Amanda McBroom Master Class

I’m still processing the terrific master class with Amanda McBroom and Michele Brourman yesterday.  The team did an amazing job of working with each participant, lovingly addressing their individual needs at the moment.  Yet, watching them work with everyone provided a superb set of learnings and discovery.  And it didn’t hurt that the always-amazing Mary Sugar was playing for the class!

As a special treat the session ended with each performing one of their signature songs.  Michele Brourman discussed the genesis of My Favorite Year and gave an inspired, passionate performance of the song.  Since it was a song I’ve worked on, it was a special thrill to experience Amanda McBroom performing Wheels in that intimate a space.

Adding Machine at Studio

I saw The Adding Machine at Studio Theater over the weekend.

The material itself is difficult.  The classic Elmer Rice play is enhanced by a fascinating score that makes The Light in the Piazza seem like Jerry Herman.  And the adaptation balances the nihilistic worldview and agitprop of the original.

That said, the production was one of the most seamless pieces of theater I’ve seen in a long time — especially lucky for material that could be absolutely deathly in the wrong hands.  The design and staging were visually stunning in a totally unpromising environment.  And the cast did a great job of making the material approachable, especially with music that is a counting nightmare.  Lucky they had the terrific support of Alex Tang, Mary Sugar and Mark Carson in the pit.  And it was great to see friends like Joanne Schmoll, Joe Peck, and Lynn Sharp Spears having a chance to show how terrific they can be.

At least two people asked me after the show if I “liked” it.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s a piece anyone should “like.”  But it’s fascinating, thought-provoking, and very well done.

A NY Evening Pt. 6: Jim Caruso’s Cast Party

How much would you pay to see a bill with people like Marilyn Maye, Christine Lavin, MAC  nominees Jenna Esposito, Deb Burman, Devlin, and about 30 more high-caliber acts?  (Oh, with Chita Rivera right there in the audience.) Well, you can do it about any Monday night for a mere $10 cover charge.

I ended the evening at Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland.  OMG, as the kids say.  I had heard about this before, but nothing compared me for the experience. Good heavens, what an amazing array of talent!

The event itself is an open mic that happens every Monday night and the “everybody” of the jazz/cabaret world seems to be there.  Wowie.  (I’m working on getting an interview with Caruso.)

A NY Evening Part 5: Furniture Detour

I should mentioned that Hilary Ann Feldman is one of the most organized performers I know.  For example when we were at Perry-Mansfield she had most of her music in 3 or 4 keys.

Two organizing ideas from Hilary that we lesser mortals might take advantage of:

1.  Hilary photocopies the cover and index of all her music books and keeps that info in a binder.  That way when she’s looking for a song, especially from a fake book, she has a central place to look without having to go through all her books.

2.  Her father built her the shelf unit above.  The shelves are the correct height to store music books and the file drawers are wide enough to fit folios of sheet music.

A NY Evening Pt. 4: Hilary Feldman

I met Hilary Ann Feldman at cabaret camp, and it was clear that she was a force to be reckoned with.  I was bowled over with her dedication to her craft, her active research in both discovering new material and learning more about the history of songs she knows.  So, it was an extra-special compliment when during the Perry-Mansfield student show, her introduction of me included the phrase “…if Google wore glasses…”

Hilary teaches and performs regularly in the Chicago area, has gotten new management and is working on expanding her performing in new areas, thus the gig at the Metropolitan Room.

She performed her most recent show, High Standards, her personal exploration of the notion of a “standard” song.  This gave her range to cover music from Irving Berlin to contemporary writers.  I was thrilled to finally see her version of The Girl in 14G which allowed her to demonstate her amazing chops as storyteller, operatic soprano and jazzer. 

Hilary is one of the most casually competent performers I know.  She makes incredibly difficult material look like a snap and manages to pack in a lot of substance in a straightforward, unintimidating style.  (Although part of me wonders if she would get more credit as a performer if she didn’t make her work look quite as effortless.)  The always-amazing Beckie Menzie served as music director for the show.

A NY Evening Pt. 2: Francesca Blumenthal

Like many cabarets, separate parties at the Metropolitan Room are communally seated at larger tables.  When my friend Hilary (see Pt. 3) and I were seated, waiting for the Menzie/Michael show, we ended up talking to the woman across from us. 

At one point she said that she had written a song that more than 20 people had recorded, including Cleo Laine.  I asked what the song was, and she said, “Oh, it’s called ‘The Lies of Handsome Men.’”  I think I surprised her when my reply was, “You’re Francesca Blumenthal!” 

It was espcially nice to tell her about the fact that we were using the song in CHAWbaret.   And I showed her my iPod with Andrea Marcovicci’s terrific recording of the song on her new greatest hits CD.  Something I learned when we were chatting is that the song was first written for Marlene Ver Planck. 

Now for my “Oops” moment.  I mentioned that I really enjoyed the revue of her songs, Queen of the Bohemian Dream, that was done at the Fringe Festival a couple of years ago.  When she said she had never heard of the revue, I said, I’d send her info about it.  I looked up the production, and it salutes the  work of Fran Landesman, not Francesca Blumenthal.  I’m still trying to figure out how to write this e-mail.

BTW, Tom Anderson was sitting across from me. I waited until just before he left to gush.

A NY Evening Pt 1: Beckie Menzie & Tom Michael

Monday night, a confluence of factors drew me to the Big Apple.  It felt so eventful, I’m spliting it into several posts.

It was Chicago night at The Metropolitan Room !  It started with Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael doing their show Better Together.  Friend-of-this-blog Beckie Menzie is not only Chicago’s music director of choice, but also an amazing singer and songwriter.  She and Tom Michael are a long-standing Windy City cabaret team and they have used the example of their partnership (which they describe as having a rocky beginning) as the inspiration for this evening thathighlighed the work of various partnerships such as Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, the Everly Brothers, and Simon and Garfunkel.

An ideal combination, both are amazingly supple, expressive, and communicative performers.  And although their CD, Better Together, is very, very good, in person they really command an audience.  Moreover, each is a terrific performer solo (and each knows how to “disappear” when the other is soloing — a more difficult skill than one might think).

Beckie Menzie is one of my favorite pianists.  I have never understood how her very dainty hands get all that sound out of the piano! 

The team’s Simon and Garfunkel medly was a pure charmer; unbelievably, they made My Favorite Things a tour de force.  And Chicago cabaret force (and fellow Cabaret Scenes reviewer) Carla Gordon wrote some terrific lyrics to You’re The Top to highlight the team’s friendship.

If I had one quibble about the show, it’s that they didn’t do any of Beckie Menzies’s original material.  She’s such a great songwriter, it’s a little frustrating to miss her doing something of her own.

Signature Sings: Part 1(1989-1994)

As part of the Signature Theatre 20th anniversary celebration, the theater is using their cabaret series to highlight productions of their past… in 5-year increments.  (Got that?)  So the first show featured Erin Driscoll, Eleasha Gamble, Amy McWilliams, Matt Pearson, and Stephen Schmidt singing songs from  Signature shows produced 1989 – 1994 including Sweeney Todd, Company, Wings, Assassins, and Into The Woods.

The evening is more mini-revue than cabaret in as much as the performers are singing as characters rather than sharing personal points of view using the material.  And there is a good deal of staging in the theater space.

That said, director Michael Baron has assembled a lot of material from the five shows being summarized* and keeps the evening moving along.  He makes an attempt to re-contextualize some very familiar material (e.g. Company’s Barcelona as a morning after menage a trois rather than a duet; Ladies Who Lunch as a duet with a Sex in the City vibe).  However, the show seems to work best with more straightforward presentations of the material.  And this is never truer than when either Erin Driscoll or Eleasha Gamble are on stage.  Driscoll was exquisitely mesmerizing in two songs from Wings and an total charmer in On the Steps of the Palace, sitting on top of the piano in only one shoe.  Gamble’s version of Last Midnight was absolutely riveting. 

The five performers sounded amazing in the group numbers.  Music director Jay Crowder deserves special praise for not only furnishing a completely nuanced evening of sound, but also for his amazing work in reducing numbers like Company and Everybody’s Got the Right cohesively for five performers.

As someone who passed the auditions for the first Signature production of Sweeney Todd in the Gunston Arts Center and saw that original production twice, I was especially happy to see the evening pay tribute to the history of Signature flashing photos from the productions of the shows onto the stage.  It is also terrific that people involved with the shows have written in with memories and that each performance will feature a different guest.  Tonight  Dana Kruger, the star of Wings, was particularly charming with her memories of the production.

The encore of the show was The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, the opening number of Signature’s first show, Sweeney Todd.  And it seemed poignantly appropriate to end the evening where it all started.

Signature Sings: 1989-1994
October 13 – 18, 2009

TICKETS  $33  Click here or call 703-820-9771

SPECIAL GUESTS INVITED TO SHARE THEIR MEMORIES INCLUDE: from the original company of Wings

Tuesday 8:30pm – Dana Kruger

Wednesday 8:30pm – Judy Simmons from the original companies of Sweeney Todd, Assassins, and Company

Thursday 8:30pm – Karma Camp, choreographer of Company

Friday 7:30pm – Jon Kalbfleisch, music director for Sweeney Todd, Assassins, Company, Wings, and Into the Woods

Friday 9:30pm – Liz Isbell from the original companies of Sweeney Todd and Company

Saturday 7:30pm – Buzz Mauro from the original companies of Assassins, Company and Into the Woods

Saturday 9:30pm – Artistic Director and Signature co- founder Eric Schaeffer, director of Sweeney Todd, Assassins, Company, Wings and Into the Woods

Sunday 2pm – Michael Sharp from the original companies of Sweeney Todd, Assassins and Into the Woods

Beverly Cosham at Blues Alley

It was a cabaret double header for me last night.  I managed to catch Beverly Cosham’s late show at Blues Alley, and boy am I glad I did!

The show was officially a release party for her new CD, How Do You Keep the Music Playing.  And not only did Beverly contribute to the party with terrific vocals, but she brought a six piece band (violin, bass, cello, piano, drum reeeds) providing Blues Alley with an amazing orchestral sound.

I’ll link to my official review when it’s posted on the Cabaret Scenes site.

Here’s her set list:

• At Last
• When Love Grows Up
• When the Meadow Was Blooming
• Rhode Island is Famous for You
• My Favorite Year
• Once Upon a Summertime
• A Day in the Life of a Fool
• In His Hands
• Putting Things Away
• How Do You Keep the Music Playing ?
• On My Way to You

DC Cabaret Network Open Mic — 10/12

A fun evening with really fun, talented people!

It was good to be at the Warehouse Theater again, although it’s always a challenge, never quite knowing where things like the piano, lights or an electrical outlet might be at any given time.  The main theater space has been re-configured with a really quirky (and perilous-in-the-dark) platform just inside the door.  And the bizarre set gave a loopy charm to the evening.

Here’s what people sang to the great playing of Reenie Codelka:

• Lonny Smith
  • Unexpected Complications
  • And So It Goes
  • I Was Here
• Christie Trapp
  • I’ll Get Up Tomorrow Morning
  • I Enjoy Being a Girl
  • Feelin’ Groovy
• Kathy Reilly
  • J’Attendrais
  • Un Jour Tu Vera
  • Some Other Time
• Chris Cochran
  • What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life ?
  • So Many Stars
  • He Comes Home Tired
• Ron Squeri
  • Unexpected Song
  • Ever After
  • The Butterfly
• Angie Gates
  • What a Difference a Day Makes
• Terri Allen
  • Taking a Chance on Love
  • I Wish You Love
  • Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
• Michael Miyazaki
  • I’m Not Afraid
  • I Had a Dream Aboout You
  • The Sweetest of Nights