Attached is a podcast from a day masterclass a year back that just found its way to my feeds. It is sponsored by the Dramatists Guild - so expectedly, the focus is on the structure of writing. Of course I am a huge champion of his work. I was first mesmerized by his score when I saw him conducting the National Tour of his show Parade. Because of my background in theatre, it is no surprise that his songs are character driven. His primary aim is to "tell a story" and the "best what to do that is to sing it." Trust that a song is one moment for a character. Certainly how I approach a song. Worth a listen. In The Room - JRB
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)
Our own Phil Mattson has gotten his share of shout outs from TCCAN and the local scene. All rightfully so. Here is another great feature that has been shared with our members, but worth broadcasting to a larger audience. It is a slightly old feature from last Fall on TPT's Minnesota Originals series. Each segment is a short 5-10 minute documentary on local heroes who have put a stamp on the arts community, not just in town, but across the country. Those of us fortunate to have worked with him, know what a tremendous resource he can be as a musical director while we are at the mic. But his true gift has always been his spin on Jazz, and in particular - vocal arrangements. In this clip he talks about how he merges the concept of music theory to musicality and comes up with pure genius. His list of credits in huge and his impact nothing less. Please enjoy.
I did a virtual shout out to this fabulous event last year, and wanted to do the same again this year. The Fest just finished up last week and is the most ambitious music undertaking I am aware of for our genre of cabaret; 470 artists in attendance, almost 175 performances including 21 world premiere pieces. What an amazing Fringe Fest and I vow to be there in person one of these days.
These are not the names we see coming out of the New York scene, but an international roster of artists, each with a unique spin on a song set. Kathy Najimy from Sister Act, Hollywood gangster Robert Davi doing his take on Sinatra, Paul Capsis in a Brothers Grimm meets Ziggy Stardust autobiographical piece, folk star Melanie regaling her tales... On and on. The festival has a theme of Not Your Usual Suspects. Keep in mind the Festival in itself is relatively new; only in existence since 2009. It would be amazing to do something even on a smaller scale here in the Twin Cities. Maybe our Cabaret Bingo Blitz is the start of something bigger!
For those that were lucky enough to be there, TCCAN made a vivid debut at Hell's Kitchen on the last Monday in June. We have actively been scouting alternative venues and were lucky to be scheduled onto their summer calendar. Our team of 8 were led by Steven Hobert at the piano. A vocal crowd of friends and curious visitors was on hand to give each a warm welcome. The space is a comfortable fit and there is a full bar and kitchen available. The evening had a jazz leaning, but everyone brought their A-game in both selections and stories shared. Here's hoping to a relationship that continues, because the evening was exactly what cabaret should be about.
* This takes away nothing from our usual Saturday night Salon which was held 2 nights earlier in St Paul at the Town House. Two great evenings, new and old material and a Bingo winner in our Bingo Blitz - congrats to Jeff Walkup who attended double salons and was able to come up with a winning card.
In case you are finding us on the blog and not our regular mailings or Facebook page... For our upcoming June monthly Salon, audiences will have not one, but two opportunities to see our full TCCAN membership in action. Once, on Saturday the 21st at our usual digs in St Paul @ Town House, and a separate slate of singers Monday the 23rd @ Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis.
For the special event, we are branding it out TCCAN Bingo Blitz and encouraging our loyal audiences to find us at both places by filling out a Bingo card that is printed with all singers. For each initial you grab at a performance, it puts you one step closer to a winning Bingo. Besides our Salon rosters, the cards also feature a few "wild card" squares where members are doing solo gigs around town also. One of the winning entries will win a TCCAN basket with CD merchandise from some of our members so you can take the music home with you. Visit our website to view and download the complete card and more venue details.
