Game Changers With Vicki Abelson cover art

Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

Written by: Vicki Abelson
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Celebrity Maps to Success... people living their dream... the paths they took to get thereAll rights reserved
Episodes
  • Godfrey Townsend is Living a Rock ’n Roll Wet Dream

    Godfrey Townsend is Living a Rock ’n Roll Wet Dream
    May 28 2026
    The Yardbird’s Godfrey Townsend is Living a Rock ’n Roll Wet Dream Fourth time IS the charm. After way too many reschedulings, as with all things, this conversation with the Yardbirds’ Godfrey Townsend happened exactly when it was intended. Lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice, and this was an electric circus of talk and music perfection. From jumping in at the opening with The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again, to Godfrey’s masterpiece of Jeff Beck’s, Cause We've Ended as Lovers, from Blow by Blow, which cracked my heart open and left me with goosebumps, in tears… to every single moment in between, this was heaven. I’ve fostered my share of conversations that have blown my mind; this is amongst the best of the best. For a girl whose moniker was RockGirl back in the day when Godfrey and I met decades ago, this conversation was truly a Rock ’N Roll wet dream. Godfrey not only shares stories with Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Alan Parsons, Mark Farner, Dave Mason, Joey Molland, Todd Rundgren, Howard Kaylan, The Cowsills, Chuck Negron, The Association, Mark Volman… he’s played with them all! And his stories and intimate experiences with them left me breathless. And then there’s meeting Clapton, his divine private audience with Pete Townshend, his adorable Jimmy Page encounter and impression, meeting Beck! Has any rockin’ stone been left unturned? Dammit, I didn’t even ask about Mick and Keith! Next time. And there will be a next time. For the two hours of this, I trust there are so many more unmined gems. If rock’s your thing, if you lived through the 60s till now, or just dig the music, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200… hit the play button and hunker down for a wild, fun, and wonderful ride. An inside view from an insider. Consider this the audiobook of Godfrey’s sure-to-come bestselling rock memoir. Hachachacha! LOVED IT! Godfrey Townsend Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wed, May 6, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn
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    2 hrs and 3 mins
  • My Favorite Lainie!

    My Favorite Lainie!
    May 28 2026
    Getting kissed by Sean Connery, whilst he was James Bond, fanned repeatedly by Bob Dylan when she sang, plucked for a film by Frank Sinatra, bagels and the part of a lifetime from Tom Hanks, gaslit and insulted by Jerry Lewis, adored and showcased by Dean Martin, wildly successful club proprietor with Hugh Hefner, best friends with Connie Stevens, and Diane Ladd, taught a golden secret by Shelley Winters, asked to serenade her hero Judy Garland, and then had the favor returned, making the funny with Renee Taylor, the straight serious with John Houseman, stress understudying Barbara Streisand, mad love for Bette Midler, who almost played her, Tony, Emmy Golden Globe nominee, Lainie Kazan, dancer, singer, actor, spilled all this and so much more! My favorite character in my favorite movie, My Favorite Year, we got the behind-the-scenes fun, Peter O’Toole and his wonderfulness, improvising one of the funniest lines, likewise with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which she waited a year to hear, then had the time of her life with a cast she’s still connected to. What a life Lainie’s led! What work she’s done! And what a fun, fierce, and fabulous woman she is! Blessed to call her a friend and even more to know she was off to have drinks and dinner with my mother, which she does most nights. I can’t wait for her in-process memoir, sure to shock, delight, and thrill. I love Lainie! Who doesn’t! Lainie Kazan Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wed, May 27, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Cady Huffman’s Got It - And I Made Her Flaunt It!

    Cady Huffman’s Got It - And I Made Her Flaunt It!
    Apr 16 2026
    With a gazillion-dollar smile, easy, absolutely effortless charm, Tony Award-winning Cady Huffman took this adoring fan and turned me into an even bigger one (who knew that was possible), and dare I say (she said), a friend. *Sigh* A masterful storyteller, without even trying, I was delightfully mesmerized, hanging on her every word. Her remembrances of Bob Fosse, auditioning for him, being cast by him, dancing with him (WHAT!), and drinking beside him, left me breathless. Tommy Tune, another genius, and The Will Rogers Follies, her first Tony nomination, her most vivid remembrance of finding out is about the guy she woke up with. So damn human at every turn. I love this woman! And of course, her Tony turn, also winning the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics’ Circle Award, for The Producers, where I first witnessed Cady’s stunningly sexy, adorable Ulla, the last preview before opening night. The show against which I’ve measured all others. To date, none have exceeded the laughs, the spectacle, and the non-stop thrills. In a word, it was… perfection! Cady told us about Susan Stroman, Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane. and our mutual friend, Wendy Waring, still in Cady’s world today. We talked Kay Cole, Samantha’s director and OG of A Chorus Line, who sang, At the Ballet, which could have been Cady’s theme song for many of her days, La Cage Aux Folles, her first Broadway play, the wild backstage antics, and auditioning for Cy Coleman, hysterical! Dame Edna! Steel Pier, Sting! We talked about growing up in Santa Barbara, early family struggles, her first play and her first line, ballet, opera, and Cady mastering each. Her brother Linus, childhood friends Anthony Edwards, Eric Stoltz, and the incredible Kathleen Wilhoite, my long-time grown-up pal. Before we signed off, we talked the reals… aging, food, booze, programs, Ozempic, and a little-known side effect that worked for the good. Cady Huffman is living my life. My childhood dream life. Better than I could have ever imagined. Tonight, I got to live it vicariously through her. Thank you, Cady, for that, for everything! Cady Huffman Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wed, April 15th, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET https://youtube.com/live/DmE_USj-UkE
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    1 hr and 37 mins
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