Fewer people can read about nuptials quite like Julie Halston. On the page alone, the Vogue piece is so unbelievably over the top that one might think it fiction. Throw in Halston’s inimitable delivery and it becomes a uniquely precious comedy jewel.
Last week, the four time MAC and one time Tony award winner was on hand at midtown’s Birdland Jazz Club to read the wedding announcement and amuse the audience with other observations about snail cream, Joan Crawford, and a visit to a nude beach. Last fall Halston played the venue. With sold-out attendance, she was encouraged to return.
Halston has been a mainstay in the New York theater landscape since the eighties, when she worked with Charles Busch and other prominent downtown artists. Since then, she’s appeared on Broadway numerous times and in 2021, she was honored with a Tony Award for her work in raising awareness for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Her late husband passed from complications of the disease. Since then, she’s met another gentleman and used her experience about finding him on a dating app in her act.
Dressed in a befittingly bright pink suit to match her vibrant personality, Halston kept the sold-out crowd in stiches and ended the night with her signature piece, a letter to Ann Landers about drugs and tanning salons.
Birdland will host other prominent Broadway personalities this month, including Melissa Errico and Funny Girl star Julie Benko.
For tickets and information, visit Birdland Jazz.