our story


	HAL SHANE has been a member of the award-winning trio "The Manhattan Rhythm Kings" for 20 years. A native New Yorker, Hal got his start in show business at the age of four, when he began tap dance lessons. He was soon tap dancing his way into the hearts of millions with his appearances on the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour, the "Jackie Gleason Show," the "Children's Hour and the "Ed Sullivan Show". Hal graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in music education and soon after was touring the U.S. and Canada as a classical guitarist and folk singer in his own one-man show. He went on to appear in the national and regional companies of "Guys and Dolls", "Hit the Deck," "Lady Be Good," and "Annie Get Your Gun," among others. Hal is a veteran of the Broadway stage, appearing in "Very Good Eddie," "Shenandoah," and Neil Simon's "They're Playing Our Song" (where he understudies Robert Klein and Tony Roberts) and with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings in the Tony-Award winning musical "Crazy for You". His greatest thrills have come from working beside his childhood stage idols, and dancing with tap greats Tommy Tune and Gregory Hines.

	MARC KESSLER hails from Lambertville, a small town in southeast Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theatre, and he now resides in New York city. Marc has performed in national tours of 42nd Street (Billy Lawlor) and Anything Goes, as well as regional productions at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut (No, No, Nannette and George M!), North Shore Music Theatre in Massachusetts (West Side Story), and Maine State Music Theatre in Maine (The Secret Garden, Cabaret, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). Marc was able to follow the foot steps of one of his idols, James Cagney, by playing George Cohan in the musical George M! In New York, Marc appeared as Clyde Barrow in the musical Bonnie and Clyde, as well as two other workshop productions starring Sally Mayes (Honky Tonk Angels) and Sam Harris (The Jazz Singer). He has played either Jinx or Sparky in productions of Forever Plaid at the Royal George Theatre (Chicago), Hilton Head Island (South Carolina), and Kennebunk (Maine).

	BRIAN M. NALEPKA is one of the founding members of the Manhattan Rhythm Kings. In addition to his work with the “Kings”, Brian is a busy New York free-lance musician, having recorded 7 albums with Leon Redbone, as well as numerous commercials and movie soundtracks. Brian was also a member of Woody Allen’s jazz band and Jim Cullum’s band in San Antonio, Texas. He has also performed in the Broadway show “Chicago”, as well as numerous shows at New Jersey’s Papermill Playhouse. Brian is married to People Magazine Reporter and Writer Mary Shaughnessy, who penned “Les Paul, An American Original”, published by William Morrow. They reside in Bloomfield, N.J., with their two lovely daughters, Ella and Nora.