Oh, My!
Wow, I've got so much to write about, I'm getting tired just thinking about it! Yikes! Well, here goes...if this goes on too long or I find myself falling asleep at the keyboard, I'll cut it off early and write part II soon!
So, without further ado...I left off just over a week ago, when I was looking forward to my weekend at the Metropolitan Room. And what a weekend it was! Friday evening began with "My Favorite Year," which was the 17th Birthday Party of Cabaret Hotline. The entertainment was a virtual who's who of New York cabaret (piano bar entertainer David Pellegrene, Lennie Watts, 2007 MAC debut award winners Esther Beckman and Rob Langeder, 2007 MAC award-winning comedian Michael Brill, Ruben Flores, 2007 Nightlife Award finalist Karen Oberlin, Jay Rogers, Karen Saunders, and Sue Matsuki...and, of course, the fabulous Steven Ray Watkins on piano!), with a special "out of town" contingent (Francesca Amari, Alice Frazier, and Bruce Clough). From Lennie's rockin' "Riders to the Stars" (complete with lovely and talented backup singers Tanya Holt, Karen Mack, and Alisa Schiff) to Sue Matsuki's touching rendition of the title song to close the show, it was a highly entertaining evening, and the audience was filled with cabaret lovers who turned out in droves to thank Stu Hamstra for all he's done for our community. The Jeff Matson awards was presented to Collette Black (booking manager at Rose's Turn) and Joe Regan, Jr. As Stu said, each of them has been "an inspiration, a resource and a good friend to cabaret performers." The first ever Dottie Burman award (for songwriting) was presented to Maria Gentile, who treated us all with one of her beautiful songs. All in all, a great party, and a fabulous tribute to one of the best things NYC cabaret has going for it - Stu Hamstra's Cabaret Hotline!
After a brief dinner break, I returned to the Metropolitan Room for Metrojam, which is their monthly open mike. Now, believe it or not, I'd never made it to Metrojam before, and what a pleasant surprise I had! Not only was there a pianist (basically a prerequisite for ANY open mike!), but also comprising the "house band" were a bassist, a drummer, and a tenor sax player! Woohoo! What fun! Hosted by Joe Bachana, the open mike moved along well, and featured some truly fantastic singers. Sue Matsuki, Kristen Sargeant, Suzanne Carrico, 98-year-old singer/pianist/songwriter Bernie Bierman (!), Marieann Meringolo, Harmony Keeney, Ken Greeves, Rob Langeder, Gretchen Reinhagen, Steve Maglio, Stanley Wilson, and yours truly all graced the stage and had a fab time jamming with the band. The musicians were awesome - can't wait till next month's jam (August 26th - be there!) to sing with them again. The musicians were: Marty Silver, piano; Bobby Sher, drums; Tommy Kirchmer, bass; Joey Mills, saxophone. Truly, a fun, fun night!!
The following night, I was back at the Metropolitan Room to catch Miles Phillips in his show Specific Overtures. Miles had previously performed this show in 2005 and 2006, and while I'd heard wonderful things about it, I'd never gotten a chance to catch it before. I'm so happy I was able to see it this time around! Inspired by the different "overtures" one is faced with in life, Miles put together a show to which everyone can relate. Opening with "Invocation and Instructions To The Audience," Miles immediately pulled his audience in and paved the way for some very touching moments. By focusing on life's "stepping off" points, those times when we're entering into something new, taking risks, not sure of the outcome, he managed to wring new meaning out of many familiar tunes. One of my personal favorites was "Baby Talk To Me," from the stage version of Bye Bye Birdie. Such a great song, and so rarely done ~ it fit perfectly in the show, and was made even better by some terrific backup vocals by Kristopher Monroe, Rob Langeder, and multi-talented tech director Michael Barbieri. Musical director Jason Wynn bantered easily with Miles, injecting some humor into the show, and also lent his voice to harmonize on several songs - a very nice addition. A great show - I'm so glad Miles brought it back and that I finally got a chance to see it!
Sunday evening, it was back to the Metropolitan Room for my own show: A Hint of Rosemary: The Songs of Rosemary Clooney. I wouldn't presume to write about myself, but I WILL say that I was really happy with the show. We hadn't done it for a while, and it was great to revisit all of those fabulous songs! A big thank-you to everyone who made it out to see the show - your support is GREATLY appreciated!
The next night was, of course, Cast Party night - and as usual, it was a terrifically entertaining evening. 10-year old Rocco Fiorentino wowed everyone with his "All of Me" and "Fly Me to the Moon," Natalie Douglas rocked with "Fever," and regulars Tina Jensen (one of the fab Birdland waitstaff), Sue Matsuki, Bob Dolphin, Rob Langeder, Christine Lavin, Suzanne Carrico, and Ben Rauch kept audience members bopping in their seats (and doing mental math)! Can't wait for this week's party!
Tuesday evening, I caught the new Harry Potter film (woohoo!) and then Wednesday was back in the studio doing some final tweaks on my cd. We're getting SO close to having a finished product - it's really exciting! We're actually hoping to finish up production this week, so keep checking for updates on a release.
Okay, it's after midnight now...I still have a few more shows to write about, but I also have to be up for the ol' day job in not so very long...so I'll post this for now, but coming soon will be a posting to include Whoop-Up at the Duplex, Miles Phillips in The Unrest Inside Me, and Lennie Watts in Manilow '73-'83. Fun, fun, fun!!
So, without further ado...I left off just over a week ago, when I was looking forward to my weekend at the Metropolitan Room. And what a weekend it was! Friday evening began with "My Favorite Year," which was the 17th Birthday Party of Cabaret Hotline. The entertainment was a virtual who's who of New York cabaret (piano bar entertainer David Pellegrene, Lennie Watts, 2007 MAC debut award winners Esther Beckman and Rob Langeder, 2007 MAC award-winning comedian Michael Brill, Ruben Flores, 2007 Nightlife Award finalist Karen Oberlin, Jay Rogers, Karen Saunders, and Sue Matsuki...and, of course, the fabulous Steven Ray Watkins on piano!), with a special "out of town" contingent (Francesca Amari, Alice Frazier, and Bruce Clough). From Lennie's rockin' "Riders to the Stars" (complete with lovely and talented backup singers Tanya Holt, Karen Mack, and Alisa Schiff) to Sue Matsuki's touching rendition of the title song to close the show, it was a highly entertaining evening, and the audience was filled with cabaret lovers who turned out in droves to thank Stu Hamstra for all he's done for our community. The Jeff Matson awards was presented to Collette Black (booking manager at Rose's Turn) and Joe Regan, Jr. As Stu said, each of them has been "an inspiration, a resource and a good friend to cabaret performers." The first ever Dottie Burman award (for songwriting) was presented to Maria Gentile, who treated us all with one of her beautiful songs. All in all, a great party, and a fabulous tribute to one of the best things NYC cabaret has going for it - Stu Hamstra's Cabaret Hotline!
After a brief dinner break, I returned to the Metropolitan Room for Metrojam, which is their monthly open mike. Now, believe it or not, I'd never made it to Metrojam before, and what a pleasant surprise I had! Not only was there a pianist (basically a prerequisite for ANY open mike!), but also comprising the "house band" were a bassist, a drummer, and a tenor sax player! Woohoo! What fun! Hosted by Joe Bachana, the open mike moved along well, and featured some truly fantastic singers. Sue Matsuki, Kristen Sargeant, Suzanne Carrico, 98-year-old singer/pianist/songwriter Bernie Bierman (!), Marieann Meringolo, Harmony Keeney, Ken Greeves, Rob Langeder, Gretchen Reinhagen, Steve Maglio, Stanley Wilson, and yours truly all graced the stage and had a fab time jamming with the band. The musicians were awesome - can't wait till next month's jam (August 26th - be there!) to sing with them again. The musicians were: Marty Silver, piano; Bobby Sher, drums; Tommy Kirchmer, bass; Joey Mills, saxophone. Truly, a fun, fun night!!
The following night, I was back at the Metropolitan Room to catch Miles Phillips in his show Specific Overtures. Miles had previously performed this show in 2005 and 2006, and while I'd heard wonderful things about it, I'd never gotten a chance to catch it before. I'm so happy I was able to see it this time around! Inspired by the different "overtures" one is faced with in life, Miles put together a show to which everyone can relate. Opening with "Invocation and Instructions To The Audience," Miles immediately pulled his audience in and paved the way for some very touching moments. By focusing on life's "stepping off" points, those times when we're entering into something new, taking risks, not sure of the outcome, he managed to wring new meaning out of many familiar tunes. One of my personal favorites was "Baby Talk To Me," from the stage version of Bye Bye Birdie. Such a great song, and so rarely done ~ it fit perfectly in the show, and was made even better by some terrific backup vocals by Kristopher Monroe, Rob Langeder, and multi-talented tech director Michael Barbieri. Musical director Jason Wynn bantered easily with Miles, injecting some humor into the show, and also lent his voice to harmonize on several songs - a very nice addition. A great show - I'm so glad Miles brought it back and that I finally got a chance to see it!
Sunday evening, it was back to the Metropolitan Room for my own show: A Hint of Rosemary: The Songs of Rosemary Clooney. I wouldn't presume to write about myself, but I WILL say that I was really happy with the show. We hadn't done it for a while, and it was great to revisit all of those fabulous songs! A big thank-you to everyone who made it out to see the show - your support is GREATLY appreciated!
The next night was, of course, Cast Party night - and as usual, it was a terrifically entertaining evening. 10-year old Rocco Fiorentino wowed everyone with his "All of Me" and "Fly Me to the Moon," Natalie Douglas rocked with "Fever," and regulars Tina Jensen (one of the fab Birdland waitstaff), Sue Matsuki, Bob Dolphin, Rob Langeder, Christine Lavin, Suzanne Carrico, and Ben Rauch kept audience members bopping in their seats (and doing mental math)! Can't wait for this week's party!
Tuesday evening, I caught the new Harry Potter film (woohoo!) and then Wednesday was back in the studio doing some final tweaks on my cd. We're getting SO close to having a finished product - it's really exciting! We're actually hoping to finish up production this week, so keep checking for updates on a release.
Okay, it's after midnight now...I still have a few more shows to write about, but I also have to be up for the ol' day job in not so very long...so I'll post this for now, but coming soon will be a posting to include Whoop-Up at the Duplex, Miles Phillips in The Unrest Inside Me, and Lennie Watts in Manilow '73-'83. Fun, fun, fun!!
posted by Jenna @ 9:47 PM
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