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By Cynthia Citron
 LOS ANGELES - If you ever go to the theatre with entrepreneur Jeannine Frank, be aware that from the moment you enter the building until the lights go down and the overture begins, she will not settle into the seat beside you. She will, instead, be greeting her friends---generally every third person in the theatre---sharing tidbits of news, bestowing air-kisses on them, getting updates on their activities.
Jeannine Frank is a phenomenon, you see. She knows just about everybody in town and has touched the lives of many of them. As founder and producer of Parlor Performances, she has provided variety shows, benefit evenings, and massive boosts to the careers of countless entertainers for the past 20 years. She has even organized appearances for such major figures as Mort Sahl and Carl Reiner.
So it was no surprise to find the auditorium at Steinway Hall, at West Pico Blvd. and Bundy, packed on a recent Monday night to listen to satirist Roy Zimmerman expressing his opinions on a variety of current topics. Accompanying himself on a raging guitar, Zimmerman sang his way through such original favorites as “Dick Cheney, the Sexiest Man Alive,” “Creation Science 101,” and the ever-popular “Sing-Along Second Amendment” (that’s the one that deals with guns).
Zimmerman, who has performed his politically savvy songs in 47 of the 50 states, so far, is an avowed liberal from the tree-hugging community of Mill Valley, California. “Do you know how hard it is to be a liberal?” he asks, as he launches into a song about an HMO that advises its clients to kill themselves
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as an alternative to waiting for the HMO to honor its commitments.
As a liberal, he divides Republicans into two groups: the haves and the have lots. And he commemorates the 40th anniversary of Woodstock’s “Summer of Love” with several numbers, including a paean to unregenerated hippies called “Psychedelic Relic.”
Responding to his fans in the audience, he also answers the question of “What if the Beatles were Irish?” by launching into a medley of their songs, including “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “Hey Jude,” and “All the Lonely People,” which he sings with a rough Irish brogue and a jiggy bagpipe tempo.
Zimmerman was preceded in his hour-long gig by “retired standup comedian” Jonathan Solomon, who told a hilarious story about being mugged in Santa Monica and trying to bond with his assailant.
Solomon was followed by comedienne Betsy Salkind, a sort of female Stephen Wright, whose deadpan one-liners covered such non sequiturs as the fact that Hooters now has a children’s menu and that people who follow a vegan diet have “no eggs, no dairy, and no sense of humor.” Salkind, who also does impressions of various animal species, wound up her act as a squirrel, devouring with squirrel-like attention an entire square of matzoh.
Jonathan Solomon will be telling more stories in a variety evening that will also feature songstress Teresa Tudury, who has been described as a cross between Bette Midler, Tracy Ullman, and Sophie Tucker, and monologist Vicki Juditz, who bills herself as “The Green Housewife,” a woman dedicated to saving the environment. These three will appear at Steinway Hall, 12121 W. Pico Blvd., one door west of Bundy, on Saturday, July 25th, at 7:30 p.m. To order tickets or find out about future programs, call Jeannine at (310) 471-3979 or go online to Jeannine@FrankEntertainment.com. Trust me, it’s a LOL way to spend an evening!
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