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
In scouring feeds daily, there are always a few sweet finds. This one is "barely" connected to the work we do. But I still found it so precious that I wanted to share it.
His name is Iain and he is a precocious youngster in the NYC area who has his own video channel. He posts reviews of the many Broadway shows he sees, and actually has some valid and colorful things to say about each. Animated and well spoken. This is a recent clip of him singing one of his favorite showtunes. And NO it is not from Annie, Matilda or Billy Elliot. It is a very studied and heartfelt rendition of Sondheim's Finishing the Hat. Amazing work - with drawing et al.
In related national news, a monumental event in New York coming up in October that should grab our attention. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation and celebrating 25 years now, the tag line is Four Magical Nights. It is from Oct 20-23 and will be hosted at Lincoln Center. Each night has it's own star-studded roster and a host very much like our own Salons.
Night 1 is dubbed I Love a Piano and celebrates the tradition of great singing pianists. It features notable songsters like Jason Robert Brown, Mark Nadler, Steve Ross, Nellie McKay and many others who are cabaret double threats.
Night 2 is a gala tribute to legend Julie Wilson hosted by Ann Hampton Callaway. Those two names should pack marquee value alone, but the list goes on to include 20 other artists. It is titled Quiet Please, There's a Lady on the Stage and celebrates her 90th Birthday!
Night 3 is Something Sort of Grandish and will be a tribute to the music of Lane & Harburg hosted by Andrea Marcovicci and Jeff Harner. The festival closes with Come On and Hear - the songs of Irving Berlin hosted by Klea Blackhurst. Altogether, an amazing collection of talent all devoted to our world of cabaret. Just in case you wanted to use up any frequent flyer miles.
Three separate tidbits in this posting. All are related to regular colleagues in our TCCAN community.
The first is an addition to the upcoming Salon on Sept 20th. Lori Dokken, performer extraordinaire, will be on hand as our cabaret accompanist for the evening. Over the last several months she has been generous to share her stage at the Town House with us for our Saturday Salons, but this will be her debut alongside our roster of singers. We are excited to finally have this chance to collaborate and she brings a special artistry that is all her own. Please plan to join us if you are not already.
And in an abundance of wealth, regular musical director Steven Hobert has his own special gig on that very same evening. He has been at work on a project called "Ocean Eyes" for a long while and is having his CD Release Party also on Sept 20th @ the Friends Meeting House at 6:30 on 1725 Grand Ave. So it is indeed possible to catch both events in tandem if you are wanting. He is also featuring it on 10/4 at the new Matties on Main in Minneapolis from 9:00-11:00 if you are needing to take a rain check on that date.
Lastly - David Cummins who is a staunch advocate of TCCAN and does regular coverage of our Salons, has told us that his station KFAI is having their pledge drive on Sept. 22nd while he is on air. So feel free to give him a call and support the great work they do in bringing our alternative music to the airwaves.
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.
