Rubbing Elbows: My Brushes with Celebrities chapter 12

It was at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan where I met Julie Budd, She has a residency there and aways brings in a full house regardless of the weather.

Though she has fawning gay fans in her crowds, I was rather taken aback by her homophobic stance when I blogged about her show and mentioned that my friend, promoter Nick Lion and I went to a gay bar, The Monster in the West Village, after her performance that night. Julie felt it was sleazy and

Julie had a promising career as another Barbra Streisand. They expected her to be a superstar singing sensation and she should have been. But maybe show biz has room for only one Barbra.

Still, Julie is basically a lovely individual and sweet soul. Richard Skipper does a wonderful job promoting her.

NYC cabaret is where established stars meet the upcoming ones and the wannabes. It makes for an interesting mix and mingle.

Incidentally, I'd like to bid a fond farewell to Dana Lorge who passed away from lung cancer just around the time I was putting this chapter together. We had met in passing several times at shows at the Metropolitan Room She was a lovely woman and did a magnificent job hosting her variety show at the club.

Dana had a rather eclectic group of her guests in her show. She was diagnosed with cancer briefly before her final presentation at Metropolitan Room. A trouper to the end, I pray she rests in peace.