A shout out for local members Dorothy Doring and Phil Mattson. Every once in a while they are lucky to collaborate on a project and this coming Thursday is another of those fortunate opportunities.
Jazz Central is offering a new calendar with Thursday nights featuring vocalists from around the Cities. Dorothy and Phil have this week on 3/13. Dorothy is able to adapt across many genres and styles of music. Phil can play along with anything. This week will showcase some of her jazz and blues repertoire. They recently collaborated on a beautiful Strayhorn/ Ellington disc and I am guessing we will hear a few of those cuts. Jazz Central - 407 Central @ 7:00 PM (no charge noted on the website)
A snapshot of our recent TCCAN workshop this past weekend. Our Education outreach has really been stepping it up a notch this year in terms of opportunities for our members to grab some great cabaret skills and utilize them in their performances. Much of this is due to the diligence of leader Vicky Mountain. In particular, her connections at the fabulous MacPhail Center where we have had some great meeting spaces complete with open windows, sound systems and great pianos on hand. It makes for a great setting and we are lucky to have it. This one concerned the all-important time we have to collaborate with our accompanist, even if the time is short. A great lead-in can make or break your song. So it is important to know what you want, how to ask for it, and notate what you need in your music. The same can be said for your finish, it all needs to tie seamlessly from dialogue, to music, to lyric so that it delivers exactly what you want to your audience. Phil Mattson was on hand to share some of his expertise as 5 members tried out new and old pieces of their material. Vicky took great notes which will eventually be shared to all via the DropBox account. I know that our calendar gets full with Salons, Showcases, meetings, committees et al. But remember that these monthly workshops are a great membership benefit as well. And also, for any of our network of fans out there - all workshops are open to anyone to attend as an observer if you wish to learn more about the process of bringing cabaret onto the stage.
I think right now, Below 54 is arguably the ultimate cabaret club in the US. They have taken the old disco and transformed it into an intimate venue with a simple stage perfect for our genre. Even more impressive is the endless list of stars and talent that constantly fill up a calendar 365 days of the week. Obviously, being in New York, it is filled with stage talent. But it is also home to plenty of old marquee names that have made cabaret a mainstay of its own. Michele Lee is one of those of the former generation. We may not hear from her as a common household name. She was a popular headliner in the 60's and 70's with television and film to her credit as well. But like all the other grand dames - she has never really gone away. This clip from her solo show back a month also reflects exactly what we are aiming for in a cabaret evening; a connection with our audience, songs that have personal resonance and a small bit of unpredictability.
Not to keep harping the point, but to continue our dialogue. As individuals and TCCAN as a whole, we are still discussing what exactly cabaret, as an art form, means to us. Several words have risen; New York-style, personal storytelling, authentic, intimate. I think we all agree in general, but the semantics of it still begs conversation. So to stoke the fire yet again, I am referring to the Chicago Cabaret scene. I get several feeds that I subscribe to - the two most prolific coming out of both Chicago and New York. Each has a much larger population of both artists and an audience with venues to take it in. But in this week's performance calendar, there was a huge gamut of choices. A new digs called Troquet, which promises a French bistro style of entertainment. The Singer's Spotlight on the 4th Friday of every month, is likely a partner to our own TCCAN Salons. Scott Gryder is promoting a "one-man parade of vaudeville entertainment" with improvised banter. The With A Twist Boys, a male quartet, is doing a show of girl groups from the McGuire Sisters to the Pointers. Jazz and sushi; check! Mardi Gras treasures with Michael "big daddy" Parcas; check. Even a Madonna tribute called "Lucky Star" by Melissa Young. All of it is officially sanctioned by Chicago Cabaret as it pushes the limits of what some might call cabaret. I can't speak to how big each following is, but it is great to know that these performers are "doing their thing." I think it is just more impetus from the Executive Committee to membership, to get out, find your own voice and create your work. Remember for members, we also have a calendar to share your gigs. Some of you are ardent in getting them to Marketing, but just so the rest of you are aware. Just Do It!
Sorry I have no pics to share from the past weekend, but some great music was shared by our members at the Town House last Saturday. Sooner or later, we will be free of these winter weekends that plague us. But meanwhile, our lucky audiences have been treated to some pretty fabulous sets of entertainment. Our members have a broad range of talent and their musical repertoire amazes even me who knows tunes from every corner of the spectrum. Of course the holidays made an entry with some Valentine's chocolate love from host Jennifer. But we also heard some Christmas discontent as well from Connie. We had a German chanteuse complete with yodeling and hula hoops - where else can you find that. Songs with small town shout outs to Wisconsin & Michigan from Oron, Mary & Kevin. Rhonda did a trio of elegant treasures that were all new to me. Katia went from the Little Mermaid to Brandi Carlisle. Audience sing alongs, witty banter.... Another great TCCAN event.
A huge shout out to friend and former colleague Eric Marc Olson who is making cabaret happen in the Big City. So many good things about what they are doing that reflect our intentions here as well.
Take time to read the post below the video. As we at TCCAN grapple to define what we mean by Cabaret, it is refreshing to see many of the same branding words used freely. "Singer/actor," "greater connection," "authentic & original." Education is a KEY component of this company. Acting the Song is a great cabaret training, even if disguised under Musical Theatre repertoire. We can talk as much as we want about the days of the Great American Songbook, Musical Theatre et al. But when it comes down to it, our job as a cabaret performer is to dig beyond the melody of the song and discover what makes it uniquely "ours." Our workshops are making us ponder that, and like them, I think it would be great in the future to open those doors to others that want to explore too. Her name is Raffaela Cichheti and she got the chance to perform at the Metropolitan Room. I find it remarkable that they are using high school student's to tackle this. Granted it is NYC and there is a giant pool of people itching to do this there. Lastly, our Marketing Committee has been developing a YouTube channel for us to use as an organization. What we do is a performance art and does not translate in published words. So the ideal vehicle to showcase the work we do is YouTube. The channel is there and we have a specific folder for any of our performance work. Please start adding it to our channel so we can show everyone the great work we are doing.
Yet again, another obtuse cabaret tangent here. But as we discussed, cabaret can take on many forms with parody & satire high among them. Thus, more fuel to the fire on the forthcoming Olympic games coming to Sochi. The Broadway community has never been a silent one when it comes to political opinions and platforms. So it is without surprise that this mock-opera came to fruition. It is a musical satire called Love and Punishment on the state of Russian censorship written by John Walton West and Jason Michael Snow. What is unusual is the outpouring of talent that participates in the project. It is narrated by the talented Andrew Rannells from Book of Mormon. But in addition to that, it is a veritable Who's Who of the New York theater community trying to out-do each other in both scene and song. Watch the full 11 minute feature.
