Rainbow has parodied Bill and Hillary Clinton and shot barbs at other liberals, but he finds that the current administration showers him with comic opportunities. “They were a unit,” Rainbow’s mother says of her son and her mother. And while he already has two consecutive Queerty Awards under his belt, Randy’s visibility just reached a … Competitors like the Capitol Steps strive to put the mock in democracy as fast as possible, but with multiple writers and cast members, they can’t equal Rainbow’s speed. Then in 2011, he started editing himself into videos mocking celebrities — such as Mel Gibson (“Randy Rainbow Is Dating Mel Gibson”) — who screamed at women and underlings. Hey Gurl Album Release. Broadway composers including Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz have communicated their fandom directly. “I owe you my liiiiife.” Rainbow understands those emotions. Blogging and then creating topical videos for the platform, Rainbow … Very witty. Credit one Bonnie Levitt of Scottsdale, Ariz. “My neurotic Jewish mother was pushing him on me,” laughs Andy Levitt, vice president of Live Nation’s comedy touring department. Launched in 2011 as my ’sassy American soapbox,’ The Randy Report covers the daily news cycle regarding politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community and its allies. By Neal Broverman In a topsy-turvy era, is it surprising that a political commentator should dress in sequins, feather boas and pink cat-eye glasses? “When she died, I looked into the casket and thought, I’m next,” she remembers. Maybe when this is all over, Kellyanne [Conway] and I can have a drink together,” he quips. Randy Rainbow is back today to celebrate Joe Biden’s win with a parody of Getting Married Today from Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical Company. He’s writing a book. It's no secret that Randy Rainbow is a huge Stephen Sondheim fan, and the admiration has long become quite mutual. He realized that his grandmother’s confidence in him meant that he had to take his talent seriously. Randy Rainbow is Dating Mel Gibson . School, on the other hand, was difficult. “I had a boy but was also washing out tights and ballet shoes,” says Gwen. (A mild example from his parody of “Matchmaker” from “Fiddler on the Roof”: “Fact-checker, fact-checker, is this legit? Keep it up.”. Throwback Video. The two are still amazed that Live Nation, the entertainment colossus that produces 30,000 events in 40 countries each year, is sending a YouTube star on the road — that the same company that presents Jay-Z, Ariana Grande and Madonna reached into a bedroom in Queens and gave Rainbow the stages he longed to play. YouTube star Randy Rainbow is back today with his special guest, Broadway legend Patti LuPone. I should have led with that.”, Later, he tells the crowd, “This administration is doing scary, unsettling things and causing irreparable harm to our nation, but it’s been great for my career.” Indeed, income from two years of touring allowed him to move a year ago from a Queens studio apartment into his two-bedroom. randy rainbow the original cast of rent mj rodriguez brian stokes mitchell anna wintour and more . How a musical theater nerd reinvented political satire for the YouTube age. “I can still see the disappointment when the men walked in and saw me.”. Two folding chairs and a bike lock?” Or, responding to Trump describing ousted FBI director James Comey as a showboat: “Those are pretty harsh words coming from the Titanic.”, Unlike late-night comedy hosts, Rainbow has no executives, sponsors or censors to please. “He’s very likable and his fans are diverse,” says Levitt. A large part of Rainbow’s shtick is inserting himself, pink glasses perched on his nose, into interviews with, say, the president, or Ivanka Trump, or Conway. “The world’s attention is on Trump, and I’m part of that. The Manhattan accounting firm where he once worked as a receptionist now handles his money. He’s wearing a limited-edition blue Randy Rainbow T-shirt with a pair of pink glasses emblazoned on the front. “You’re hysterical. In my dream I got to leave my house, but 路 ♀️. Both mother and son attended the show the next night as well, again paying the extra $40 each to take another photograph with Rainbow. She sent him a video and, like a good son, Levitt watched. “My main goal is to give people a little vacay from our troubles.”, A registered Democrat, Rainbow votes in elections, but he says that beyond his videos and performing for LGBTQ fundraisers, he is not politically active. Exactly right. While Randy Rainbow and the rest of the sane world celebrate Joe Biden’s presidential win, the White House is still in denial, or maybe they are just afraid of the boss’s tantrums. Fan Favorite. “Did the president just do a singsong in the Rose Garden like Jackie Mason? “It was the biggest heartbreak of my life. In a world on hyperdrive, he delivers near-instant gratification: Within minutes of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s appearance before members of Congress, for instance, Rainbow was taking song requests from fans on Twitter. He also lampooned former congressman Anthony Weiner’s sexting misadventures (“Randy Rainbow Is Dating Carlos Danger”). Although social media was Rainbow’s entry, Levitt understood that the singer-comedian is at heart a stage performer, so he gave him a contract. It’s no secret that in 21st-century America, power over public opinion doesn’t reside exclusively with editorialists or news anchors. “When the big guy picks on the little guy, that activates me,” he says. “He was constantly putting on shows and making the girls be the prince. The case of Dorothy’s stolen ruby slippers. His trademark pink glasses are but one item in his Randy Rainbow line of merch, which includes socks, Christmas ornaments, T-shirts, “covfefe!” mugs, tote bags and magnets for your car. Still don’t.”, That doesn’t mean politics can’t rile him. egot the vote: party with living legends sunday, july 12 8:00 pm edt | 5:00 pm pdt . Rainbow enters to great applause and launches into a fast-paced rendition of his greatest hits. “Watching you is a coping mechanism,” enthuses Anthony Meloni, of Rye, N.Y., stopping at the performer’s table. Survey: Acceptance of homosexuality by society in 39 countries, Florida: Sen. Bill Nelson supports marriage equality. New Randy Rainbow Parodies Sondheim “The Mueller Blues” March 29, 2019 By Randy Slovacek. Meeting with Rainbow is Jesse Kissel, the musical director and pianist for the show Rainbow is bringing to theaters nationwide. For his latest musical parody about President Donald Trump, comedian Randy Rainbow enlisted Tony-winning actress Patti LuPone. Permanently hoisted there is a green screen, along with a camera on a tripod and four MacBook Air laptops. Rainbow, a Broadway hopeful who fled from cattle-call auditions, has created his own stage and spotlight. “I feel the responsibility of being a therapist to people who need it,” he says. Rainbow earned the admiration of multiple Broadway music composer god-figures, according to The Washington Post: He has also caught the eye and ear of musical theater giants who applaud his clever concoctions. I approach every video like I’m doing a book report.”. Gefällt 1,1 Mio. When YouTube was just five years old, Randy Rainbow was an artist in need of an outlet. Randy was 10 at the time. They’re plotting out the tour, which often goes into red or purple America — Des Moines, Kansas City, Cincinnati — where the large auditoriums are nevertheless filled and walkouts, theater owners tell me, are rare. He tried Broward Community College, then lived on the University of Central Florida campus with friends before landing a gig singing on the Regal Empress cruise ship out of Tampa. She had opinions.”. He is a hero to the LBGTQ community” — Rainbow is gay — “and, of course, my mom.”. When people are in need he is the best at making fun of them. Rainbow, with his snappy riffs on the politics of the day, is a prominent part of this new and influential group, but he offers something distinct: a very old tradition of musical satire updated for the YouTube age. Before he died, my father said of Trump, ‘I can’t watch him, because he reminds me of me.’ My father had all that phony B.S.” Gerry Rainbow was a grudging, if jealous, admirer of his son’s talents and ultimately accepted his being gay. They moved to Brownstown, Mich., from Silver Spring, Md., a year ago, when she retired from the Securities and Exchange Commission and he from the Federal Communications Commission. “I take notes throughout the day. Political satirist Randy Rainbow offers his post-Robert Mueller report ‘feelings’ via his parody of Stephen Sondheim’s “Buddy’s Blues” from FOLLIES. His closest friend became his caustically funny maternal grandmother, Irene Frankel, whose late husband had been a bandleader. Close by are retired government lawyers Laurie Stewart, 58, and her husband, Steve Spaeth, 55. Fan Favorite …And One For Melania . Because that’s Randy Rainbow (yes, it’s his given name). And demonstrates his ample intellect on social media. He spent so much time in his bedroom that one of his mother’s friends referred to him as Dracula. He was always Snow White.” After seeing “The Nutcracker” at age 6, Rainbow took ballet lessons for four years. “Something happens when the original title of the song just fits,” Russell says. She was such a believer in me.”, Her death had a profound impact on both Rainbow and his mother. “You have to laugh.” Which is Rainbow’s point exactly. He set off on the tried-and-true path of generations of Broadway wannabes, auditioning for his dream while working menial jobs in order to pay the rent. She was the Bea Arthur type. His early videos were just gaining traction when his grandmother died in 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com › ... › 28 › feature › randy-rainbows-witty-world “I wore a polo, khakis and a clipboard,” he remembers. See full bio » More at IMDbPro » Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Randy Rainbow Duets With Patti LuPone to Tell Trump to Kick Rocks Dream a little dream of Trump being fired, the two sing to a Sondheim classic. Political satirist Randy Rainbow offers his post-Robert Mueller report ‘feelings’ via his parody of Stephen Sondheim’s “Buddy’s Blues” from FOLLIES. His satire isn’t about changing the world, but about “connecting with people who can’t accept the craziness and cruelty they’re seeing.”, I catch up with his tour at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, where more than 1,300 fans have arrived for the show. He did a Web series for Broadway World, a theater website, including red carpet interviews for the Tony Awards and a late-night talk show, “Five Minute Call,” on theater topics. When he’s not joking about it, he’s quietly angry about the Muslim travel ban, migrant children in cages and infringements on voting access and gay rights. He grew up in Commack, New York. Emmy Announcement 2020. Randy Rainbow was born to a Jewish family in Huntington, New York. Last night’s #Sondheim90Concert was everything my soul needed and it’s now up on YouTube for all to enjoy. Mal. “It’s the only way we can survive. Rainbow made the leap to Manhattan when a friend offered him a place to crash for three weeks. That show was in Grand Rapids, near the home of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; the crowd, Yakes reports when I call her for an update, was even larger despite the more conservative area. Seemingly seconds later, he’s been Randy Rainbowed.”, On a chilly February afternoon, Rainbow is lunching at the legendary Sardi’s in Manhattan’s theater district, and the fans just keep coming by. Margaret Engel is a Washington journalist and playwright. Stephen Sondheim, arguably the god of Broadway musical theater, spends a half-hour on the phone telling me that Rainbow’s lyrics are “brilliant” and “as good as anyone writing today.”, Mark Russell, who at 86 still writes song parodies that he posts online, is equally impressed by Rainbow’s ear for exactly the right musical match. “You can’t buy these,” he explains. The three women are wearing the iconic pink glasses. In Uncategorized. Randy Rainbow Works at Chick-fil-A . Political satirist Randy Rainbow offers his post-Robert Mueller report ‘feelings’ via his parody of Stephen Sondheim’s “Buddy’s Blues” from FOLLIES. Though he occasionally bleeps off-color words for comic effect, they are sprinkled openly throughout his routines. I always dreamed of being in a Sondheim birthday concert. Her son, a Bernie Sanders voter, is a broadcast and cinema arts graduate who is enamored of the technical competence displayed in Rainbow’s videos. “He was two mints in one.”, His father eventually soured on New York and moved the family to Plantation, Fla., where he booked talent for the condo circuit, sang and played drums for hire. “Mom would go to bed at night and pray that God would make her Bernadette Peters,” he says with a laugh. “It didn’t help on the playground.” Rainbow found his home in the drama department, winning leads in student productions, from Charlie Brown to Peter Pan to Sky Masterson in “Guys and Dolls.” “I was more butch then,” he quips. How did Live Nation hear about him? Here’s the regimen he follows about three times a month, ever since his musical satire of a 2016 presidential debate — built around the line “Super Callous Fragile Egocentric Braggadocious” — launched him into the viral stratosphere: After identifying a target, he spends about four hours writing new lyrics to a pop or Broadway standard, based on his obsessive knowledge of musical theater. Most Viewed Videos . When he was 10-years old, his … For his latest musical parody about President Donald Trump, comedian Randy Rainbow enlisted Tony-winning actress Patti LuPone. “When I heard his ‘Kavanaugh’ set to ‘Camelot,’ I just about jumped out of my chair. We are clearly invading their space, but Rainbow just turns on a sweet megawatt smile like the show business pro he is. We are now Entertainment Nation, and society’s jesters — Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher, etc. Randy Rainbow. These DIY productions are funny and oh-so-topical and include clever video manipulation of news footage to create sassy mock interviews with prominent political players — mostly of the Trumpian variety — topped off with costumes ordered online. “Kids are at the shows, theater geeks are at the shows. Think of him as a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan, or the millennial version of the piano-playing Mark Russell or Tom Lehrer — the key difference being that his get-it-out-fast production marathons and savvy use of social media bring his commentary to the public quickly, directly and with no filter. In February, he appeared in the musical “Call Me Madam” off-Broadway; in a nod to his newfound celebrity, he was asked to wear his pink glasses while playing a lederhosen-wearing functionary in the imaginary duchy of Lichtenburg. Randy Stewart Rainbow (born July 6, 1981) [citation needed] is an American comedian and singer, best known for videos published on YouTube, in which he spoofs interviews with famous figures and parodies musical numbers with a political focus. . Afterward, Barbara Yakes, an osteopath from Bloomfield Hills, is in line with her son, Allen Jankowics, 29, for the $40 extra meet-and-greet. She missed her beloved grandson’s rise to fame by “just a little bit,” her daughter says. “Six months later, I was divorced. A sampling of Rainbow’s hot takes includes “Desperate Cheeto” (a take on Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito”), “Border Lies” (Madonna’s “Borderline”), “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Korea?” (“Maria” from “The Sound of Music”) and “GOP Dropout” (“Beauty School Dropout” from “Grease”). He died in 2017. — have become as influential as the Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys of yore. In “Putin and the Ritz,” with Trump portrayed as the familiar orange cracker, a lyric says the bromance couple “really love dic … tatorships!” Halfway through the show, he confides, “I’m super gay. But, he says, “I’ve never had a passion for politics. Most Viewed Videos . “You are the only thing keeping me sane right now,” one fan shared on Instagram. It’s our therapy.” (Their mother doesn’t share their liberal politics, and they don’t share Rainbow’s videos with her.). “Comedy,” he tells me with a smile, “is always a healing thing.”. vip afterparty: 9:00 pm edt | 6:00 pm pdt. But now he’s my retirement plan.”. A Republican who was a last-minute vote for Trump, she carries a pair of Rainbow’s pink glasses. Now up on YouTube for all to enjoy †a parody of Ariana Grande’s Sweetener single “Breathin. lampooned... God would make her Bernadette Peters, ” he says of Internet Sensation, Randy... 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