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| Angela Schultz at the mic and Brett Kristofferson at the piano. |
Angela (who is going on the National Tour of the musical Titanic soon...talk about big mistakes!) then introduced composer Richie Eisenberg, who let Brett play piano while he sang "What Are You Looking For?", a swinging ballad-type song with the usual Eisenberg charm. His Revue is coming back in the fall - make no mistake about it! Jerry Phelps then sang the "Facebook Song," an "oops, I hope I never do it again" song. It was very funny coming from Jerry's choir-boy face, and well-sung in a beautiful, flexible tenor voice. He may bring his previously sold-out show back, so keep an eye out for it. Next, Parker Scott effortlessly sang "Souvenir" by Ricky Ian Gordon, and was happy to claim he has been in the tower mentioned in the song. He made his Metropolitan Room debut "No Expectations" on Thursday the 9th, along with a piano/cello accompaniment.
Matthew Martin Ward took over piano duties for the next few songs, first accompanying MAC Award-winner Janice Hall, who sang "Les Amants d'un Jour (Lovers For One Day)"; she prefaced the song by saying "oops, I'm going to sing another depressing Edith Piaf song," but we forgave her quickly once we heard the lovely rendition she gave. Matthew continued to play for Tom White, who sang two quick renditions of Randy Newman's "Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong," followed by James Taylor's "Lonesome Road" - Tom is workshopping a production of The Dutch Play soon. Matthew Martin Ward then stayed at the piano to Tom Wait's "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis," a down and dirty, experience-filled song with a long list of life-changing mistakes. Matthew is excited to perform in "There's a Phantom In My Opera" on August 20th, alongside a legit high soprano - more information to come. Bill Zeffiro then switched with Matthew to play for himself on his original song, the witty "Better Than Nothing," a song about making a downward choice for some good reasons. I (Sierra Rein) then joined up with Bill to sing "The Joint Is Really Jumping Down In Carnegie Hall," in preparation for The MetroStar Talent Challenge on Monday night (good news! I went from the Top Ten to the Top Seven, so make reservations to see and vote for me this Monday night, the 13th at The Metropolitan Room!). After me came my friend Arianna who (although she found a hole in the stage with her heel in the middle of the song) comically sang "Adelaide's Lament" from Guys and Dolls without fail. Arianna is working on a film project at the moment, one which she is both singing in and working with the composer on as music director.
The Salon Spotlight featured Mary Foster Conklin and John DiPinto, a unique duo with a fascinating collection of music to pull from. They will be seen at the Metropolitan Room on August 16th. They started with "Phase Two," a DiPinto original with a bluesy feel. They next sang "Bernie's Tune" by Lieber & Stoller completely a cappella; John began with a vocal baseline, with Mary singing and scatting through the lead vocals. Then they switched and Mary gave John the bass support while he flitted his way through the main melody. They then melded together in difficult harmony to the end - it was a great crowd-pleaser. They completed their set with a medley of two bossa-nova numbers: Andy Williams' "Music to Watch the Girls Go By" and "Toi et Moi." It was lovely to hear John's vocals sail over Mary's at time, and for them to both embrace the "power of cheese," as they stated.
Kristofferson’s Corner (or should I mistakenly spell it with a "K"?) was next! Brett did a whole set all by himself, as his voice teacher was in the audience (which turned out to not be a blunder at all - he has a great voice). He began with "Billy and the Night," which is featured in his BMI-written treatment of the movie Across the Tracks. Brett was quite excited to announce that he finally has the creative rights to this movie and he will be making a full musical treatment (he is renaming the project Closer Than You Think). He then sang "People Don't Change," a song from the same musical sung from a Principal's point of view to one of the kids he's in charge of. He then sang a standalone song, a hilariously sweet song about one man's encounter in a gym with a certain "Paul" (Brett assured us it was not an autobiographical song).
The Second Act found Angela Shultz once again as co-host (she didn't blunder into another open mic after intermission by mistake!). She started out with "the strangest torch song every written," as one reviewer once put it - the odd "Mexican Wrestler" by Jill Sobule. Then she sang two Brett Kristofferson songs: the first was "He's Mine," a cute ditty he wrote for Angela whenever she chose to get married, and "The Whole Wide World," a winning and stunning ballad of hope and recovery which happened to be one of the first things Brett ever wrote for Angela (they are roommates and it's easy to imagine that they have some stories between the two of them!). Our Producer Tanya Moberly was next, singing the perfectly on-theme "Bad Idea" by David Hajdu and Jill Sodule. Her new Barbara Streisand-themed show at Don't Tell Mama will premiere on September 28th and will continue October 18th, November 14th and December 4th. Steven Ray Watkins will be her musical director. Scott Koonce then sang "The Proposal" from Titanic and reminded us it must have been a mistake for someone to ask another to marry them on the Titanic, of all boats. His Salon debut was certainly no mistake - he has a beautiful voice and flawless vocal lines. He has a show in September - hopefully he'll come back to another Salon to plug it more!
Rain Collazo was next - I can't stress how much I love this woman's powerful and expressive voice! She sang "Tainted Love" in an amazing arrangement by Steven Ray Watkins, a slow sultry version with intense belt vocals. She is putting together a show for the Spring of 2013, and I swear it would be a blunder to miss it when it arrives! Following Rain was Stephanie Zagoren, who showed off her lovely soprano and French accent on Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose." Salon debut-er Adam Gonzalez (accompanying himself on guitar) performed his original song "Help Me Get Through The Night" - he recently moved from Los Angeles with his wife and daughter and is currently working with a band and getting his name out! Lawrence A. Florek, harkening us to the mistakes made by several large banks and corporations in recent years, sang "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?", an "oops, THEY did it again" song for sure! Sue Hodgdon powered through "When You Got it, Flaunt It," a showgirl anthem from The Producers that demands one to "put your hidden treasures on display." Sue's vocal treasures can be found on the stage at Don't Tell Mama with her show "On the Bumpy Road to Love" Saturday, September 8th at 3pm with only a $5 cover fee. Jason Watkins sang the second-to-last Brett Kristofferson song, "Micki Go," a loving and touching song that will hopefully be in the show he and Brett are planning to do in the fall! Angela Shultz finished the evening with Kristofferson's "The Luckiest," another heartful and touching love song that showcased her moving abilities to tell a story with her lyrics.
THIS SUNDAY! The optional theme for the evening is “Another Kind of Light.” Bring in a song about sunshine, candlelight, electricity or seeing things from a new or different perspective. Our Guest Host will be Kenneth Gartman! Our Co-Host will be Broadway Veteran and MAC and Bistro Award Winner Raissa Katona Bennett! The Salon Spotlight will feature MAC Award Nominated Edd Clark and Multiple MAC Award Winner Sue Matsuki! Bring your sheet music, guitars, duets, etc and be prepared to let the light shine in!
See you then,
-Sierra Rein
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