By Skip Sheffield
Make someone happy. That’s what Will and Anthony Nunziata like to do.
It’s a Jimmy Durante classic that opens the Nunziata brothers show at Royal Room Cabaret at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, and it nicely captures their aim to entertain.
The identical twins wrap up their second weekend Friday and Saturday July 1 and 2.
They are just a few years out of Boston College, but the Nunziata brothers have become troupers, and the Colony Hotel is one of their favorite stops. This becomes obvious from their complimentary remarks about the Palm Beach landmark.
The Nunziatas bring a mix of old and new, serious and silly to their act. The natural-born entertainers got one of their early professional gigs singing a jingle for Honey Nut Cheerios, which they cheerfully share. They honor their Italian heritage with familiar fare such as “Finiculi, Finicula” and they reveal they were honored with a place in New York’s Columbus Day Parade, broadcast nationally by NBC-TV.
While Will and Anthony are funny guys, they go lightly on corny sibling rivalry gags. These are not latter-day Smothers Brothers, and their harmonies are far sweeter than Tom and Dick’s. This will be the last chance for a while to see their musical collaborator, Alvin Hough, Jr., as he is embarking on a national tour of the musical “Memphis” as musical director.
This is the first time in the decade since it has been founded that Royal Room Cabaret has remained open without a month-long break between winter and summer seasons. Cabaret director Rob Russell and hotel general manager Roger Everingham are betting audiences will to come to the cabaret all summer and into the fall. To this aim they have booked their most ambitious summer season ever.
Returning by popular demand July 8-9 and July 15-16 is Mary Foster Conklin, winner of the 2010 Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Award for Jazz Vocalist. Conklin has a song repertoire that spans eight decades and all styles.
Jeff Harner is also returning July 22-23 and July 29-30. Harner is a specialist in the music of Cole Porter and played both their centennials at Carnegie Hall. He has four solo CDs, three MAC Awards and four Back Stage Bistro Awards.
Aug. 5-6 and Aug. 12-13 marks the return of singer-pianist Daryl Sherman, who played Cole Porter’s Steinway at the Waldorf-Astoria for 14 years, and legendary bassist Jay Leonhart, who has backed such icons as Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra and younger stars Sting and Queen Latifah.
Aug. 19-20, Aug, 26-27 and Sept 2-3 will be the Royal Room Cabaret debut of singer Ariana Savalas, 22-year-old daughter of the late actor Telly Savalas. Ariana is known for her stories about growing up with celebrities in Hollywood as well as her vocal stylings. Like many of the young performer of cabaret, Savalas celebrates the singers and songwriters from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Most evenings are $110 for dinner and show or $70 for show only. The adjacent Polo Lounge presents Motown Friday Nights with Memory Lane and Rob Russell’s Cast Parties on Saturday. Call 561-659-8100 or 561-655-8430.