Actor, Singer, Voiceover Artist
s.a.g.-a.f.t.r.a., a.e.a.
National Press Club; Public Relations Society of America
Television Internet Video Association (TIVA)
Mobile Telephone:
(202) 486-2000
Electronic Mail Address:
ChristieStarley@gmail.com
I am still in the clouds over the big band entertainment I was lucky enough to experience one New Year's Eve. It was the most fun I have ever had in my entire life on New Year's Eve and that includes New York City and Caracas, Venezuela among other places of the 43 countries and 34 states I've worked in. I've got to tell you about it and cannot stop rhapsodizing about it.
What I want to share is that I absolutely swooned when I found out that this wasn't the end of it because the orchestra was booked at the Carlyle Club in Alexandria for every Friday. Since I was two years old and would watch old movies mesmerized and wistfully wished I could have been around in the big band era and now my dream came true!
As a member of the National Press Club I decided to go to their New Year's Eve party (December 31st, 2009/January 01st, 2010) when I discovered that Doc Scantlin and His Imperial Palms Orchestra would be the entertainment. Doc Scantlin turned out to be the most animated orchestra leader I'd ever seen in movies or real life. He wore tails and spats and his hairstyle is exactly as they wore in those days. The authenticity was amazing...even his lingo, such as "ducky darlings".
Among other things he did heidee-ho renditions of Cab Calloway (Cab Calloway's grandson, also an orchestra leader, is friend of Doc and his great admirer). The gorgeous blonde lead singer, ChouChou, has a Marilyn Monroe delivery with a Betty Boop voice. Among the songs were Glenn Miller- and Benny Goodman-type things such as Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy From Company B (when I heard the the opening bars to that I went totally nuts) and Chattanooga Choo Choo, etc.
The backup singers, called "The Girlfriends", do a floor show, including the Can-Can and a Carmen Miranda-type Conga line. Chou Chou and they do around 11 different costume changes. The costumes are gorgeous and all are designed and handmade by the versatilely talented Chou Chou, who is also gorgeous. (And her figure-eight figure is real! No implants.)
The attendees at the Press Club were a very sophisticated group and they ate it all up. The atmosphere became incredible: the warmth and camaraderie which the band engendered among all of us was absolutely beautiful and fabulously fun.
I was in heaven. My date, a very dear friend who is a Broadway actor and veteran of countless Broadway musicals as well as of motion pictures, t.v. and commercials, was equally impressed, and you know how hard it is to impress a pro. When I researched Doc Scantlin and Chou Chou on New Year's Day I found out that they'd entertained all over the world, including in London at a royal wedding attended by over 117 members of Europe's royal families. No wonder their talent bowled me and everyone else over at the Press Club.
Doc also has a jazz ensemble, called the Palmettos, in addition to his full orchestra, and they've performed, among other venues, at the world-famous Blues Alley in Georgetown D.C.
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