Another cabaret offering; this one from a theater in Eastern VA and the Washington DC area. As we keep talking about expanding the genre of "cabaret" in the Twin Cities, it seems other parts of the country are doing so as well. Granted this festival falls under the guise of a fully supported non-profit theater. Maybe that is the type of partnership we need to nurture?
Anyway - they just wrapped up their Summer Cabaret Series during the months of both July and August. On a small thrust stage, much more intimate than the Guthrie from the pictures on the website, each weekend featured a smorgasbord of vocal talent. They used major star power like Karen Mason, Sally Mayes and Jim VanSlyke to anchor the calendar. But digging deeper, it looks like they also have a roster of venerable locals that including their own Artistic Director, Evan Hoffman. (thus the connection) The selections looked like a great mix of Broadway, pop and true cabaret and concluded with - need I say it - a "showcase" of the DC Cabaret Network. Planting a seed for us to pursue here as well. NextStop Cabaret Series
In honor of last night's telecast; which I did not even watch. I am more apt to take in a live concert or a piece of theater than to watch television. Occasionally a bit of binge watching on Netflix, but the appeal is just not there for me as much. Television certainly does not do much to include our genre of music. Yes there has been Glee and Smash which can either be a guilty pleasure of a train wreck of sorts. But I can hearken back to the golden days of the Variety Show and how it exposed me to new music. Donny & Marie; Sonny & Cher; the Hudson Brothers; Carol Burnet - the list had tons of options that are long gone. I
guess we get the obligatory holiday special with Michael Buble or Kelly
Clarkson when they have a new disc coming out. But for the most part
they are now relegated to Vegas acts. So by chance I stumbled onto these 2 video clips by the Divine Miss M who seemed to be able to navigate several mediums with ease. The 1st is from one of her personal television specials in 1977. This is her opening number where she bursts out of a clam shell and launches into Oklahoma! I have no idea what sort of brain cell hatched it but it is certainly entertainment.
The 2nd is a musical mash-up from the Sonny & Cher show with both Bette and Cher camping it up doing a Trashy Ladies medley featuring everyone from Sweet Georgia Brown to Lulu's Back in Town. Total camp. And both are performed live which is an anomaly these days. So in some sense they are theatrical cabaret work being broadcast to a large viewing audience. I include both because they were Emmy Award winners in their category. (I could not embed - so follow the link)
Anyway - they just wrapped up their Summer Cabaret Series during the months of both July and August. On a small thrust stage, much more intimate than the Guthrie from the pictures on the website, each weekend featured a smorgasbord of vocal talent. They used major star power like Karen Mason, Sally Mayes and Jim VanSlyke to anchor the calendar. But digging deeper, it looks like they also have a roster of venerable locals that including their own Artistic Director, Evan Hoffman. (thus the connection) The selections looked like a great mix of Broadway, pop and true cabaret and concluded with - need I say it - a "showcase" of the DC Cabaret Network. Planting a seed for us to pursue here as well.