Happy Palm Sunday for those of you who observe!
As we find ourselves begging for winter to end, tons of our Salon family dragged themselves to Etc Etc to bask in the warmth of The Salon, winner of the 2013 MAC Award for Best Open Mic!
We were so honored to have with us as co-host, the illustrious multi-MAC Award winner, Stacy Sullivan (that’s 2 MAC Awards in 2013 alone!) Stacy is appearing at the Cafe Carlyle on May 2, 3, & 4. Sit at the bar and pay only a $20 cover. Not bad for such a famous room!
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| Co-Host Stacy Sullivan |
Stacy Sullivan kicked off the evening with “Nightlife.” Following her was Sunny Leigh, who started our open mic portion of the evening, with, “Here I’ll Stay” by Kurt Weill. Sunny tells us that she is working on a new CD - can’t wait to hear more details as thing progress! Elaine St George, 2013 Hanson Winner at the MAC Awards, was next with “Any Place I Hang My Hat,” from her current show, “Take Me As I Am.” You can see this show on April 27 at 7:30pm at Don’t Tell Mama (I saw it recently - it was lovely!)
Salon newbie Justin Indovina was next with Craig Carnelia’s “It’s What You’d Call A Dream.” What a lovely voice - welcome, Justin! Bobbie Horowitz sang her original tune, “Monkey ‘Round The Park.” We found out tonight that she’s won a couple of Billboard Awards, in addition to a MAC Award a few years back. Bobbie is hosting The Salon on April 21 - we can’t wait!
Adam Shapiro made the crowd die with laughter with his song, “Tom Cruise Scares Me,” hilariously written by David Ippolito. The newest MAC Award winner for Best Musical Comedy Performer, Adam is hoping to bring back his show in April or May. I saw the show, and you will love it. Highly recommended! Richie Eisenberg , Bistro Award-winning songwriter, sang a side-splitting parody of “Heaven” called, “Leavened” (with a last minute, surprise cameo by Bobbie Horowitz.)
Janice Hall was next with “Beauty and the Beast” from the musical of that same name. Janice is doing a reading of this musical in the role of Mrs Potts, along with other singers from tonight’s Salon (Erin Cronican, Adam Shapiro, Elaine St George, David Ballard.) Such a beautiful rendition, Janice! Janice can be seen next in the role of Gertrude in The Seeing Place Theater’s production of Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead May 31-June 30, 2013.
Ruth Carlin came to the stage with “I Remember” by Stephen Sondheim. Ruth has a CD launch at the Laurie Beechman on April 6 at 8pm and April 18 at 7pm - a CD included in the cover charge! She’s also singing in Unity Cabaret Matinee, Bobbie Horowitz’s open mic, on April 21 at the Unity Church. 2012 MAC Award winner, Joan Jaffe, gave us a rousing version, as always, of “Chiquita Banana.” Joan is teaching a 6-week vocal performance workshop for dancers April 9 - May 14 from 12-1:30pm at Steps on Broadway. What a great idea, Joan!
Charlotte Patton charmed us with “Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered” from Pal Joey. Charlotte is bringing back her show, “Love In the 21st Century” - stay tuned for details! Sally Darling, with Matthew Martin Ward at the piano, performed Noel Coward’s, “Chase Me Charlie.” They’re working on a new show, “The Way We Are” which will include this song - how wonderful!
Amy Williams was next, and started with a question that lingered in the air, “What is more simple than love? She answered with “But Beautiful” by Jimmy Van Heusen. David Ballard, our dedicated server, introduced his original song, “So This Is My Life.” This might be my favorite sing that David’s written. It was glorious, and beautifully sung & acted.
Erin Cronican (that’s me!) brought in William Finn’s “Infinite Joy” - a song I dedicated to my father, who I lost to a heart attack in 2006. I’m personally so thrilled that this theme allowed me to bring in a song that means so much to me. Thank you to my Salon family for giving me a safe and lovely place to share it! And our Etceterette, Arianna, sang “He Plays the Violin” from the musical 1776.
Classical Corner
Mark Janas decided to make this week’s Classical Corner about the topic of Simplicity. As he explained, “Sometimes the things that are the most complex can sound simple and joyful.” He started with an example - Mozart’s “C Major Sonata.”
Mark talked about how the classical movement came to be. In the Late 18th Century, the classical movement was reaction to the over complication of the baroque period. Then rococo period made it even more so.
A lot of things can contribute to a song seeming simple, when they’re actually quite complex:
• Prelude, which introduces some sort of repetition and rhythmic harmonics
Songs can have a Simple structure but complex harmonics (fresh to the ear in the 1830s)
(played examples: Bach’s “Prelude D Flat Major” and Bach’s “Prelude C Major”)
• Simple rhythm (Like -- 1…2…3..and.4)
(played examples: Chopin’s “B Minor Prelude” and Chopin’s “Prelude in A Major” (which happens to be a minuet)
• Repeated Rhythm
Mark talked about how musicians steal from the best. He played a piece by Bach “16 divine bars of 3/4” and then illustrated how Barry Manilow stole this idea, where every bar has the same rhythm.
Mark then pulled out a book of music to play one his favorite “simple” pieces - Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie #1”
Second Act
Stacy Sullivan, our amazingly warm and gracious co-host, brought us into the 2nd half in style, with her spin on the classic, “Blue Skies.” We snapped along with her second song, “The Best Is Yet To Come” (with Sunny Leigh pulling out some shaker instruments for guest percussion!) Her final song of the set she described as “our song” as she looked at her husband, who was sitting in our front row. It was “Two For The Road” - and when she addressed the 2nd half of the song to her husband, the audience sighed and shed a little tear. This lady is the word “Joy” personified - with a smile created by the light inside her. I felt it, and the audience did too. We’re very lucky to have her tonight!
Salon Producer Tanya Moberly (2013 MAC Nominee for Best Female Vocalist, and Winner for Best Open Mic!) next with “Simple Joys” by Stephen Schwartz. Tanya is directing Marnie Klar’s next show show at Don’t Tell Mama, Sat April 13 (5pm), Fri April 26 (7pm), Wed May 8 (7pm) and Tue May 21 (7pm). Discounts for MAC, Salon and The Seeing Place! (I’m singing backing vocals on this show - looking forward to seeing you there!)
Todd Monroe brought us “I Got It From Agnes” by Tom Lehrer. Todd has his debut show coming up at Don’t Tell Mama April 25 & 29 & May 4 at 7:30pm called, “That Being Said… An Excursion in Song.” Go see it! Parker Scott accompanied himself via piano on the lovely song, “It’s Only Love” from the musical, Metropolis. Parker has a show coming up on April 14 at 7:30pm at Shetler Studios - it has a mix of Pop/Chamber music.
Jeff Lyle Segal, fresh in from Chicago, brought his sultry bass tones (and great piano skills) to his original tune “One and Only Love.” Matthew Martin Ward offered - in the key of D Major as not to conflict with the memory of Jeff and Parker’s songs! - “Look For Small Pleasures” from Ben Franklin in Paris. Matthew told us he’s involved with an event on Monday nights at 54 Below. “Callback” is a contest where singers submit videos online and 5 people are selected each week to perform at 54 Below and then the audience votes on a weekly winner! Sounds like an interesting way to engage a new audience.
The last song of the evening was by our lovely co-host, Stacy Sullivan. She said that there are 2 people who greatly thanks for her success - Michael Nelson (who recently passed away) and Fran (a notable director - I didn’t catch her last name!) She decided to close the evening with Michael’s favorite song (and title of Stacy’s first CD) and dedicated it to the both of them - “At The Beginning.”
There is NO SALON next week (enjoy your Easter!)
We will return April 7 with the optional theme “Good And Evil.”
Bring in your songs about saints and/or sinners, or bring in something off-theme. Just about everything is welcome at The Salon.
Our co-host will be Joseph Macchia, and the Salon Spotlight will be Marnie Klar!
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| Next week's Co-Host, Joseph Macchia |
We’ll see you then!
In the meantime, if someone video-recorded your performance and you’d like us to know about it, please post the link in the comments section of this blog post. Thank you!
-Erin Cronican
Blogette for The Salon
Need anything? Please email me.
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