The house was PACKED as we welcomed the inimitable, Multiple MAC Award Winner Dana Lorge back to The Salon. On the heels of her wildly successful “Wednesday Night at The Iguana”, Dana is currently searching for a new venue for and will let the world know the minute she finds one. In the meantime, we were dazzled by her talents both on stage and as an amazing co-host
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| Co-Host Dana Lorge |
Dana kick off the show with a bang with her parody, “The Man That Isn’t Gay” to the tune of “The Man That Got Away.” Next up - what do you do with a philandering type? Natasha Castillo told us in her country power ballad, “Before He Cheats” recorded by Carrie Underwood. Natahsa has a show, “Anything but Ordinary,” coming up at The Duplex - November 2, 10, and 16 with Steven Ray Watkins and directed by Lennie Watts.
Bobbie Horowitz told us that she wrote a book, “Dating For Seniors” - then sang a hilarious song about her run-in with “Maurice The Plumber.” The moral of the story - don’t mess with Bobbie! Corinna Sowers-Adler, a fabulous performer who has also been a Salon co-host, was back with the gorgeous pop song, “Nothing To Lose But Your Heart.” She said that this song is new to her repertoire - it’s wonderful that we’re some of the first to hear it! Corinna has a show coming up, “By Request” on October 13 - make sure you get out to see her!
Singer/songwriter Sunny Leigh (with Barry Levitt on piano) was next with an on-theme song which talked about the “good” that happens when a “bad” man from an “ugly” relationship finally leaves - “Get Out Of Town”. Sunny has a show coming up with Barry Levitt which will be announced once details are finalized. Lou Iacovino crooned and charmed us all with his rendition of “You Stepped Out of a Dream”, also with Barry Levitt.
We were delighted to welcome back Helena Grenot to the stage, with her performance of Barry Levitt & Peter Napolitano’s original tune, “All In Good Time” (which Helena said she swiped from Deb Berman. I guess all’s fair in love and cabaret!) Janice Hall (with Matthew Martin Ward) came up and sang one of my personal favorite’s of hers, the clever and sardonic, “I’d Rather Be Doing This” written by Matthew Martin Ward with lyrics by Peter Napolitano.
Matthew Martin Ward stayed at the piano and mic to perform Billy Joel’s “Summer, Highland Falls.” He wasn’t sure if the song exactly fit “the good, the bad and the ugly”… more like “the manic and the depressive.” Either way, the crowd loved the simplicity of the performance. Salon Board Members Nicholas Levin and Stephen Wilde were next, with Stephen at the mic singing Nick’s tune, “Director’s Cut” - hilariously detailing how to make a favorable montage of a relationship, keeping only the good stuff. Oh, if only…
Randie Shane came to the stage with Sean Harkness on guitar, and gave us the driving, folk ballad (which I did not catch the name of, but it was beautiful!) We were thrilled to invite up next week’s co-host, Annie Lebeaux, who sang her adorable original tune, “How Soon is Soon?” Bob Simonello, in only his second time ever, gave us the gorgeous and touching, “Old Friend” by Gretchen Cryer & Nancy Ford from I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road. We’re thrilled to have you with us, Bob!
Jacqueline Hashimoto was next, with a powerful, “My Foolish Heart” - a popular song by Ned Washington and Victor Young, written in 1949. We then welcomed your Blogette for the evening Erin Cronican (me!) to the stage, where I sang “Speak Low” from One Touch of Venus. I recently finished my Off-Broadway debut in The Seeing Place Theater’s production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. More details can be found on my website.
This week’s Classical Corner was a real treat. Mark Janas invited up Rachel Policar, a student from Manhattan School of Music, to give us some gorgeous tunes matched to our relationship theme. Even more impressive than her beautiful voice was that she made everything seem so easy!
“The Good” - Rachel started with “Moonfall” from The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
“The Bad” - She continued with an aria from the German writer, Goethe.
“The Ugly” - And she finished her set with an amazing aria from the Offenbach opera, The Tales of Hoffmann about a man who falls in love with a wind up doll he thinks is real. Her performance included some hilarious moments when she would run out of energy, and producer Tanya Moberly would have to sunup on stage and “wind up” the slumped doll again.
Rachel got a rousing standing ovation, as well she should have. She was amazing - what incredible talent. And she helped promote what I think the purpose of Classical Corner is each week - to help Salon-goers develop their appreciation for classical music and its influence in what we’re doing today. I’d say that goal is consistently achieved!
Before we went on break, we all wished Lars, our server, a very happy birthday!
Second Set
Dana Lorge was back to kick off the second set, with Barry Levitt in tow. Her first number was “Exit Right” - a hilarious number from Steve Ludvak’s Songs From An Unmade Bed. Before her second song, Dana quipped about getting a dimmer, prettier light, for which technician Tommy Shull complied… by turning the lights off. I don’t think I’ve seen Dana so delightfully shocked - it was a riot! Only in cabaret can that kind of improvisation work so brilliantly. The audience was appropriately warmed up, then, for the gorgeous ballad, “Lies of Handsome Men”, recorded by Cleo Laine. She then cut through the sweetness with all kinds of comedic jabs about dating, which had the audience in fits of laughter. To finish out her special set, Dana pulled out a bullwhip and handcuffs and sang, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”… and then turned it into a charming medley of “Do It Again” and “Satisfy me One More Time.”
Salon Producer was next with an amazing moving, “Unusual Way” from Maury Yeston’s Nine. Tanya wanted to make sure we all came out to see The Concerts at Tudor City Greens, this Wednesday at 6:30pm at South Park. More info at www.tudorcitygreens.org. She also has her own show coming up at Don’t Tell Mama, opening Sept 28 - “Tanya Lorraine Moberly sings Barbra Joan Streisand with Steven Ray Watkins” - I can’t wait!
Don Rebic & Christine Reisner came to the mic next to sing the fun and sassy duet, “Defenses Are Down” and then segued into “When My Sugar Walk Down The Street.” Impressively, Christine whipped out her violin and played an instrumental duet with Don on the piano - we love it when folks show their multiple talents on our stage! They also used their stage time to announce that they just got engaged! Congrats to the happy couple.
David Rigano brought up his brother, Paul Rigano, and they sang the title song from their musical web series, “Just A Couple.” They have a show September 18 at Don’t Tell Mama to fundraise for the series - it’s so wonderful to see a young writing team blending musical theater with the medium of film. Can’t wait to see how it turns out! Bob Diamond (with David Jarvis at the keys) was next with a fun and rousing rendition of “Can That Boy Foxtrot.”
David Jarvis stayed at the piano as his husband, Cameron Fadjo, came to the stage and pledged his everlasting love to… Dana. A call and response ensued throughout his performance of the 60s inspired song, “Do You Love Me?” David then got to sing his own song, where he lamented - “Right Church, Wrong Pew.” Next up was Salon regular Barb Malley, who said her song was a mix of all three parts of the theme - “What I Did For Love” from A Chorus Line. Barb reminded us that she’s doing a series of YouTube videos where she sings inappropriate songs in inappropriate places - we’ll be sure to post a link when it becomes available!
Steve “The Whistler” Herbst was next - he started by whistling the theme of “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” (with some improvised accompaniment from Mark Janas.) He then shared his lovely voice with us by singing, “Tell Me On A Sunday” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance,
Carly Ozard sang a strong and sassy “Always a Bridesmaid” from I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. It was wonderful to welcome this talented gal to her very first Salon! Next up, Salon regular Mark Levy pulled up a stool and sang “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore,” complete with the appropriate rasp in his voice. The delightful Corky came to the stage with Barry Levitt on the keys, singing, “He’s Funny That Way.”
We welcome Gary Crawford next, with Barry Levitt on the keys, with a song about a person he quipped - “The Good, The Bad And not quite ugly enough to leave”… “Too Close for Comfort. In all the way from Philadelphia to sing at The Salon was Earl Levit, who brought us surprisingly dramatic and touching “I Only Want To Laugh.” Jim Speak (with Mark Janas back at the piano) sang a delightful and warm “Here’s To Life.” Jim has a bunch of shows coming up at Don’t Tell Mama, September 22, 29 and October 3 and 10th.
Bruce Clough (with Barry Levitt back at the piano) was next on the stage with the powerful and dramatic “Next!” from Jacques Brel. Joey Infante (with Barry Levitt) was at the mic next with a haunting and beautiful, “My Boy” recorded by Elvis Presley. Mike McDonald, Joey’s partner of 33 years, came to the mic next to sing “Wearing My Shoes” - a “revenge” song that he wrote for Joey in a rare moment of major conflict between the star-crossed lovers.
Joann Sicoli brought us a dark and stormy bilingual (Italian/English) ballad, “I Who Have Nothing.” We were lucky enough to have Salon Board Member, Bill Zeffiro, at The Salon tonight, who premiered his brand new tune (finished today!) “Voice in The Blue.” (IT was so new, in fact, that he decided on a song title when I asked him for the details!)
Kevin McMullan, pretty in a blue shirt and a tan hat, sang “Minnie the Moocher” a call-and-response song with the audience which kicked this Salon up a few notches. The talented Sarah Rice was next, singing the glorious Celtic tune, “I’ll GIve My Love An Apple”, which Sarah says is a traditional riddle song that all school age children in Ireland sing. You can see Sarah next in “Sondheim Unplugged” at 54 Below at the end of the month. And thus ended our standing room only Salon!
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| Next week's co-host, Annie Lebeaux! |
Next week the optional theme is ”Whatever Quirks – Quirky Songs, Songwriters & Subjects” with our delightful and talented co-host, Annie Lebeaux. Bring in any song that is odd, strange, silly or starts with a Q. Looking forward to seeing you then!
And… before I leave you, just a quick announcement...
HAVE A VIDEO FROM THE SALON? We want to see it!
I’ve created a playlist for Salon performances, and I would love to add yours to it. I’ve taken the liberty to scour YouTube to find what’s already posted. To see what’s currently on the playlist, click this YouTube link (note: if I've added a video of yours that you'd like removed, just let me know!)
To add your video:
Visit the blog and use the search box on the right to find the official “Wrap Up” article from the date that you performed. Leave a comment on that blog article and include the link to your YouTube video - I’ll then get it added to the playlist!
Even better, your link will be viewable by anyone who visits that particular blog post - exciting, huh?
The only rule is that you can only post videos of yourself - please do not post links to videos of other people without their permission.
Thanks, and see you this Sunday!
-Erin Cronican
Blogette for The Salon
Need anything? Please email me.
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