Mitchell Kaplan is an American musician, music director, songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the

Music Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

for

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. She is perhaps b ...

and for alternative comedy company Un-cabaret. He has been featured as musical director in performances with

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's ''Suburgatory,'' TBS's '' People of Earth'', NBC's ' ...

and

Cady Huffman Cady Huffman is an American actress. Early life Huffman was born in Santa Barbara, California, to Lorayne, a pre-school assistant director turned realtor, and Clifford Huffman, an attorney. She is the younger sister of actor Linus Huffman and a ...

Career

Kaplan began his career as a pianist and songwriter, writing songs for artists including

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy ...

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...

and

Martika Marta Marrero (born May 18, 1969), better known by her stage name Martika ( ), is an American pop singer and actress. She released two internationally successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which sold over four million copies wor ...

. Kaplan has been the musical director for Sandra Bernhard since 1985. He collaborated with

Sofia Shinas Sofia Shinas (born January 17, 1968) is a Greek Canadian singer, songwriter, actress and director."Dream comes true for Shinas". ''Windsor Star'', May 28, 1994. Shinas entered the entertainment industry as a recording artist and later pursued a ...

on her self-titled 1992 Warner Bros album release as composer, mixer, and producer. He produced and co-wrote One Last Kiss. Kaplan appeared in TV shows including

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing), ...

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

, and

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

Work with Sandra Bernhard

During the '80's "ball era", Kaplan met

. At the Beverly Theater in 1986 Kaplan accompanied Bernhard on keyboard and synthesizer on seven songs. He collaborated with Bernhard on her

Excuses for Bad Behavior ''Excuses for Bad Behavior'' is a two-part album series by Sandra Bernhard. The first album was released in 1994 while the second was released in 2004. Part one ''Excuses for Bad Behavior (Part One)'' is a combination of spoken comedy bits, comed ...

, Pt. 1, her one-woman show " I'm Still Here...Damn It!" which was released as a live recording, as announcer, composer, keyboards, producer, and her Without You I'm Nothing. He produced and co-wrote You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) for Excuses for Bad Behaviour Pt. 1. Kaplan was the musical director for The Sandra Bernhard Experience. Kaplan wrote Miracle of Lights with Sandra Bernhard.

UnCabaret and work with Beth Lapides

Kaplan met Beth Lapides while Lapides was writing ''100% Happy 88% of the Time.'' They began working together and added music to the show. They were offered a room to play in downtown LA near First and Hope Streets. Kaplan suggested UnCabaret. They added music and put on their first UnCabaret show together. Kaplan and Lapides celebrated the 25th Anniversary of UnCabaret on November 18, 2018, at the

Theatre at Ace Hotel Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, originally built as the California Petroleum Corporation Building and later known as the Texaco Building, is a , 13-story highrise hotel and theater building located at 937 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, ...

, under the auspices of CAP/UCLA. Uncabaret continued during the pandemic as a live-stream comedy show on zoom.

References

External links

* * https://www.uncabaret.com/mitch-kaplan/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Mitchell American male pianists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people