By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
RUMSON — Singer and Rumson resident Deborah Dutcher is bringing “Punk Standards,” a show that re-imagines classic punk songs as jazz standards, to the Jersey Shore after two successful stints in New York City.
The free show is coming to the recently opened Asbury Hotel at 8 p.m. on July 13 at its location on Fifth Avenue in Asbury Park.
The show will be followed by live piano karaoke with the renowned keyboardist Joe McGinty, owner of Sid Gold’s Request Room. He is the Psychedelic Furs’ former keyboardist and has worked with the Ramones, Ronnie Spector and Ryan Adams and founded the popular “Loser’s Lounge” series that pays homage to pop icons.
“Punk Standards” was conceived and produced by Phil Kuntz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for Bloomberg News who has also worked for The Wall Street Journal. He resides in Rumson and is a co-author of “The Sinatra Files.” Kuntz was also a researcher and commentator on Oscar-winner Alex Gibney’s Emmy-nominated HBO documentary, “Sinatra: All Or Nothing at All.”
An actress with credits worldwide, Dutcher starred as Christine in “Phantom of the Opera” on London’s West End and in its 25th anniversary celebration at Royal Albert Hall. She was the original Cosette in “Les Misérables” in Germany and Belgium and was on the Flemish and German cast albums. She also played the role in Scandinavia. She toured Europe as Priscilla Presley in “Elvis, The Musical.”
Mike Woolmans, an award-winning composer, arranged the music for “Punk Standards.” A former BBC sound engineer, Woolmans spent the 1980s playing “Mikey,” the popular sidekick on UK’s radio program, “Steve Wright in the Afternoon.” His jingles for BBC’s Radio One won awards, and he co-wrote “I’ll Be Back” by Arnee and the Terminaters and performed it on TV’s “Top of the Pops” after the single reached No. 5 on the charts. He composes music for movies, radio, TV and theater.
Donovan Mannato, Dutcher’s husband, co-produced “Punk Standards.” A financial advisor, Mannato also is a Broadway producer and filmmaker. Credits include “Ghost: The Musical” on West End and Broadway, “Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Broadway and “Prey for Rock & Roll,” a movie starring Gina Gershon. He played a juror in Jonathan Demme’s “Philadelphia.” His next project is a musical adaptation of “Back to the Future.”
