It’s been more than four decades since supergroup ABBA closed the curtain on its touring years.

Those willing to voyage to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London can see the band perform digitally in a new hologram concert.

Or you can just head over to MGM Northfield Park on Jan. 5 to see MANIA: The ABBA Tribute to relive ABBA magic for a fraction of the cost.

Over the last two years, MANIA — a popular tribute band that’s been touring the globe since 1999 — had an 80-date sell-out tour across the country.

In the new year, the band is on tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s breakthrough single, “Waterloo,” the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest-winning single.

In a recent phone interview, vocalist Alison Ward, who portrays Agnetha Fältskog in the tribute act, points out that last year’s Eurovision winner was from Sweden.

“So, ironically, this year, 2024, it’ll be held in Sweden, and it’ll be 50 years since ABBA won with ‘Waterloo.’ So I’m thinking it’s going to be an epic Eurovision song contest in 2024,” she says excitedly.

Ward geeks out about ABBA things like this, which makes sense. She joined the tribute band in 2010 and explains that portraying Fältskog takes a lot more than throwing on a blonde wig and layering sequins.

“We do put on the Swedish accent,” says the native of Liverpool, England, speaking in her thick scouse accent. I don’t know if I’ve nailed it to a T, but I’ve given it a good go.”

Naturally, Ward is also a Beatles fan. (She even attended Penny Lane Nursery School.)

“Paul McCartney grew up on the street just off of my parents’ (street), so when you go on a Beatles tour in England, you pass basically by my childhood home, too,” she says. “So being around Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, yeah, I’ve always been a Beatles girl, but I don’t know anyone who isn’t really. You have to love the Beatles. It’s like ABBA.”

Ward grew up singing, but she studied math instead of music.

“I was a maths geek in school. And then, my mom and dad gave me the go-ahead to go and do what I wanted. So, post-university, I’ve been singing ever since.”

She says joining MANIA was her first big gig.

“Mom and Dad wanted me to use the maths degree, but I picked the ABBA show, and I’ve been with them ever since.”

That is, with the exception of a two-year break she took to perform as a solo act on cruise ships worldwide.

Ward also performed as lead vocalist in a show at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

She eventually rejoined the ABBA act, saying she missed it despite its physical demands.

“I give it my all,” she says. “It takes me a lot of energy to get it out every night because it’s, like, a two-and-a-half-hour show and I never leave. We have an intermission, but I’m on the whole time. So it’s a workout, and I have been doing it all this time.”

She explains that this band’s choreography is more involved than ABBA’s, which adds to the workload.

“To be honest, ABBA back then was very minimal with the moves, and they’re very simple with the performance,” she says.

The band adds their own choreography to keep their crowds hyped and dancing the whole time.

“Most people in the audience are there because they’re ABBA fans. Some people have been roped in with family and friends, but I know that by the end of it, everyone’s happy singing, dancing, joining in,” she says.

Ward says one of her favorite memories is her experience meeting her youngest fan, who was just a baby at the time.

The parents showed their baby the band’s performances via YouTube videos before eventually taking her to the show at just 15 months old.

“She was in a sparkly outfit that matched us. I’d never met this family and didn’t know them, but they just wanted her to come because she’d been watching our YouTube (videos),” Ward says. “And then it was just so cute to meet them backstage, and they were just so grateful. ‘They were like, ‘You’ll always be (her) first concert.’”

Ward says no matter the age, everyone comes and leaves the show feeling great.

“We have a lot of fun. It’s high energy. It’s a big party on and off stage. Everyone’s just having an absolute blast.”

MANIA: The ABBA Tribute

When: Jan. 5.

Where: MGM Northfield Park, 10777 Northfield Road, Northfield.

Tickets: Starting at $24.

Info: mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts.com or 330-908-7625.

Santa Claus’ principal toy-maker, an elf named Endorfin, has been found dead — a suspicious death by bathtub electrocution.

Endorfin not only had an excessive amount of Viagra in his system, but he was also the guy recently peddling the prescription drug across the North Pole.

Claus is understandably depressed.

He’s also a suspect in this probable homicide.

Anyone who wants to take a stab at solving this merry murder-mystery — “The Elf Who Knew Too Much” — should grab their ugliest Christmas sweater and meet at the Music Box Supper Club in Cleveland on Dec. 1 or 9.

Mark McClenathan of Akron, owner and producer of Get Away With Murder Inc., has produced murder-mystery parties across Ohio and around the country for nearly three decades.

In a recent phone interview, McClenathan says the company’s mission is to make people laugh and have fun.

“People want to laugh and have a good time,” he says. “And secondly, they really like solving a puzzle.”

McClenathan, who holds a degree in music theater from Wittenberg University in Springfield, says he’s been on stage since he was 4.

Although his primary role is producing the parties, he says he occasionally jumps into acting roles for some of his shows.

His love of theater kept his mystery business going through tough times, including the 2008 recession and, more recently, the pandemic.

While McClenathan’s company has plenty of local competition, he says his stands apart thanks to its collaborative system.

“We are the most participatory mystery company because most companies are built around the format of hiring actors to play all of the roles in a mystery,” McClenathan says. “Well, we make it more like a live-action ‘Clue’ game.”

McClenathan says his crew usually consists of three actors, and the rest of the roles, typically about a dozen in the story, are played by audience members. That doesn’t mean the audience needs to come dressed for their possible role.

“We invite people to dress up in costume if they want, but we also have accessories,” McClenathan says.

The Music Box is encouraging guests to wear an ugly Christmas sweater for this particular party, and the best will win prizes.

Your ticket price covers admission to the murder-mystery and a three-course meal at a total fixed price (tax and tip are automatically added to your total).

If you’re selected to participate in this North Pole fantasy, it may turn out that the culprit is you, but it won’t be revealed (not even to you) until the very end of the show.

As you can guess from the elf’s Viagra use, this party has adult themes, so it’s best to leave the kids at home.

As for some of McClenathan’s other parties, he says they’re usually fine for kids at least 10 to 12 years and up.

“If you get much younger than that, they really don’t quite understand it,” he says. “Say ‘blackmail,’ for instance — a lot of younger kids don’t understand what that means. You know, if you say, ‘Are you blackmailing somebody?’ They have no clue what you’re talking about.”

McClenathan has about three dozen stories to choose from if you decide to work with him for a party of your own.

That number doesn’t include a new format that he put together during the pandemic called “Mystery Game Show.”

“We try to match the needs of what the customer has in mind and try to just have a great party where people can laugh and have a good time,” McClenathan adds.

Murder Mystery Dinner Party: ‘The Elf Who Knew Too Much’

Presenter: Get Away With Murder Inc.

When: 8 p.m. Dec. 1 and Dec. 9.

Where: Music Box Supper Club, 1148 Main Ave., Cleveland.

Tickets: $49.50, general admission; table reservations required.

Info: 216-242-1250 or musicboxcle.com.

In a recent phone interview, the comedian, television host and six-time New York Times best-selling author explains why her middle name is also her personal mission.

Handler also pulls back the curtain on her childhood — the thesis of her current stand-up tour, “Little Big Bitch” which stops by Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre on Oct. 20.

Q The press release says this tour shows people how you turned into the person you are today. Have even diehard Handler fans learned something new from this set?

A Yes. It’s more like my childhood story and my coming-of-age story to explain to people that this didn’t just happen. I didn’t become this person. I was born this way, and it’s not my fault.

I was born into a family who made me realize I was going to have to get serious real quick, real fast, about my hustle because I was not into what they were throwing down. I wanted a big fancy life. I grew up watching “The Brady Bunch” with the six kids, the parents and Alice. I wanted to know where Alice was and why they were holding me back.

I wanted a different lifestyle, and I immediately just turned into a businesswoman at a very, very young age. So I tell all of my kind of coming-of-age stories from ages 3 to 13 and the outlandishness of the things that.

I mean, I had my own babysitting company when I was 10, posing as a 15-year-old, babysitting for children that were older than me.

Q What do you think about when people feel disappointed when some comedians only tell a half-true story on stage?

A Well, listen, there’s always an element of exaggeration, but … I mean, the stories I’ve told in my books and my stand-up are so outlandish because they’re true. Of course, everyone exaggerates for a punchline here or there. But I take issue with completely making up scenarios that never happened to you.

That’s not comedy. I mean, that’s just not the way it is. So, while we all take some liberties, clearly, I feel like I would never want people to not rely on me for the truth. That’s why I’ve become successful. That’s what I’m known for. So I take it pretty seriously, the stories I’m telling.

Q The promotional photo for this tour is a childhood photo of you. How old are you in that photo?

A I think that’s like 8 or 9. The whole show in the beginning, while people are being seated, is a slide show of all my childhood photos.

People understand what happened and how quickly it happened. By the time I was 7, I was like 35.

Q What would that little girl at 8 or 9 think about who you turned into today?

A Listen, I’m not going to pretend my life isn’t a dream because it is a dream. And I have all of the people who have given me a career to thank for that. I’m so incredibly grateful. I’m in a place in my life where that gratitude is ebullient, and it’s very obvious to anyone who’s around me and every show I do. So I’m pretty psyched about my life (laughs).

It is very important for me to have fun while I work and also to take time to myself to enjoy all of the riches that this life has given me and to share with all the people I love and many people that I’ll never meet.

But to always be generous and to be kind — that’s who I wanted to be when I was a little girl, and that is who I am today. To be able to go and perform for thousands of people in a live audience brings me so much joy.

Q At one point, you stepped away from stand-up for six years. Is stand-up something you think you’ll always return to, no matter what other projects you have going on?

A I hope so. I mean, I took a long break from it because I didn’t feel like I had that much to contribute. And I think I was scared, I guess.Once you get away for a while, you’re like, can I do this again? But this time around, it’s been even better than when I started. I’m just so excited to perform. I’m not annoyed. You know what I mean?

I set it up in a way where I’m never like, ‘Oh, no, I have a show tonight. It’s like, let’s get off stage. I can’t wait.’ I used to get off stage at exactly an hour. Now I’m on stage for an hour and a half, and I don’t want to get off. So my whole attitude has changed. I had a big attitude adjustment many years ago, and it works.

Everyone has a better time.

‘More Than Loud,’ comic Orny Adams blustering into Agora Theatre in Cleveland

Q What brought on that attitude adjustment, if you don’t mind my asking?

A Oh, therapy, the gift of self-awareness, the understanding of what vibes do you want to put out there? Do you want to put out happiness? Do you want people to feel better after they interact with you? Do you want them to feel worse? How can you spread joy and sunshine? My middle name is Joy. So I have to take that word very seriously.

Q You’re a large voice for child-free people. What kind of feedback do you get from fans who are also child-free?

A Listen, we’re not represented. So when people are like, “All right, we get it, You don’t like children.” It’s like, “No, I don’t dislike children. I’m just saying we have many choices as women, and they don’t all have to be these ideas of being married and having babies.”

There’s so much happiness to be found in other ways. And if (having children is) not for you, then there’s nothing to be ashamed about. So I’m celebrating the freedom that comes with making the decision to be childless and carefree and not feeling like I have to be married to have value. That doesn’t even occur to me. You know what I mean?

I’m not ever going to get married — I’m sure now that I said that, I will — but those are not my priorities. My priorities are to have a great time to make sure people that don’t feel seen and heard feel seen and heard when I come into contact with them and to bring laughter. There is no better feeling than having an audience sitting there and gut-laughing at your stories. And my stories are personal and real and true.

In this set, I share a very personal story about Andrew Cuomo. I share a very personal story about Woody Allen — my interactions with both of these men — and one with George W. Bush, the former president. And they’re all real, and they’re all absolutely ridiculous.

Q Does negative feedback from political pundits about your lifestyle ever get to you?

A It kind of motivates me more. Whenever anybody tells me not to do something, the child in me is like,’ OK, well, let me do it one more time then.’ So for people to be so upset and to have such an outcry and response to my videos when I do them and they go viral, it’s so laughable that anyone would take issue. Like all of the men that have an issue with women not procreating certainly don’t want someone like me procreating, so they should be grateful.

Q Have you found that the comedy landscape has changed since former President Donald Trump left office?

A Yeah, there’s just a lot more happiness around. It’s just lighter and freer, and it’s so not focused on that anymore.

Q So you don’t feel pressure to talk about him or to talk about that stuff anymore at this point?

A No, I want people to have a great experience at my show. So this tour isn’t political. This is very personal and fun. And there’s no troubles. I don’t even want to waste my breath discussing him any further.

Q Your personality allows you a certain level of honesty and realness with people. Why do you think it is that you’re able to get away with shooting straight with people while many people cannot pull it off?

A I like that. I mean, you know, I think that’s what makes me have success is my truthfulness. And I’m not ashamed about anything. I think it’s good to hang your dirty laundry out so other people know that they’re not the only ones that have it.

It’s very easy for me to be myself. So I don’t have any pretense — there’s no pretending. What you see is what you get. This is what I’m like on stage, on camera and in real life. It’s all very consistent.

Chelsea Handler

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 20.

Where: Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Tickets: $35.00-$125.

Info: 216-241-6000 or playhousesquare.org.

In a recent phone interview, Benson, Akron resident and faux John Lennon, explains how he’s kept one of the most popular regional Beatles tribute acts on the road for nearly four decades.

“Yeah, this whole thing is kind of my fault,” he laughs about starting his band, 1964 The Tribute, which on Sept. 22 plays at the Lorain Palace Theater.

“When we started this thing, there was no tribute industry. So we thought, ‘This is gonna be a Baby Boomer thing, and we’re gonna do an oldies party at a class reunion about once every six months just in Akron, Ohio,’” Benson says.

A brief period of time proved him very wrong.

He says by the group’s second year, they were able to go full-time, leaving their “regular” jobs behind.

“There wasn’t any age group that didn’t like this,” he says about the audience.

For nine years, they played coast-to-coast at colleges across America and Canada.

“We were the perfect ‘parents’ weekend’ band,” he laughs about their college years.

From there, the band started performing at arts centers before hitting Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, one of Benson’s favorite venues.

Eventually, the band began performing at New York City’s historic Carnegie Hall, where The Beatles played during their first year in America in 1964. (You can see where the band got its name.)

“We’re going back there (Carnegie Hall) (in) February for the 60th anniversary of The Beatles performing there,” Benson says. “I said, ‘Call Paul and Ringo — they haven’t been back in 60 years.’”

Benson hasn’t met the remaining Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr yet, but he says he knows the latter has seen his band perform before.

“He tends to come in after the lights go down and leave before the lights come back on because he doesn’t wanna steal attention — if anybody knows he’s there, then nobody’s paying attention to the show,” he says.

If you’ve never seen their show, you should know the group focuses on The Beatles’ touring years only. Why? For starters, it helps to narrow down The Beatles’ hefty catalog.

“We choose from ‘Revolver’ and before — the first seven American releases. There’s such a wealth of music in those seven albums. It’s just ungodly.”

Plus, he points out that it was a particularly exciting time to be a fan when The Beatles were still on stage.

The band has chose not to include screens or other multimedia elements in their shows.

“Back in the day, when you heard a song, you got to interpret what it meant. Now video is hard to separate from a song,” he says.

Benson is the last original member of the group, so he’s brought in new members over the years.

“I tell everybody that comes into this band, ‘This is an easy gig; we only have to be as good as The Beatles,” he laughs.

Though he needs to bring in an occasional new face, they stick around as long as they can.

“We’ve got people that, when we first met them, weren’t married, and now they’re bringing grandchildren to the shows. It’s incredible.”

Benson says while the traveling aspect of his job can get tiresome, the music keeps the band motivated.

“I think the music has kept us all in good physical health and young of mind to keep doing this,” he says.

Lucky for him, he chose to impersonate one of the world’s most universally loved bands, keeping him booked and busy.

“Everybody says once the Baby Boomers die, this will be over with, but I don’t see that,” he says.

He points to “Get Back,” the eight-hour Beatles docuseries released on Disney+ last year.

“It was hugely successful,” Benson says. “Name one other band from the ’60s that has that kind of pull even to this day.”

He also gives credit to current and new tribute artists, who he says strengthen the industry.

“There’s a 19-year-old kid in Nashville who taught himself left-handed and is playing in tribute bands as Paul McCartney. There’s a whole new generation of young guys who are so into this. So I don’t see it slowing down.”

“There’s almost no kind of Beatles show you can put together that people won’t wanna see.”

1964 The Tribute

When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22.

Where: Lorain Palace Theater, 617 Broadway.

Tickets: $39 to $69.

Info: lorainpalace.org or 440-245-2323.

The magician slash funnyman is known to pull out shaving cream on stage, lathering up his face and body to masquerade as various creatures — of both the cute and creepy variety.

But, according to him, Carbonaro is not sure exactly what kind of magical mischief his fans can expect from his magic-and-comedy shows Aug. 17 through 19 at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre in Cleveland.

“I’m really looking forward to surprising myself with what I do, so I don’t have a complete setlist even together yet with what it’s gonna be,” he says. “I think that’s part of the fun.”

His little-to-no-plan plan speaks to the high level of comfort and skill the 47-year-old pro has achieved in his lifelong career in magic.

Perhaps you’ve seen Carbonaro’s baby face on TruTV’s “The Carbonaro Effect,” which he executive-produced and ran for more than 100 episodes.

The popular hidden-camera magic TV show is still in syndication worldwide and streaming on Max.

Though the prank show, in which Carbonaro describes as himself as the “Ashton Kutcher of the magic world,” could have kept going, he says — that it was his call to pull the plug.

“I had all these ideas for what I wanted to do with it, and I did all of those ideas and way beyond,” he says.

“You just sort of feel it,” he continues. “I wanna end on a high note. I don’t wanna keep dragging this out for as long as they’ll have me. I needed to look into other projects to do. So I made a conscious decision to end it.”

Although he says he wouldn’t say no to exploring how the show may return one day, he has other big ideas to pull out of his hat first. One of these ideas, he says, is an experiential show called “Hotel Carbonaro,” which takes place within the confines of, yes, a hotel.

“Kind of like a magic muppet show where there’s a live show going on and people from the audience are brought into different rooms for different happenings — and it’s awesome,” Carbonaro says.

He’s pitching this idea around but adds it’s not an ideal time in Hollywood, as “everything’s frozen and crazy” at the moment.

Carbonaro’s willing to be patient until the right deal comes along, something that matches his artistic vision.

“I always have to remember … when I was out there pitching a hidden-camera show, I had an offer from a network. And right out the gate, I had no other prospects but the (one) offer,” he says.

The problem, Carbonaro says, is they were not seeing him as the complete host and wanted him to sign a contract that didn’t allow him the kind of control he felt comfortable with, so he passed on it.

“And that was, like, when there was nothing else on the horizon,” he says. “I just said, ‘Nope, this isn’t what I want it to be. I’m not gonna do that.’ Then TruTV came along, and they totally got it, and I got all the control and got to really develop that show and build it to the way I wanted it.”

So now, when he thinks about a new show, he wants that same feeling. — “the feeling of, ‘It needs to be right, and I’ll know when it’s right.’ I don’t want to go digging around, just taking any opportunity. I try to remember that every day.”

Plus, waiting patiently is a little easier when you’re as busy as Carbonaro.

Aside from his various tours around the country, Carbonaro recently has established a presence in Las Vegas. Long-time magic duo act Penn & Teller asked him to take over their theater for a limited engagement. It’s something they’ve never asked another magician to do, and they’ve asked him to do it twice.

“You know, you shouldn’t move through life seeking or needing validation, but it really is nice when you get it,” Carbonaro says.

Although it’s a major feather in his cap, Carbonaro says he doesn’t think the takeovers made many other magicians all that envious.

“Aside from a select few, it’s a really wonderful group of people who are extremely supportive. The feedback’s been really great, so I’m always pleasantly surprised about how wonderful people are,” Carbonaro says about the magic community.

Carbonaro says coming from Vegas to smaller clubs across the country, such as Hilarities,for this comedy-magic tour is something of an adventure. It gives him freedom to play with an act that’s a hybrid of comedy and magic, he says, and also allows him to pull off more complex stunts, thanks to smaller room sizes.

“Sometimes you have much better control of misdirection when people are closer,” he says. “It’s almost like in life when people are like, ‘Hey, back up, take a look at the whole picture.’

He adds with a laugh, “In this case, you can’t.”

Michael Carbonaro

When: Aug. 17 through 19.

Where: Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, 2035 E. Fourth St., Cleveland.

Tickets: $40 for general admission, $135 for VIP meet-and-greet.

Info: pickwickandfrolic.com or 216-241-7425.

In a recent phone interview ahead of a show set for July 15 at the Lorain Palace Theatre, Carl Palmer says he won’t stop until he’s toured the show all around the world.

As the sole surviving member of one of the best-selling rock bands birthed in the 1970s, Palmer needed to get creative to bring the best version of band’s music on the road. He wanted to create a production that would feel authentic to the memory and talent of his late bandmates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, who died just nine months apart in 2016.

“The actual feeling of it (the show) is fantastic because it’s from the point of view that I’m actually playing with Greg and Keith as if they were there,” Palmer says. “This is as close as you can get.”

The recipe for this digital reunion includes some film the band made from a sold-out run at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1992, mixed with sterling audio tracks from their performances, plus an onstage performance from Palmer’s band.

“This is Greg and Keith on film on huge screens on each side of the stage and one downstage. This is basically them at their very best,” Palmer says.

He adds that the sound quality is “perfect” because the audio was recorded separately.

His band features Paul Bielatowicz on lead guitar and Simon Fitzpatrick on the Chapman stick.

He says you can expect hits such as “Hoe Down,” “Tarkus” and more.

“This is something that both of the guys would have absolutely loved. It’s technology at its very best, and its real, its honest, it’s to the point, and most of all, it’s them — it’s not a hologram,” he says.

At first, Palmer toyed with the idea of using holograms for these shows, viewing some options in Los Angeles and Canada, but says it ultimately didn’t feel like the most honest way to portray his friends.

“It was a bit spooky, you know?” he says. “I noticed when I moved around the theater from different angles, the holograms looked different. They were OK, but it wasn’t the way I would want to do it, and it wasn’t the way I think Greg and Keith would have liked to be represented.”

It may seem difficult to play the original music without your original bandmates, but Palmer says he worked through the emotions during the several weeks it took him to edit the film ahead of the tour.

“By the time I (started) played the shows last November, it was down to business and ‘Let’s have some fun,’” he says.

Dubbed “The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer,” the tour launched late last year with full approval of the Emerson and Lake estates.

Palmer says it didn’t take any arm-twisting to convince the families to give their blessings to the tour.

“The families are totally behind this particular concert,” he says. “It seemed to be the most honest way we could actually portray Greg and Keith appearing as they are, as they were, as the best they could have ever been.”

“This is technology at its very best,” Palmer says.

‘The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’

When: 7:30 p.m. July. 15.

Where: Lorain Palace Theatre, 617 Broadway.

Tickets: $40 to $60, with VIP add-on available.

Info: lorainpalace.org or 440-245-2323.

In a recent phone interview, former “made man” and capo for New York’s Columbo crime family Michael Franzese describes what it was like leaving the mafia without witness protection.

He also discusses the mafia story of his late father, Sonny Franzese, and teases some of what he’ll share about Cleveland’s historic mob ties ahead of his appearance June 24 at the Lorain Palace Theater for a presentation of “Michael Franzese’s A Mob Story.”

“There’s a lot of treachery in that life,” Franzese says, referring to the mafia. “But it comes with the territory, so you understand that going in.”

Franzese explains that when he left, it wasn’t because he was angry, wanted to hurt anyone or to get even.

“I just really wanted out of the life,” he says.

Of course, closing the curtains wasn’t going to be easy, Franzese describing the experience as a dance.

“I tried to make the government understand I was really out of the life because initially they didn’t believe me,” he says.

Next, he says, came the tricky task of convincing “people on the street” he wouldn’t harm anyone.

More than anything, Franzese says, he wanted his father to understand his intentions, especially after his name appeared on witness lists without Franzese himself knowing.

“I didn’t wanna betray my father. I didn’t want him to think that low of me, that I would become a witness and hurt people.

“I mean, they put my name on witness lists that were coming up on trials in New York, but I never showed up,” he continues. “It never happened. People thought I was gonna be a witness even though I kept sending messages to my dad. I said, ‘Don’t believe it. I’m not coming.’”

himseBack in the day, Michael Franzese’s A Mob Story’ was a “capo” — a captain — for New York’s Columbo crime family. (Courtesy of Michael Franzese)Sonny, who served the Colombo crime family as an underboss and ran in hugely famous social circles — Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, etc. — kept silent throughout the decades he spent in prison.

In fact, when he was sentenced to 50 years, he quipped, “I’ll bet I do every one.”

“You could have put hot coals on his body and he wouldn’t have become a witness,” Franzese says of his father. “It was just his principle.”

“So, it was a pretty rough time going through that, walking that line,” Franzese continues about his exit from the mafia. “And yeah, they offered me the (witness-protection) program. I said, ‘Look, I’m not interested. I’m not gonna live that way. I’m not gonna cut off everybody that I care about. It’s not gonna happen.’”

Franzese explains it was never his intention to follow in his father’s footsteps in the first place.

In fact, he enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University but left after his father’s extensive sentence came in 1967.

“When he drew a 50-year prison sentence and it seemed like that would have been a death sentence for him, I knew I had to do what I had to do,” he says. “Number one, to help my family ‘cause I was the oldest, and number two, to help him get out of prison. So that was the reason I made that move.”

With plans for med school behind him, Franzese was “made” at age 24 and quickly broke records in the world of organized crime.

It’s estimated Franzese made more than 1 billion dollars for the Columbo family, earning him the title as the youngest person on Fortune magazine’s ‘Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses’ list — number 18, just five spaces behind John Gotti.

At the top of the 1980s, Franzese implemented a plan to defraud the federal government out of gasoline taxes. By 1986, he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges.

When released in 1994, Franzese found faith, and he began speaking at outreach ministries as a born-again Christian. He has penned several books about the mafia and his experiences.

Franzese’s YouTube channel — which is only three years old but has more than 1 million subscribers — also offers a plethora of mafia history, including his own.

His weekly sit-down videos have garnered lots of attention, but it wasn’t something he was initially interested in doing.

“I was so reluctant to do YouTube,” Franzese says. “It happened during the pandemic, when I had probably 40-plus speaking engagements get postponed or canceled and my team turned to me and said, ‘What are you gonna do?’

With in-person speaking events back in action, Franzese visits cities with significant mafia histories, including Cleveland.

“I’ll get into the Cleveland mob and family and what influences they had,” Franzese says about his visit to Lorain. “I’ll talk about my life. I’ll answer questions about the life in general.

“Sometimes we’ll even go into some movies because people are curious which is the (most) real one,” he continues. “So, yeah, it’s kind of a live version (of the YouTube channel) but a little more extensive.”

‘Michael Franzese’s A Mob Story’

When: 7 p.m. June. 24.

Where: Lorain Palace Theater, 617 Broadway.

Tickets: $40 to $130, with VIP packages available.

Info: lorainpalace.org or 440-245-2323.

Though he’s not even 30 years old, he’s already rubbed elbows with some huge names in the business thanks to acting gigs including Billy Crystal’s 2021 film “Here Today,” Jennifer Lozpez’s 2019 blockbuster “Hustlers” and Tracy Morgan’s television series “The Last OG.”

When pressed about what makes him a “failure” in the brutally competitive industry, especially given his young age, he asks, “Well, how many times do you see Meryl Streep headline Hilarities around her boyfriend’s friend’s wedding?”

He’s got a point.

In a phone interview ahead of his Hilarities shows on May 26 and 27, the on-the-rise comic explains his serendipitous pivot to stand-up and optimism about the future of live entertainment.

First things first, yes, he did absolutely schedule his Cleveland performances around his girlfriend’s friend’s wedding.

It’s a thing he does kind of a lot, squeezing in as many stand-up gigs as possible around life events.

“She’s always begging to go on a trip where I won’t do shows, where there’s not even a chance to do shows,” Soresi says about girlfriend Tovah Silbermann.

“I think whenever there’s a chance to perform, I will take it,” he adds. “For me, Friday and Saturday nights, those are the big ones that are tough to give away. So when she said she had a friend’s wedding on a Sunday (in Cleveland), I was like, ‘Bingo, perfect.’”

You may have seen Soresi tell jokes on Comedy Central, “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” Netflix’s “Bonding” or even on “The Real Housewives of New York.”Landing on a late-night show used to mark a breakthrough moment in a comic’s career, but Soresi says that’s just not the case anymore.

“I think it sold me one ticket in (Washington, D.C.) four months from that date,” he says about his TV appearance.

“No one’s watching anything — it’s all fractured. You end up becoming subservient to social media — the whims of short form.”Fans of comedy are most likely to find Soresi’s polished one-liners and impressive crowd work in quick clips via Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, which is also where his half-hour special “Shelf Life” lives.

Soresi says he eventually reached a point where he was getting enough views that he became hesitant to post any more material.

“People are seeing it, and I see in the audience 10 people are whispering to their friends the punch line.

“We’re all figuring out the new balance,” he continues. “There was a time if you told (a bit) on ‘The Tonight Show’ that meant it was burnt — you can no longer do that show on the road because everyone saw it. Now its so fractured that’s not really true, but do you want to be putting everything out there? How much? You have to figure out this balance.”The fractured landscape is tricky, but so is the entire realm of standup comedy in 2023.

“I am trying to make you have a specific physical reaction and hold your attention in a world where no one’s paying attention, and I love it.”

One way Soresi keeps his crowd’s attention is through his theatrical stage presence, something he honed while earning his bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater. He says he grew up in a world where you did sports or you did theater.

“I never really considered standup comedy,” he says.

It wasn’t until, when living in New York, he wrote a play about himself, starred in it and received feedback that people loved the parts where he talked to the audience.

“No one had anything to say about the complex scene work that I was trying to establish,” he laughs. “I think part of the skill of making it in show business is always listening to that feedback and being like, ‘OK, this part is exciting people, and I do like doing it.’”

The move to full-time stand-up is paying off and is a better fit for Soresi overall.

“Doing the same thing every night drove me insane,” he says about his Off-Broadway run, performing eight shows a week.

“I would not have had fun. I would not have been content saying other people’s words,” he says. “I think this is a really beautiful — ugh, I hate the word beautiful — but (comedy is) a really pure art form. It really is my direct thoughts; its the direct way I’m feeling.”

A lot of these direct thoughts are about Soresi’s family.

“I’m lucky because I know a lot of people whose family says, ‘Do not talk about this,’ so I try not to take that for granted,” he says.

Soresi’s parents make up a good bulk of his material, and they’re pretty good sports about it.

“Maybe if he’s like me,” Soresi says about his father,” and I imagine I’m like him, a little bit of a narcissist, there is a pleasure in just being spoken about, whatever the context,

“Kind of like, ‘All press is good press’ but with attention — all attention is good attention,” he laughs.

When asked about the future of comedy and entertainment in general, Soresi says that although he tends to be a cynic, he’s confident live entertainment will thrive even through breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

“OK, so what’s more fun? Watching a perfected special that’s created by nothing — that’s just created by numbers — or to see flesh and blood on stage, possibly bombing? That’s cooler. It’s just cooler.”

Soresi recalls when rapper Tupac Shakur’s hologram performed concerts long after his passing.

“And guess what? Beyoncé is still selling way more tickets than hologram Tupac, and I think there’s a reason.”

“Why do people buy (Beyoncé) tickets when they’re so far away from the stage?” Soresi asks.

“It’s because that’s Beyoncé there. That’s the person there; she’s existing right there in front of your eyes. That’s still meaningful and will always be meaningful until robots kill us all.”

He adds it’s also exciting to see performers work something out in front of you.

“I always bring some notes on stage, and I want people who want to see me to enjoy seeing me fail a little bit too. I think that’s part of the excitement.”

Though he may dip his toes back into theater or acting again one day, Soresi says he’s fully committed to stand-up right now.

“That’s where my focus is, and I think that’s where it needs to be if you want to be great at this form. Everyone tries to do multiple things, and maybe they get away with it, but I’d rather be great at something than good at several things.”

While he plans on doing some of his trademark crowd work at his Hilarities shows, Soresi adds that he looks forward to telling longer stories that don’t fit into a TikTok.

Gianmarco Soresi

When: May 26 and 27.

Where: Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, 2035 E. Fourth St., Cleveland.

Tickets: $20 to $25.

Info: pickwickandfrolic.com or 216-241-7425.

The groove police, as Tackett explains in a recent phone interview, are security folks who tell people they can’t stand up because the people behind them can’t see.

“Little Feat fans like to get up and boogie a lot, so the aisles get kind of crowded,” Tackett laughs.

Hopefully, the groove police won’t put too much of a hold on any boogieing to be had during the band’s performance April 14 at the Lorain Palace Theater.

Northeast Ohio is kind of Little Feat country.

The band has touched down in several area venues across the decades, including Cleveland’s long-gone Front Row Theater and Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica in 1990 (of course, it was just called Nautica Pavillion back then), and they opened for Melissa Etheridge at Blossom Music Center the year before that.

Tackett says this show will be a “combination of everything” — new stuff, hits like “Dixie Chicken,” “Willin,’” and “Spanish Moon,” along with some unexpected deep cuts.

“We just spent a year doing ‘Waiting for Columbus’ live like from the record, playing it in order…” Tackett says.

“So, now we’re feeling like we can get deeper into our old catalog, doing songs, like, ‘Strawberry Flats’ from the very first album … some songs that we’ve never played live.”

The band has a lengthy history, having formed in 1969 as result of Frank Zappa firing original guitarist and vocalist, the late Lowell George from the Mothers of Invention, Zappa insisting George create his own band instead.

Tackett points out that some of the band’s current lineup features newer guys who bring a lot to the table.

“Scott Sharrard can sing all of Lowell’s songs,” Tackett says. “Paul (Barrere) and Billy (Payne) and myself — none of us could really do Lowell’s songs justice.

“Lowell was a unique talent.”

“Scott’s got a real lot of that same unique talent. He can sing all of Lowell’s songs, so we’re able to go back and find songs like ‘Perfect Imperfection,’ ‘Mercenary Territory,’ and Scott can eat ‘em up. It’s great; we haven’t played those songs in a long time.”

On the subject of Lowell George, Tackett says, “He was like our best friend. Lowell lived in my house for years … so yeah, we think about him every day.”

“What would he think about what we’re doing? Knowing Lowell, he’d probably be pretty funny and harsh at the same time,” Tackett laughs.

Though the band started more than a half a century ago, it still picks up newer fans in its travels.

“We just did a fan event in Key West, Florida, during the beginning of spring break,” Tackett says. “Younger jam band fans were hanging out with us. I don’t know if its because we happened to be there and it was something to do, but anyway, we’ll take whatever we can get,” he adds with a laugh.

In 2010, Phish performed Little Feat’s live album “Waiting for Columbus” in Atlantic City, which helped reel in some younger fans.

“We got a lot of people who have never heard of the band until they had done that,” Tackett says. “Now they’re part of our group.”

When asked what’s next for the band, Tackett laughs.

“I don’t know what we haven’t done, but I know there’s a lot we haven’t done,” he says. “We’ll see what happens. We’re gonna keep recording and writing songs.”

He adds that Little Feat is working on a blues extended play EP for Sam Clayton, who plays percussion and sings for the group.

“He’s such an amazing blues singer,” Tackett says about Clayton.

“I mean he’s as good as anybody ever. He hasn’t been featured over these years, and we’re doing about six songs. We’re gonna go to Memphis, doing Sun Studio stuff, and record for a couple days before our summer tour and put down some blues songs.”

Speaking of Memphis’ Sun Studio, Tackett wraps up the interview with a fun fact about his Southern rock ’n’ roll bloodline.

After doing a little digging into his ancestry, Tackett says he discovered he’s distantly related to Elvis Presley.

“We’re vaguely, vaguely — because we’re all hillbillies in Arkansas and Tennessee — we’re all vaguely related to each other, as they say. So I’m vaguely related to Elvis,” he laughs.

Little Feat

When: 8 p.m. April 14.

Where: Lorain Palace Theater, 617 Broadway.

Tickets: $40 to $70, with VIP packages available.

Info: lorainpalace.org or 440-245-2323.

“I said yes immediately. I was like, ‘Oh yeah, sign me up,’” Azar says in a recent phone interview.

Azar portrays the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in “All Things Equal – The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” a play written by Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes and directed by Laley Lippard.

The show on March 21 visits Lorain County Community College’s Stocker Arts Center in Elyria.

It helps, Azar says, that she’s performed a one-woman show before.

“I was commissioned to write a story about my family because my dad’s from Baghdad and my mom is from Brooklyn. So I called it ‘From Baghdad to Brooklyn.’”

Azar performed that solo show all around the country for about three years and performed in a two-person play prior to that.

“So I’ve sort of been weirdly preparing for this show,” she laughs.

Though Azar is the only physical character on the stage in “All Things Equal,” she says she has some help from multimedia elements — video projections designed by Mike Billings.

These elements, Azar says, incorporate characters from RBG’s life, including voiceover from her late husband, Martin D. Ginsburg (played by Chris Kaufman), and historical footage of former President Bill Clinton.

Before prepping for this role, Azar admits she only knew the basics about Ginsburg.

“I didn’t know she wasn’t just a dissenter,” she explains.

“She was actually very much the opposite. She came into it saying, ‘I’m gonna be this voice of moderation. I’m gonna be the great equalizer.’”

Azar says the best thing about playing RBG is that she constantly learns new things about her.

“Every day, I read something new, watch something new or learn something new from somebody else. Or I see something new in the script,” she says.

Speaking of the script, Azar says it continues to change slightly thanks to feedback from different audiences.

A changing script isn’t as stressful as it sounds; Azar says her background in television — “NCIS LA,” How to Get Away With Murder,” Criminal Minds” — helps her adapt to changes quickly.

The show, of course, follows the life and career of Ginsburg, promising deeply emotional scenes as well as many humorous moments.

It also takes things further by addressing the political landscape post-RBG, including criticism, specifically from those who believe she should have “left the party” sooner.

Regarding the disappointment some had expressed about her decision not to retire during the Obama administration, Azar says this show decided to “spell it out” rather than ignore it.

Azar explains that while her character doesn’t say she’s sorry, she does say something to the effect of, “I understand and respect that you would be upset with me.”

Azar says she’s received some audience feedback on this choice.

One older man who saw the show told her, “I’ve been an activist and a huge fan, but I didn’t wanna come tonight — somebody dragged me — and I’m really glad because now I can forgive her. Now I can understand.”

Overall, Azar also describes this show as intimate, saying she often feels like the audience is on stage with her.
“Sometimes I am speaking directly to the audience, and we’re in this interchange together about the events that have happened in history,” she says. “We all travel back together.”

‘All Things Equal – The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’

When: 7:30 p.m. March 21.

Where: Stocker Arts Center,1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria.

Tickets: $33 to $40.

Info: stockerartscenter.com or 440-366-4040.