Again - we all know the entire civilized world of cabaret & culture centers around New York City. We, ourselves have gotten caught up in "new york style" cabaret which we try to emulate. So it is no surprise that there is a list compiled by Broadway World for the Artists of the Year in our field.
If you are connected to anyone in the theater world, you are aware that their media has taken on a massive PR blitz in the last few years to nominate locals for their Best of List. This is not meant to demean if this applies to any of you... but the nominating and voting process is circumspect with actors from Lakeshore Payers up against stallwarts like Sally Wingert at the Guthrie. I mean really! The voting procedure is then like a campaign for Dancing With the Stars or homecoming queen and I am guessing therein lies the rub of how Broadway World racks up some revenue with sponsored hits to their website.
Broadway World Awards
But I digress. We have problems defining exactly what it is we do, but they seem to have ease. Cabaret Performer of the Year seems it would suffice. But this is the last listed category. How about Best Female Vocalist? With 14 women competing for the Title! Not to be confused with Best Female Celebrity Show or Best Female Jazz Vocalist. Who decides this? When did Ute Lemper become a Jazz star? I think I would certainly see a show by Stacy Sullivan before I would pay to see Lucie Arnaz? Who is Julie Budd and what makes her a celebrity? I would be upset if I was Mark Nadler who has been pounding the keys for decades and is still labeled an amateur under Jeff Daniels who has decided he is now a cabaret star. How about Best Debut? Best Non-Piano Instrumentalist? There must be over 200 nominees in all which makes the Oscars look like a bake sale comparitively. I think the idea is maybe that everyone is a winner and can go home with a prize.
It is great that there are so many names and options to choose from. We should be so lucky in the Twin Cities. But I don't think these awards are what the art of cabaret is really intending to find. My Two Cents.
I think as cabaret artists, we are always looking for the piece of music that is a little bit of a surprise and something no one else may have stumbled onto before. I got one such find via the Hennepin Library this week. I always search the new music CDs on order and saw one a month back for Cass Elliot from the Mamas & the Papas. I waited patiently until it arrived in my queue this week.
What a revelation. It is her last recording before she died, and not only that, it is a cabaret/club act that she was in the middle of developing called Don't Call Me Mama Anymore. It is recorded live at Mike Kelley's in Chicago and is everything we expect in a cabaret set and nothing at all that we would expect from her.
There is humorous patter & stories to set things up. I suspect there were plenty more on hand that were not included in the studio release which is sad, because they really let her personality shine. She opens with Pippin's "Extraordinary" with revamped lyrics by none other than Stephen Schwartz - so showtunes are represented. There is a great torch song medley. Classic songbook material. Original tunes written for her. And that voice - somewhere between the camp of the original Bette Midler and the chanteuse of Eydie Gorme. So glad I have added it to my library and so sad that we never got to see where this fine talent would have eventually landed. Give it a listen.
Twin Cities Cabaret is getting a rare chance to partner with another musical organization at next week's Rough Cuts series. Artistic Director Ben Krywosz is always trying to push the boundaries of theatre that brings together song with story. Cabaret may be a stretch from his usual audience, but not the intention of their work.
Each month, they give public showings of works in process; all with music stands and a limited amount of rehearsal hours. But the effort is a chance for performers or composers to try out a piece in front of a warm audience and get feedback & insight. So 8 of our TCCAN roster will get a chance to experiment with new material or refine a project already in process. Janet Skidmore, Dean Elwell, Mary Keepers, Joey Babay, Katia Cardenas, Dorothy Doring, Connie Dussl & Vicky Mountain will all share the stage with Jerry Rubino giving some guidance as a musical director.
The setting will be slightly different than our normal Cabaret/ Salons, but it's still a chance to catch some of the great work we do in infant stages. There is a Monday 12/8 show at the Nautilus studios in St Paul and on Tues 12/9 at the Walker COmmunity Church in S Minneapolis. Both are at 7:30 PM. Admission is only $5 for each and full details are available on their website.
Nautilus Music Theater
Not exactly the same Wild Florida Beach teen features that come to mind... But three of our lovelys will be taking it to the stage at the La Femme Lounge of the Gay 90s on Thursday evening. Jennifer, Mary & Sheridan are performing a Cabaret evening called S' Wonderful in tribute to bartender Steve Swonder who is presenting and producing the piece. If you have not seen the space - it is everything both seedy and sequined that a Drag Lounge can bring. This trio will certainly up the kitsch factor for an evening.
The girls will be accompanied by regular Todd Price and will have solo sets as well as some surpise group numbers. Show time is 9:00 and tickets are $15. Drinks and munchies available or reservations for full sit down dinner. How glam is that!
In the spirit of collaboration, I have had a few conversations around town with other colleagues that are also trying something unique to shake up the status quo in the Twin Cities music scene. All are heavy on the Musical Theater slant, but if any of our members are looking for an alternative, please check them out. Like us they are trying to find audiences and open doors for some of the great talent we have.
First is Ruthie Baker, who has an impressive local resume as well as time in the Big City, NYC. Her new creation is Second Fiddle Productions with the tag line of They Called It a Flop.. We Call It an Opportunity. Similar to the Encores series in New York, but on a much smaller scale - at the moment. She explains the process as two-fold. First is to find scores in the theater archives that have been lost and forgotten, maybe they just didn't hit their stride, or else were a victim of bad timing. Secondly, she is championing the unsung heroes of the local community and trying to give them that chance to step out from ensemble work or stereotypes and spread their wings in roles that really challenge them. Like us, they currently are nomads to a permanent home. But they have three pieces under their belt as fully staged concert readings of shows with a production of Maltby & Shire's; Baby slated for November.
Second Fiddle
Next is Musical Mondays at Hell's Kitchen. This November they celebrating their 2nd Anniversary. The concept came to Max Wojtanowicz when Hell's Kitchen was seeking some alternative programming for their calendars. Similar to our cabaret format, they have a monthly slot on the 1st Monday of each month. They tap into a rotating roster of Cities musical and vocal talent, a regular music director and a theme for the month. A director curates song selections between all parties and molds it into a cohesive evening of song. They don't connect with dialogue as we do, but they rely heavily on Modern Musicals and classic American Songbook. Like us they ask for donations and have a quick read through with the accompanist, but otherwise shoot from the hip. Check out their Facebook page and catch the show this coming Monday the 3rd.
Musical Mondays at Hell's Kitchen
Lastly - the new kid on the block. It is called Cast Party at CAMP and is basically karaoke Live for the Musical Theater geeks. Maria Stuckey hosts and everyone is told to bring along their favorite classics and sing along out of the songbooks in an open mic. It sounds like a festive party atmosphere which encourages duets, sings offs and even some sort of contests. Looks like they also use Monday eves to grab the potential theater crowds on their night off.
Cast Party
A TCCAN podcast has been on my bucket list for the longest time. But I have neither the technology skills or spare time to bring this to fruition. I find them a great distraction while at work opposed to streaming on Pandora or Spotify.
Here is a good resource that I have just found. Again, because of my background it does lean very heavily on the Broadway stage and show tunes. They are weekly hour shows hosted by Laurence Maslon that have a theme or tangent. The menu is a bit hard to navigate until your figure out the lamppost motif. But once you do, you can sort by performers, writers et al. Lots of creative topics in the archives from getting old in the business to haunted Halloween numbers. If nothing else, it is a great resource for both music and story, free for your listening. I will add the link here, but also add it to our resource links on the side.
Broadway To Main Street
I am a little late on sharing this feature, but it showcases our reliable member Arne Fogel among others. It turns up surprisingly in the Twin Cities Business Journal. So often we are engrossed in the creative aspect of what we do as cabaret artists, hell - any sort of artist - that we neglect the business side of what we do. This is well owned by our Marketing Committee. Great product; but what if no audiences come?
The article focuses on a small handful of musician/ singers from genres of pop, R&B and even Arne with his crooning repertoire. All of these artists would certainly be considered successful on a local level. But that does not guarantee much in terms of a steady paycheck or even regular bookings around our very vibrant scene. It talks about reinventing yourself, day jobs and fleeting fame. I think it would be a great topic for our Education Committee to explore; even though this article points out that there is nothing close to a formula for figuring it all out. Read the full article below.
Making Money For Music
