss Julie Harris), Berkshire Theatre Festival; "Little Foxes", “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Rubicon Theatre Company; “The Guys”, Berkeley Rep, “Mariana Pineda” Santa Fe Opera.
Linda has received six Dramalogue Best Actress Awards and two Dramalogue Awards as "Best Producer". She has received two Robby Awards for "Best Actress" and is a three time nominee of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Award for "Best Actress". She is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics' Award for "Outstanding Performance in a Play" for her work in "The Baby Dance".
Linda has recorded broadcasts of Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass", "The Odd Couple" with Nathan Lane and "Nora" with the late David Dukes for National Public Radio, also "Milford Haven" (created by her sister Mara Purl) for the BBC II.
Linda has performed her cabaret act at The Rose Tattoo, The Cinegrill, The Gardenia, The Jazz Bakery as well as performed in concert at the Luchman Hall, Los Angeles; White Barn Theatre, Westport, Ct; Toho Imperial Theatre, Tokyo; Pike's Peak Center, Colorado Springs; Town Hall, NYC. Linda's recordings include solo cuts on "George and Ira Gershwin: A Musical Celebration", "Cole Porter: A Musical Toast", "Adler, Bloch, Coleman", "A Hollywood Christmas" and her solo album "Alone Together". Her new live in concert CD is “Out of This World (live)” with special Guest Artist Desi Arnaz, Jr. on LML music label. The CD offers a rich combination of standards and contemporary choices which transports the listener to the excitement of the concert hall.
She is an Associate Artist of the American National Theatre, co-founder and served as Founding Executive Director of the Colorado Festival for World Theatre and is Festival Director of the Rubicon International Theatre Festival.

Much A Deux About Mercer - San Francisco Examiner Review

"The BEST male cabaret singer to come along since Michael Feinstein."
-Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

"A riveting performance that touches every emotional chord."
-Washington Blade

"Impeccable selection of songs, superb phrasing, a cumulative effect that guarantees a smile on every listener’s face. Ample quantities of warmth, joy and intelligence. RARE, SUPERB, and thoroughly enjoyable!"
-Rex Reed

"His tone is remarkable; He floats phrases in a sort of half-whisper, his dusky tenor rippling with just a touch of vibrato."
-Daryl Miller, LA Times

"A superior vocalist, whose perfect phrasing, tonal purity, and fluent, whisper-soft tenor place him in the category of singers in cabaret whose voices should be heard by wider audiences."
-John Hoglund, BackStage

"A highly skilled song interpreter."
-Playbill Magazine

"There is a touching purity to his voice. This is romanticism of a high order"
Paul Verna, Billboard Magazine

"This is a beguiling album, full of charm and freshness. One that will only enhance Lessack’s already enviable reputation as one of the best singers around."
-Cabaret Showcase, London

"This disc further establishes the singer, who blends a smooth sound with a striking emotional honesty, as one of the most moving song interpreters in the world."
-Andrew Gans, Playbill Magazine

"It is not just his crystalline, easily produced sound, or his immaculate phrasing, or his sensitivity to the lyrics that makes it happen, it is Lessack’s complete connection with the soul of a song and his ability to carefully share that soul like a delicate gift with the listener that makes the experience deliriously dangerous. All at once you feel like crying and laughing and hugging yourself with joy as you should in the presence of any truly talented artist.”
-Cabaret Hotline

Lee Lessack Biography

Linda Purl Biography

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