Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Update from Producer, Tanya Moberly - February 29, 2012

SALON – that unique, MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING,Weekly Open Mic Event, created and hosted by Mark Janas returns to Etcetera, Etcetera - 352 West 44th Street, NYC 10036 – on Sunday, March 4th from 7-10:30PM! (Sign-Up Begins at 6:15.)

The optional theme for the evening is “City Life”.

Remember, any material, on or off theme, is always welcome at Salon.

Our Co-Host will be Corinna-Sowers Adler! Corinna hosts the monthly concert series “Music at the Mansion” at the Oakside Bloomfield Cultural Center (240 Belleville Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ). Makensie Caine, April Boyett, and Jim Van Slyke will be featured on March 25th at 3pm. Corinna is also bringing her “By Request” show back to The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St, NYC on April 1st at 4pm. For more information:www.corinnasings.com.

Our Salon Spotlight will feature Tom Vaughn! Tom will be bringing his debut show “Trail of Cheers” to TheLaurie Beechman Theatre, 407 West 42nd St, NYC on March 20th, March 30th & April 11th. All shows at 7pm. For more information: tomvaughnmusic.com.

Salon continues every Sunday...

March 11th:
Theme: One Hit Wonders
Co-Host: Kim Grogg (with Rain Collazo, Wendy Russell, Stevie Ray Watkins & Sidney Myer!)
Salon Spotlight: Amadeus Lundberg

March 18th:
Theme: Coping Mechanisms
Guest Host/Pianist: Matthew Martin Ward
Co-Host: Kenneth Gartman

March 25th:
Theme: The Rat Pack
Co-Hosts: Terese Genecco & Shaynee Rainbolt

Salon is an ongoing open entertainment event in which singers, writers and musicians share their talent with each other and audience members.

There is a $10 cash cover collected at the door and a $15 food/drink minimum (cash or credit) per person. (For more information about Etcetera, Etcetera's delicious menu: www.etcrestaurant.com.) There are no reservations; seating is on a first come/first served basis, Doors open and sign up begins at 6:15pm. The evening runs 7-10:30, withone intermission. If you would like to sign up to perform, see one the evening's 'Etceterettes' to fill out a card with your name, the name of your song, whether or not Mark will be playing for you and any upcoming events you'd like to promote. We do not present performers in order of sign-up, however, indicating requests as clearly and as early as possible as far as time restraints are concerned always makes everything much more possible. ALWAYS BRING SEVERAL SONG SELECTIONS to avoid duplication. All types of material, on or off theme are always welcome at Salon. We enthusiastically welcome instrumentalists, poets, playwrights, essayists, comics, illusionists and performance artists. Please limit your selections to three or four minutes in length (including introductions). Please also bring clear, complete charts for Mark to read. Sitting on the piano is not allowed, nor is flash photography. Please turn off all noise making devices and give performers your undivided attention.

Visit our website at www.markjanasthesalon.com and look for us on Face Book!

Thank you to our sponsors Dr. Garrett Bennett & Father Jeffrey Hamblin, MD!

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday, March 4th!

Thanks,

Tanya Moberly
Producer

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Salon Wrap Up for February 19, 2012 "Enough With This Love Sh*t! Songs About Anything But."

The Salon was bubbling with energy, perhaps due to the nearly 50 degree weather we had on this lovely Sunday. But perhaps it was due to the sunny and sardonic personalities of our co-hosts, Mary Liz Mcnamara and MAC & Bistro Award Winner Ritt Henn! Ritt & Mary Liz will be performing TAKE THAT! Tunes by Mcnamara & Henn on Thursday, February 23rd at 9pm at The University Glee Club’s “Afterglow” at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th St, NYC. But, before that, they were HERE hosting The Salon!

Mary Liz and Ritt kicked off the evening with their song, “An Opening Number.” (No really, that’s what it’s called.)
Co-Host Ritt Henn
Co-host Mary Liz Mcnamara
Marya Zimmet sang a fresh and gorgeous version of the popular song, “Bye Bye Blackbird”, while Ritt plucked along on his bass with Mark ably accompanying on piano. Marya has a show coming up at Don’t Tell Mama on March 7 (7pm) and March 11 (5pm.) Elaine St George sang a lively and smooth version of “Swanee River Rock” which she says is related to her “evil ex who’s from the south.” (I’ll take her word for it.) Elaine has a show coming up in June - “Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell (and others) on Relationships” With her amazing arrangements and interpretation, I can’t wait to see what Elaine does with these songs!

Elaine St George
Stephanie Zagorin, lovely lady in red, was next with “A Flower is a Lonesome Thing.” Susan Hodgson amused us about all kinds of foods, including BACON! BACON, BACON BACON in a song called (wait for it), “Bacon.” The song was written by our own Mary Liz Mcnamara, and I believe won the 2004 MAC Award for best song (thanks to Stephen Hanks, for the info!) Susan has a show, “On The Bumpy Road to Love,” coming up on February 25 at 3pm at Don’t Tell Mama’s, directed by Peter Napolitano and musical direction by Barry Levitt. Tickets are only $5!

Barb Malley started off by telling us a charming story about counseling her grand-niece about love, which despite being against the theme, warmed our hearts. She then charmed us further with Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen.” Barb is doing her cabaret show all over Queens and Brooklyn after touring through Manhattan. We’re so thrilled to have her here week after week.

Barb Malley
Composer and lyricist Nicholas Levin invited Candice Oden to the stage to sing one of his tunes, “Who You Really Are.” Candice joked that she felt immense pressure being asked to sing a composer’s work -- she came through with flying colors. Nicholas should be thrilled to have paired such an exciting and touching song with this powerful singer. Bravo and brava!

David Ballard sang one of our favorites, “Way Ahead of My Time” by Peter Mills. David is still in the BMI Workshop and continues to write clever lyrics with other young musicians. Erin Cronicanyour blogette, sang “How Long”, another song from Peter Mills. Erin (that’s me!) is starring as Masha in an upcoming production of Three Sisters with The Seeing Place Theater March 9-25 here in NYC. (The translation is done by Irish playwright, Brian Friel, which promises a funnier, more modern version of this classic Chekhov play.) Tickets are only $12, so you have no reason to not to go out to see it! Liz told a story about a show she did called, “Three Sisters, the Club Act” - where Masha had a long red wig and sang a rap song (!) about being aloof and adulterous. Hopefully Erin’s show will be just as funny!
Nicholas Levin
Adam Shapiro sang the haunting and heart warming “Disneyland” from the musical, Smile. Adam is The Salon’s very first male Etceterette. We think he did an amazing job, testosterone aside. :) Our Salon Spotlight tonight was Amy Engelhardt! Amy spent 13 years writing, recording and touring with the Grammy-nominated vocal quartet, The Bobs. Her solo album, Not Gonna Be Pretty, garnered multiple Just Plain Folks Award nominations (“The Grassroots Grammys” – LA Times). Amy is the recipient of MAC’s 2011 Dottie Burman Award for Songwriting and is thrilled to be back in New York after a long stint “from behind the orange curtain” (aka Los Angeles.)

Amy’s first song was “Dateline: Alaska,” and she was accompanied by Ritt on the bass. Her second song was the track entitled “Like Me” from a solo album she released in 2008 called, “Not Going To Be Pretty.” Her last piece was a “holiday” song called, “How Did This Thing...” saying that holiday songs can be sung at any time (after all “Christmas can be in your heart.”) Actually, she said, the song was about family - Jesus’ family. With a line like, “How Did This Thing Get In Me” we don’t care what kind of song it is -- we thought it was hilarious!

Classical Corner

For this week’s Classical Corner, Mark Janas asked Ritt to join him on the stage and they both “flew by the seat of their pants” - classical improv! Mark started with a refrain that everyone would recognize - this week it was “Painted Black” by The Rolling Stones -- and they riffed on it for a good 10 minutes. First, Ritt would back Mark’s piano on the bass. Then Ritt took over and created a melody with Mark providing backing chords. This went back and forth as they ebbed and flowed together through different melodic lines, themes, and genres of music… still using that same basic refrain from The Stones. It’s one of the more incredible things I’ve witnessed at The Salon. Seriously, aside from the feeling of family and the talent that The Salon attracts, Classical Corner is a standout attraction in New York cabaret!
The Salon Host, Mark Janas
Second Set

Our fearless co-hosts, Ritt & Mary Liz bounced back to the stage for the send set of the evening. Now, I’ve spent a bunch of time trying to find a way to recap their banter… it’s really difficult. They lay on the jokes faster than I can type, and I can type VERY quickly!

Their first song of their 3 song set was “Speak of the Devil” with Mary Liz at the piano, and Ritt on vocals and bass. For song two -- “Sometime I’m Gonna Fall” -- Mary Liz moved to bass and Ritt to the… ukelele? Um, just so you could see what it looks like to have a wee lass playing a large standing bass and a VERY tall man with a miniature instrument -- a photo:

Co-hosts Mary Liz Mcnamara and Ritt Henn
For the final song of their set, Mary Liz was back at the piano and Ritt on bass for “The Monkey Song” complete with primate calls. I have seen a lot cabaret acts, and this is one that is absolutely unstoppable and unmatched in our community. We’re so lucky to have them with us… seriously.

Salon Producer, Tanya Moberly, brought us, “Out of Habit,” a Ani DiFranco song that she did NOT sing in her recent, acclaimed cabaret show. Instead of promoting her own show, she promoted The Salon’s next “Salon Presents” show, which is happening Monday night! Carolann Sanita is our next performer in our series, “The Salon Presents” - she has two amazing shows scheduled for February 20, one at 7pm and the next at 9:30pm right here at Etc Etc. For reservations, please contact tanya@tanyamoberly.com. (The 7pm show is sold out, so shoot for the 9:30pm show!)

Louisa Poster brought up the timeless Jerome Kern song, “Look For The Silver Lining.” She’s in the longest running show Off-Off Broadway, First in Line, by Israel Horowitz. Mary Liz asked her if she had any stories about bad love. Louisa simply said, “His name was Bud, and he was married.” Lawrence Florek came to the stage best with his rendition of “On A Wonderful Day Like Today” with some fun and imaginative accompaniment by Mark (he sure know’s how to bring some personality out of a traditional chart!) Lawrence has been studying cabaret for a time, and has a show that he’s putting together! We sure hope he brings some of his songs into future Salons.

Lawrence Florek
Lou Iacovino was next with the charming, “Let Me Try Again” After the song, Mary Liz and he riffed for about 4 minutes about love, loss, and religious people on boats. Joan Jaffe sang an ode to America’s hometown, “Queens.” (Wait, what?) This week, Joan will be shooting the film, “One For You” and is finishing up on the documentary, “Steps Beyond.” So exciting to see Salon members doing work in other parts of the industry!

Joan Jaffe
Candice Oden came back to the stage with her own song with her signature tune (or, at least that’s what I call it) “The Time Around” by Frank Wildhorn. Richard Eisenberg sang, “The Grand Old Game”, a song about the duplicity of the political system. Richie is putting together a show of his works. Dates are TBD - you’ll hear about here first! Erin Cronican (me!) was invited back to the mic to premiere a Nicholas Levin original, “I Deserve Better” - I was honored to be able to bring this to The Salon (thank you, Nick!)

Candice Oden
Marissa Mulder blew us away with her sultry and “Money Tree.” As Ritt chit-chatted with Marissa after her song, she quipped, “This is a great conversation, but can I plug my show?” Marissa is doing her MetroStar winning show at Metropolitan Room called Illusions, March 7-10pm at 7pm with musical direction by Salon board member Bill Zeffiro and direction by previous Salon co-host, Karen Oberlin.

Todd Monroe, with Mark Janas on piano and Ritt Henn on bass, brought in “All You Get From Love Is A Love Song.” It’s been a while since Todd came to the Salon - we’re very glad to have him back with us. Marnie Klar sang the amazing pop ballad, “Ghost of a Dog.” Marnie had a show in late 2011 - we’re hoping that she brings a show to us again soon!

Father Jeff Hamblin, Salon benefactor and great friend of the arts community, was next with a lovely, “I’ll Never Fall In Love.” Melissa Heche came up (with Bill Zeffiro on the keys) with the timeless and sassy, “Proud Mary.” Did you know she was an audiologist? You learn something new every day! Kathleen France was next with her deep, throaty alto, armed with charts for both Mark and Ritt, with the song “King of the Road.” We love it when this talented lady comes to Salon!

Kathleen France
Dawn Derow, with guitar in hand, charmed us with “Ode to Cape Cod” from her show (backed by Kathleen France on vocals). Tonight Dawn recorded her show so it can be released on CD - all or part of the show will be posted on YouTube, with an album in the works - we’ll post links in future blogs as they become available! After accompanying several lovely ladies this evening, Bill Zeffiro came to the piano with his tune, “The Final Daze.” Bill says that this is one of the older tunes in his repertoire, related to a certain marriage that failed. Kind of appropriate for this theme. We’re sorry for your pain, Bill, but are thrilled for the creativity it yielded!

Marissa Mulder

In a rare treat, Bill Zeffiro brought back Marissa Mulder to the stage with an original tune that was born at The Salon in late 2011, called, “My Kind of Guy.” (written by Mr. Zeffiro.) Co-hosts Mary Liz and Ritt were came back for one final number (no, so sad!) with their quintessential closing number (which I got the pleasure of hearing at the Urban Stages Winter Rhythms festival) -- “Being Here With You Is Worth 20 Bucks”.” They riled the audience into singing and clapping along as they swayed their candles and cell phones in the air. What an amazing end of an amazing evening!

Co-hosts Mary Liz Mcnamara and Ritt Henn

NEXT WEEK: THERE WILL BE NO SALON. Enjoy the Oscars!

RETURNING MARCH 4: The optional theme for the evening is “City Life.” Bring along any song that talks about cities, towns, crowds, dirt, noise or pest infestations. We also welcome songs that are off-theme. (Be sure to bring a second option, in case your song has already been reserved.)

Our Co-Host will be Corinna Sowers-Adler.
Our Salon Spotlight will feature Tom Vaughn.


-Erin Cronican
Blogette for The Salon
URL’s I missed? Names misspelled? Please email me.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Salon Wrap Up for February 12, 2012 "Hark Throbs"

It was absolutely packed at Etc Etc restaurant this week as we returned to The Salon on a frigid February evening. The love was palpable, practically oozing out of the room as we slipped into Valentine’s week. Mark Janas bounced to the stage to introduce the evening, acknowledging the lovely decorations provided by Etc Etc and our very own David Gillam.

Mark Janas- Host of The Salon
Our theme was “Hark Throbs” -- appropriately named not only for the romantic (albeit it, Hallmark inspired) holiday on Tuesday, but also because of our wonderful co-host, classical guitarist, Sean Harkness. Sean burst onto the cabaret scene last year, winning a MAC award for debut performance. He’s quickly become a favorite on the scene for his sensitive musicianship and charming performance manner. Joining Sean was the “Harkness Harem” - a bevy of beautiful ladies including Deb Berman, Carole Demas, Karen Kohler, Dawn Derow, Pamela Luss, Karen Oberlin, and Randi Shane. You can find information about the shows he’s playing with all of these fabulous ladies on his website: www.seanharness.com. We’re so glad to have him with us!

Sean’s first song, to kick off The Salon, was the gorgeous, acoustic guitar piece, “Spring Holiday.” What a rare treat to hear such a gifted guitarist - no wonder the cabaret community is in love with him!

The Salon Host, Sean Harkness
To kick off the open mic portion of the evening, Sean began to introduce his Harem. That’s right. You read me correctly. Sean brought a group of ladies to entertain us, and what else can that be called but a harem? First up was Deb Berman, who (accompanied by Sean on guitar) sang the jazzy, “I Go For That” followed by, “The Best Things.” Janice Hall sang “I Wish You Love,” a song about an impossible crush. Sunday, Janice premiered her show, “I’d Rather Be Doing This” at the Metropolitan Room. Many of our Salon members were at the show and raved about her performance. Lucky for you, she has two more shows on March 5 at 7pm and April 18 at 9:30pm.

Tony Imgrund was next with a tribute to Whitney Houston, who tragically passed away last night. He sang a balladic arrangement of, “I Want To Dance With Somebody.” Monday, Tony (along with some other Salon members) is playing the role of Rolf in a reading of the musical, The Sound of Music. We’re happy to have such talented working performers at our Salon!

Tony Imgrund
Carolann Sanita came up to the stage with a touching rendition of “On Your Side.” Carolann is our next performer in our series, “The Salon Presents” - she has two amazing shows scheduled for February 20, one at 7pm and the next at 9:30pm right here at Etc Etc. For reservations, please contact tanya@tanyamoberly.com. (The 7pm show is almost sold out, so shoot for the 9:30pm show!) Our next Harness Harem gal was Randie Shane, and she came up to sing “Can Nothing I Do” Her second song, “Without You,” was meant to be accompanied by ukelele, so Sean did some fancy fret work and created a perfect atmosphere for the song. Randie is performing at the Metropolitan Room on Feb 18 at 4pm and Feb 20 at 7pm (she suggested that you see her 7pm show and then come over the The Salon to see Carolann at 9:30pm. We think that sounds like a pretty good idea!)

Raissa Katona Bennett sang the poignant, “I Carry Your Heart” written by David Caldwell (with lyrics by ee Cummings) for her to sing at his wedding 3 years ago. Sean Harness accompanied via the guitar, and Tom Vaughn backed her up ably on the rhythm egg (yep.) Raissa just finished up time in the studio and will be releasing an album at a special event at Feinstein’s on August 20! We’re very excited to hear how it sounds.

Sean Harkness & Raissa Katona Bennett
Tom Vaughn put down the rhythm egg and picked up a mic, and brought Jeff Cubeta up to the piano to perform a powerful and country inspired, “One More Day.” Tom (along with Jeff) will be our Salon Spotlight on March 4 - be sure you come back to see these talented performers! Jeff stayed at the piano and brought up singer Robin Westle, who sang the original song, “Say Goodbye.” La Tanya Hall and Eric Michael Gillett (with Jeff, again) were next with a duet version of Flaherty/Ahrens, “Journey To The Past.” These talented folks have a show coming up February 21-25 at Feinstein’s. Eric made a special offer - for anyone who buys a ticket to the Feinstein’s show, Eric will stand in the lobby and give a free ticket to his show at the Laurie Beechman in the spring. What a deal!

Eric Michael Gillett and La Tanya Hall
The next Harkness Harem gal was Karen Oberlin, who came to the stage with Sean to perform the charming, “Poor You” from the Frank Sinatra film, “Ship Ahoy.” Her second song was her favorite love song, “My One And Only.” Karen has a show called, “Stringing Along With Love” at the Metropolitan Room, February 14, 21 & 28 at 7pm. February seems to be the month of cabaret -- can we get the mayor to make a special decree? Adam Shapiro, freshly shaven Salon regular, was next with the ultimate unrequited crush song, “On My Own.” This had to have been one of the audience’s favorite songs of the evening- what a wonderful performance.

Adam Shapiro
Elaine St George was next with the classic Paul Simon song, “Still Crazy After All These Years.” Your blogette Erin Cronican challenged Mark (and he rose to the challenge!) with the Jason Robert Brown tune, “And I Will Follow.” Erin is starring as Masha in an upcoming production of Three Sisters with The Seeing Place Theater March 9-25 here in NYC. (The translation is done by Irish playwright, Brian Friel, which promises a funnier, more modern version of this classic Chekhov play.) Tickets are only $12, so you have no reason to not to go out to see it!

Steve Sieck submitted “My Side of Town” for this year’s MAC Awards, and decided to introduce it to us by accompanying himself on piano while singing - what a great original uptempo song! Kenneth Kyle Martinez premiered the hilarious and all-too-true “My Own Valentine,” a brand new song by songwriter, Peter Saxe (who also accompanied on piano.) Another songwriter, Nicholas Levin, came up to the piano, to share his touching and humorous song, “Somewhere In This Song.” Candice Oden, tonight’s Etceterette, stunned the audience into silenced with her powerful and warm version of Stephen Schwartz’s, “Meadowlark” (with original “Baker’s Wife” Carole Demas in the audience, who beamed with pride at this young singer impressing us with the song!)


Second Set

The second set was kicked off with Carole Demas, another member of the Harness Harem, who broke our hearts with the Pal Joey tune, “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered.” The second song of the set was the smooth and sultry, “Moonlight in Vermont.” Carole and Sean will be at the Laurie Beechman with her show “Summer Nights” on Wednesday, February 13. After all, on Tuesday, February 14, the musical Grease turns 40 years old! (Carole has the distinction of being the world’s very first Sandy.) We’re so glad to have you here sharing your talents with us, Carole!

Karen Kohler, a guest of Sean’s and a part of the harem, sang “I Let My Daddy Do That.” According to her song card, she’s “German born, American bred” and recently got back from an arts residency in India. We love it when world travelers pop in for a visit! Tanya Moberly, in a rare treat, brought up an original song (and a guitar), singing, “How I Wish" about a certain kind of crush that she had on a certain guitar player who was hosting The Salon (not to name names, or anything.) Be sure to check out Tanya’s newly relaunched website, created by our very own Sierra Rein.

The Salon Producer Tanya Moberly
Anna Marie Sell was back at the Salon to sing William Finn’s, “I Have Found” from the musical, “Royal Family of Broadway.” Anna Marie is a voice student of Carolann Sanita and strongly encouraged the audience to see Carolann’s “Salon Presents” show on Feb 20. We can’t help but agree! Sean welcomed “a new lady to the stable” - new Harness Harem gal Pamela Russ, who sang “It’s Too Late” and “Halleluah, I Just Love Her So.” Pamela and Sean have a show on March 3 at the Metropolitan Room. Be sure to check it out!

Kathleen France asked Sean to come to the stage to accompany her with an acoustic, dramatic version of “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease. It was such an interesting take on a well known song! Kathleen and Sean have played together in shows, and I’m hoping that they’ll play again together at The Salon sometime soon! Donna Stearns was next, singing the original tune, “My Shoes.” We adore having songwriters debut their works at The Salon. Thank you, Donna and others, who consider The Salon your home to try out new material!

Donna Stearns
Susan Hodgson came to the stage with the Andrew Lloyd Webber tune, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar. She joked that, since she was Jewish, it made a lot of sense for her to sing a song about a crush on a higher power. Susan has a show, “On The Bumpy Road to Love,” coming up on February 25 at 3pm at Don’t Tell Mama’s, directed by Peter Napolitano and musical direction by Barry Levitt. Richard Eisenberg was next, bringing charts for both Sean and Mark to play with him on his brand new (and hilarious) tune, “That Kind of Person.”

Sean Harkness and Richard Eisenberg
Coming up to the piano was young songwriter, Andrew Wyeth Neal, who sang his original and true to life tune, “Plastic Heart.” We’re thrilled to have him back with us! Dawn Derow was the last of the Harkness Harem to reach the stage. Her first song was a dedication to Sean (who seems to be an inspiration for lots of crushes in the audience) - “Drift Away,” originally sung by Bob Seger. Her second song was an original tune called, “The Girl In Between” for which she pulled out her own guitar for an acoustic duet. They have a show at Metropolitan Room on February 19 at 4pm. (If you buy a ticket, Dawn says the first drink is on her!)

Next up to the stage was Elisa Pupko, with special guest Tony Imgrund (who we saw earlier in the evening) singing “Sixteen Going On Seventeen” from The Sound of Music. Elisa is playing the role of Liesl Monday at a reading of the show - what luck for us to have a sneak preview this evening! David Ballard blew the audience way with his version of “On The Street Where You Live” -- the ultimate song about crushes (and stalkers, apparently) from Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady. David is a lyricist in the BMI Workshop and had been writing songs like crazy. Be sure to come back to see David week after week!

David Ballard
Our interim sound technician, Boris Pelekh, brought up his guitar and wooed us with on original tune, complete with a beat-boxing musical break! Boris is a fellow member of the band “Hey Guy” with Salon technician Tommy Shull. They’re playing a show at Webster Hall in March - you can find out more information on their Facebook Page. We were thrilled to have him with us. Thanks for everything! The dynamic duo, Bill Zeffiro and Janice Hall brought in the duet, “How Can Love Survive”, a tune from the stage version of the musical, The Sound of Music (sung by the characters Max and Elsa.) 

Janice Hall and Bill Zeffiro
Danielle Erin Rhodes was our next singer (and brought charts for both Mark and Sean) and performed Macy Gray’s “I Try.” This girl knows how to rock it- and she got the audience clapping and singing right along with her! Mary Lahti came up to sing the song, “Pain.” After all, she reminded us, sometimes when you love something, it can hurt. Especially when your love is musical theater and the angst is the muscular pain you feel after dance calls! In addition to Elisa and Erin, Mary is appearing in The Seeing Place’s Three Sisters. Bill Zeffiro was the last pianist/singer of the night with his brand new song, “Line Up If You’re a Loser.” He wrote the song after a conversation at The Salon in October 2010 with Salon member Marissa Mulder about the sad state of dating in NYC. Lo and behold, Bill wrote this song for Marissa to perform, and premiered his version of it here! Hopefully, Marissa will come back and sing it for us sometime…

NEXT WEEK: The optional theme for the evening is “Enough With This Love Sh*t! Songs About Anything Else But.” Bring along any song that has nothing to do with love, or at least makes us think of something else besides love. We also welcome songs that are off-theme. (Be sure to bring a second option, in case your song has already been reserved.)

Our Co-Hosts will be MAC & Bistro Award Winner Ritt Henn & 2-Time MAC & BMI Harrington Award Winner Mary Liz McNamara! Ritt & Mary Liz will be performing TAKE THAT! Tunes by McNamara & Henn on Thursday, February 23rd at 9pm at The University Glee Club’s “Afterglow” at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th St, NYC. For the rest of their busy schedules and details of their illustrious careers: www.ritthenn.com / www.marylizmcnamara.com.

Our Salon Spotlight will feature Amy Engelhardt! Amy spent 13 years writing, recording and touring with the Grammy-nominated vocal quartet, The Bobs. Her solo album, Not Gonna Be Pretty, garnered multiple Just Plain Folks Award nominations (“The Grassroots Grammys” – LA Times). Based in Los Angeles for many years, Amy sang everything from Bach to rock for TV and film, on albums and in concerts with artists ranging from Neil Young to Barbra Streisand. But her heart belongs to the musical theatre, for which she co-wrote musical versions of Carl Sagan’s CONTACT, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, and A COMEDY OF ERAS (with the Flying Karamazov Brothers) and recently scored BASTARD JONES, a rock adaptation of Henry Fielding’s scandalous 1740 novel, Tom Jones. Amy is the recipient of MAC’s 2011 Dottie Burman Award for Songwriting and is thrilled to be back in New York!


-Erin Cronican
Blogette for The Salon
URL’s I missed? Names misspelled? Please email me.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Update from Producer Tanya Moberly - February 14, 2012

SALON – that unique, MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING,Weekly Open Mic Event, created and hosted by Mark Janas returns to Etcetera, Etcetera - 352 West 44th Street, NYC 10036 – on Sunday, February 19th from 7-10:30PM! (Sign-Up Begins at 6:15.)

The optional theme for the evening is “Enough With This Love Sh*t! Songs About Anything But”!

Remember, any material, on or off theme, is always welcome at Salon.

Our Co-Hosts will be MAC & Bistro Award Winner Ritt Henn & 2-Time MAC & BMI Harrington Award Winner Mary Liz McNamara! Ritt & Mary Liz will be performing TAKE THAT! Tunes by McNamara & Henn on Thursday, February 23rd at 9pm at The University Glee Club's “Afterglow” at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th St, NYC. For the rest of their busy schedules and details of their illustrious careers: www.ritthenn.com / www.marylizmcnamara.com.

Our Salon Spotlight will feature Amy Engelhardt! Amy spent 13 years writing, recording and touring with the Grammy-nominated vocal quartet, The Bobs. Her solo album, Not Gonna Be Pretty, garnered multiple Just Plain Folks Award nominations (“The Grassroots Grammys” – LA Times). Based in Los Angeles for many years, Amy sang everything from Bach to rock for TV and film, on albums and in concerts with artists ranging from Neil Young to Barbra Streisand. But her heart belongs to the musical theatre, for which she co-wrote musical versions of Carl Sagan’s CONTACT, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, and A COMEDY OF ERAS (with the Flying Karamazov Brothers) and recently scored BASTARD JONES, a rock adaptation of Henry Fielding’s scandalous 1740 novel, Tom Jones. Amy is the recipient of MAC’s 2011 Dottie Burman Award for Songwriting and is thrilled to be back in New York!

On Monday, February 20th: SALON PRESENTS Carolann Sanita!

Carolann will be bringing her cabaret debut show, “Life Happens...” to Etcetera, Etcetera for two more performances Monday, February 20th at 7 & 9:30pm. (www.carolannmsanita.com)
For Reservations: tanya@tanyamoberly.com / 646-637-2806.

Salon continues every Sunday (except February 26th)...

February 26th: NO SALON

March 4th:
Theme: City Life
Co-Host: Corinna Sowers-Adler
Salon Spotlight: Tom Vaughn

March 11th:
Theme: One Hit Wonders
Co-Host: Kim Grogg

March 18th:
Theme: Coping Mechanisms
Co-Host: Kenneth Gartman

March 25th:
Theme: The Rat Pack
Co-Hosts: Terese Genecco & Shaynee Rainbolt

April 1st:
Theme: Love's What We'll Remember
Co-Hosts: MSM Students

Salon is an ongoing open entertainment event in which singers, writers and musicians share their talent with each other and audience members.

There is a $10 cash cover collected at the door and a $15 food/drink minimum (cash or credit) per person. (For more information about Etcetera, Etcetera's delicious menu:www.etcrestaurant.com.) There are no reservations; seating is on a first come/first served basis, Doors open and sign up begins at 6:15pm. The evening runs 7-10:30, with one intermission. If you would like to sign up to perform, see one the evening's 'Etceterettes' to fill out a card with your name, the name of your song, whether or not Mark will be playing for you and any upcoming events you'd like to promote. We do not present performers in order of sign-up, however, indicating requests as clearly and as early as possible as far as time restraints are concerned always makes everything much more possible. ALWAYS BRING SEVERAL SONG SELECTIONS to avoid duplication. All types of material, on or off theme are always welcome at Salon. We enthusiastically welcome instrumentalists, poets, playwrights, essayists, comics, illusionists and performance artists.Please limit your selections to three or four minutes in length (including introductions). Please also bring clear, complete charts for Mark to read. Sitting on the piano is not allowed, nor is flash photography. Please turn off all noise making devices and give performers your undivided attention.

Visit our website at www.markjanasthesalon.com and look for us on Facebook!

Thank you to our sponsors Dr. Garrett Bennett & Father Jeffrey Hamblin, MD!

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday, February 19th!

Thanks,

Tanya Moberly
Producer

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Update from Producer Tanya Moberly - February 7, 2012

SALON – that unique, MULTIPLE AWARD WINNING, Weekly Open Mic Event, created and hosted by Mark Janas returns to Etcetera, Etcetera - 352 West 44th Street, NYC 10036 – on Sunday, February 12th from 7-10:30PM! (Sign-Up Begins at 6:15.)

The optional theme for the evening is "Hark'throbs (Impossible Crushes)!"

Remember, any material, on or off theme, is always welcome at Salon.

Our Co-Host will be MAC & Bistro Award Winner Sean Harkness! Sean is probably the busiest musician in & outside of Manhattan. Upcoming shows include Dawn Derow at Core Club February 8th at 8pm & at The Metropolitan Room February 19th at 7pm; Annie Kozuch at UCPAC at 7pm; Karen Oberlin at The Metropolitan Room February 14th, February 21st & February 28th at 7pm; Carole Demas at The Laurie Beechman Theatre February 15th at 7pm; Randie Shane at The Metropolitan Room February 18th at 4pm & February 20th at 7pm; Terese Genecco at The Iridium February 21st at 10pm & Pamela Luss at The Metropolitan Room March 3rd at 7pm. For more information (& even more upcoming shows!): www.seanharkness.com.

Our Featured Performers joining Sean will be: Deb Berman, Carole Demas, Dawn Derow, Pamela Luss, Karen Oberlin & Randie Shane!

Salon will then continue every Sunday (except February 26th)...

February 19th:
Theme: Enough With This Love Sh*t! Songs About Anything But
Co-Hosts: Ritt Henn & Mary Liz McNamara
Salon Spotlight: Amy Engelhardt

Monday, February 20th:
SALON PRESENTS Carolann Sanita!
Carolann will be bringing her cabaret debut show, “Life Happens...” to Etcetera, Etcetera for two more performances Monday, February 20th at 7 & 9:30pm. $10 cash cover at the door/$15 food/beverage minimum (cash or credit) www.carolannmsanita.com
For Reservations: tanya@tanyamoberly.com / 646-637-2806.

February 26th: NO SALON

March 4th:
Theme: City Life
Co-Host: Corinna Sowers-Adler
Salon Spotlight: Tom Vaughn

March 11th:
Theme: One Hit Wonders
Co-Host: Kim Grogg

March 18th:
Theme: Coping Mechanisms
Co-Host: Kenneth Gartman

March 25th:
Theme: The Rat Pack
Co-Hosts: Terese Genecco & Shaynee Rainbolt

Salon is an ongoing open entertainment event in which singers, writers and musicians share their talent with each other and audience members.

There is a $10 cash cover collected at the door and a $15 food/drink minimum (cash or credit) per person. (For more information about Etcetera, Etcetera's delicious menu: www.etcrestaurant.com.) There are no reservations; seating is on a first come/first served basis, Doors open and sign up begins at 6:15pm. The evening runs 7-10:30, with one intermission. If you would like to sign up to perform, see one the evening's 'Etceterettes' to fill out a card with your name, the name of your song, whether or not Mark will be playing for you and any upcoming events you'd like to promote. We do not present performers in order of sign-up, however, indicating requests as clearly and as early as possible as far as time restraints are concerned always makes everything much more possible. ALWAYS BRING SEVERAL SONG SELECTIONS to avoid duplication. All types of material, on or off theme are always welcome at Salon. We enthusiastically welcome instrumentalists, poets, playwrights, essayists, comics, illusionists and performance artists. Please limit your selections to three or four minutes in length (including introductions). Please also bring clear, complete charts for Mark to read. Sitting on the piano is not allowed, nor is flash photography. Please turn off all noise making devices and give performers your undivided attention.

Visit our website at www.markjanasthesalon.com and look for us on Facebook!

Thank you to our sponsors Dr. Garrett Bennett & Father Jeffrey Hamblin, MD!

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday, February 12th!

Thanks,

Tanya Moberly
Producer