Anita Gillette and Harold Sanditen

“Harold and Broad” join forces in a transatlantic celebration
of fun, friendship…and two significant birthdays

October 10, 2016

By Fiona Coffey for Cabaret Scenes

Interviewing Anita Gillette and Harold Sanditen about their new show is like being transported into a glamorous cocktail party in full swing. We may be alone in our respective abodes, connected by Skype early in a New York day for Anita and 2:30 pm on a chilly London afternoon for Harold. But we could just as easily be standing in a crowded room nursing a martini, as the pair exchange showbiz tales and anecdotes, collapse with laughter at each other’s jokes, and talk excitedly about the prospect of entertaining New York and London audiences this autumn as Harold and Broad.

The pretext for this first joint project between screen and Broadway legend Anita Gillette and talented cabaret and jazz vocalist Harold Sanditen, best known in London as host of the uber-popular Crazy Coqs Open Mic Night, is that they both have “significant birthdays” in 2016. The two are hilariously coy about which significant birthdays these are, given that they openly reference the songs chosen for each of their birth years. Curious audiences may look up “Just in Time” and “Let Yourself Go” and simply do the math. But the real reason for their show would seem to be a natural progression of the friendship Gillette and Sanditen enjoy, underpinned by mutual respect for the contribution each brings to this particular party.

Harold met Anita after reviewing her award-winning debut cabaret show After All in October 2012, for this very publication. One lunch later, they declared “like at first sight.” As Anita explains, “We hit it off; we laughed and felt similarly about a lot of things.
https://www.parkviewortho.com/wp-content/languages/new/amoxil.html

Then we realized that both of us are Leos and our birth dates are just three days apart.” So what exactly do they have in common? “We’re both detail-oriented, we both like to shine, we both like to be in charge.” Harold quickly interjects: “Except I’m a fire Leo and I’m always going to win— according to the Chinese Horoscope.” Both descend into laughter.
https://www.parkviewortho.com/wp-content/languages/new/temovate.html

Since that first lunch, Gillette supported Sanditen as he developed his cabaret career, having spent many successful years as a London-based theater producer. Harold takes up the story. “She met my parents, she came to The Pheasantry when I did the live recording of Shades of Blue. She schlepped down to a horrible place in Clapham on a hot Saturday. That was hell. I was performing a song and I’d never been so sweaty in my whole life…” Anita rejoins: “But let me tell you, Harold, your ass moved just as good as it always does. Even in that heat.” More laughter.

When Sanditen toured his show Flyin’ High in the U.S., Gillette duetted with him on the number “Let’s Eat Home” in New York. They both agreed it was a blast. And when someone at dinner afterwards casually suggested they do a show together, “we looked at each other and it was like ‘seed planted.’” In spring this year, Anita called Harold to remind him of their milestone birthdays and challenged him to make the joint show happen.

The result, Harold and Broad, is a hand-picked selection of favorite songs illuminated by the funny stories both Gillette and Sanditen—as self-confessed “laugh whores”—love to tell. Gillette’s extraordinary show business career, spanning a debut in the original production of Gypsy with Ethel Merman in 1960 to playing opposite Richard Gere in Shall We Dance? in 2004, is the source of some very classy showbiz anecdotes indeed. She regaled me with tales of encounters with Irving Berlin and President and Lady Bird Johnson in our conversation, and it’s safe to say that audiences of Harold and Broad will enjoy similar treats.

Directed by Barry Kleinbort, Harold and Broad has two musical directors: Paul Greenwood in New York and Naom Galperin in London, something Gillette acknowledges has taken some adjustment. She and Greenwood enjoy the unspoken communication of a long-term collaborative partnership, whereas Galperin is working with both Sanditen and Gillette for the first time, bringing fresh energy and new arrangements for many of the joint numbers. And a transatlantic partnership and show schedule is not without its challenges. Rehearsals must be organized on both sides of the pond, the pair must work in short, intensive bursts with long gaps between, and adapt the show’s length to meet the different demands of New York and London-based cabaret venues. But Gillette and Sanditen take all this in their stride, enjoying the strengths and talents they find in each other.

For Sanditen, not only is there the thrill of working with somebody of Gillette’s stature and track record, but also new insights gained from her different ways of working in rehearsals. “She needs to see music on a chart; I’m much more aural. I’ve always known how to read music, but I’ve never found a reason why I needed to.
https://www.parkviewortho.com/wp-content/languages/new/levaquin.html

Now, I find it makes a huge difference when we’re harmonizing together and, by the way, I think we sound really good together.” Anita agrees. She adds that, alongside Sanditen’s talents as a vocalist and cabaret artist, she admires his “pizzazz in getting the word out. He’s really gung-ho and it’s great to have a partner in crime with all that energy. He knows a lot about putting on a show. And I love his cooking.”

But what comes through most strongly in conversation is the fun these two Leos are having in working together. Their laughter is infectious. This, combined with what we can already expect from their solo shows, makes Harold and Broad a delightful and entertaining prospect for their New York and London audiences.

Harold and Broad opens in NYC at the Metropolitan Room – October 23 – 24, with dates at Don’t Tell Mama December 3 & 10. They are at London’s The Pheasantry November 1-3; January 27 -28