The BOP SHOP is pleased to host MELANIE's meet and greet at the Bop Shop Monday October 22, 8pm 1460 Monroe Ave. Rochester NY 14618
Blackfriars Theatre presents “Melanie and the Record Man” October 19-28, 2012 at Blackfriars Theatre Visit our website at www.blackfriars.org or call us at 585-454-1260.
Melanie and the Record Man will have its world debut at Blackfriars Theatre in Rochester, NY this fall and plans to tour nationally prior to a Broadway engagement. The show will star the pop icon Melanie as herself with a cast of sixadditional accomplished performers. Beau Jarred Schekeryk will serve as Musical Director and Arranger.
Melanie Safka Schekeryk, known as just"Melanie", is an iconic singer-songwriter. Born in Astoria, New York, she made her first public singingappearance at age four singing Gimme a Little Kiss on the radio show Live Like A Millionaire. As a young woman, she taught herself to play guitar, and started writing songs and poetry.After studying acting at the American Academy ofArts, Melanie played major professional roles, butalso continued performing her songs in GreenwichVillage coffee houses. While seeking an auditionfor a new part in a play, she instead found herself in the offices of some record producers, andended up with a contract as a recording artist.
Europe was first to recognize her as a singer-songwriter talent. Her song Bobo's Party was a #1hit for several weeks in a row in France in 1969. Later that year she had a hit in the Netherlands with Beautiful People. But after her legendary performance at Woodstock in the pouring rain, Melanie suddenly catapulted to success in the United States. Her first hit in the U.S. Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), was inspired by her Woodstock performance, when for the first time at a concert event, candles and lighters were raised while she sang. The song sold more than one million copies in1970 and prompted Billboard, Cashbox, Melody Maker, Record World, and Bravo to anoint heras female vocalist of the year.
In 1970, Melanie married Peter Schekeryk and they had three children. In 1971, disillusioned bythe record industry, she formed her own label, NeighborhoodRecords, with Schekeryk, who was also her producer. She wasonly the second recording artist ever to do so, preceded only byThe Beatles.
Her biggest hit in the U.S. was Brand New Key, also known asThe Roller Skate Song which was #1 on the Billboard charts forthree weeks, sold over three million copies, and was later featuredon the soundtrack to the film Boogie Nights. She was awardedBillboard's #1 Top Female Vocalist in 1972. Melanie also hadcritical success in television, winning the Primetime EmmyAward for writing the lyrics to the song The First Time I LovedForever for the television series Beauty and the Beast.Melanie lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and continues to record albums and perform concerts allover the world.
