Beverly Craveiro has been a large presence in Malibu’s theatrical music scene for a long time.
Composer, pianist, music hall entertainer, teacher of young geniuses, Craveiro has spent enough time in front of the keyboard to be introduced by legendary British actor/songwriter Anthony Newley as “my favorite composer.” And at a time when she could be expected to fade into retirement, Craveiro is once again bringing her singing and playing brand of entertainment back to life and local stages.
“Me ’N My Piano,” written and solo performed by Craveiro in a just-closed run at “JamTrailer” in the Cross Creek area, sits her in front of a keyboard for a rollicking 70 minutes while she tickles the ivories and recounts great old show-biz tales of her colorful past.
“I’m good for 70 minutes,” Craveiro said. “It’s not my fingers that give out, it’s my bottom.”
Craveiro’s compulsion to play music has never given out, it seems. She grew up in the San Joaquin Valley to a family of Portuguese immigrants. Her father played in a marching band and Craveiro’s first nod to music was John Philip Sousa. But she quickly learned piano, sneaking into restaurant bars and wowing patrons with some boogie woogie. When she was three years old, her parents managed to scrape together the monthly $2.50 fee her lessons.
By the time her “Uncle Bob from Hollywood” rewarded her a shiny silver dollar for a particularly good performance, Craveiro knew that music was her future. She was teaching by age 14, having learned a number of “instruments from the pit” — pipe organ, saxophone — and turned down an invitation from USC in order to study classical music at the Holy Names University in Oakland, believing it the better music program.
Craveiro insists she is not a singer, though she allows she “can sell a song.” So when Malibu needs a church choir master, or a music director for the Annual Chili Cook Off, or a performer who can handle acting a character role while playing the piano onstage, Craveiro is usually the go-to gal. She’s performed at the 1,500-seat theater at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and in 99-seat, black box theaters. Really, anywhere that will hold an audience.
But her very best idea, according to Craveiro, was when she “knocked Randy Newman off the airways in Los Angeles.”
“Randy Newman’s song, ‘I Love L.A.’ was the big thing,” Craveiro said. “So I wrote a show called “Hey, Hey L.A.” that said nice things about L.A. and had a melody you could remember. And we staged it as a musical in a traveling bus.”
She redesigned a touring bus to hold a stage 40 feet wide and 18 inches deep on one side of the bus, with audience members sitting in a long row opposite the stage. They would take off from the Brentwood Holiday Inn next to the 405 Freeway and roll around noteworthy sites on the Westside, like Fox Studios, Craveiro regaling listeners with catchy show tune-type ditties about the pleasures of L.A.
It was a hit. Even Mayor Tom Bradley wore a “Hey, Hey L.A.” sweatshirt.
“We did this all with no advertising, and it landed us on the front page of USA Today,” Craveiro said proudly. “I was introduced as the musical ambassador of the City of Los Angeles.”
Craveiro has been a longtime Malibu resident. She lived here from 1978 to 1986, then returned again in 2006, where she promptly found a position as choir master at Our Lady of Malibu Church. She taught legions of young pianists. She started thinking about performing a little here and there again and was driving down Pacific Coast Highway when she saw a sign that said something about a theatre.
“I went and banged on the door till somebody answered and I told them I wanted to rent the theater,” Craveiro said. “It was Malibu Playhouse and Richard Johnson invited me in. I became an original member of the Malibu Repertory Theatre and he asked if I could play a man in a show about the worst singer in the world.”
The role was Cosme McMoon, the loyal accompanist to Florence Jenkins, the “worst singer in the world,” in Malibu Rep’s production of “Glorious!”
Since then, Craveiro has also taught at local schools and devised a program, American Musicals, Inc., to teach musical theater to younger students. She has performed her solo show at Leisure Village in Camarillo. Her next public outing will be for a holiday special, “Deck the Halls and Celebrate,” at the Malibu Playhouse.
“This is family entertainment and we’ll serve holiday cookies,” Craveiro said. “But mostly it’s me playing and singing. My music was always there throughout it all.”
Craveiro’s holiday show will play December 19 and 20 at the Malibu Playhouse. More information may be found at www.beverlycraveiro.com.
