December 7, 2014
Theme: “What The Hell”
I have to say, it’s so wonderful to walk into Etc Etc restaurant each week to take in a full evening of entertainment by some of the top performers in all of cabaret. I count myself very, very lucky and I think I can speak for our guests tonight by saying this is a valued artistic institution!
Our Co-Hosts tonight were 2-Time MAC Award Winner Marissa Mulder & 5-Time MAC Award Winner Bill Zeffiro! Marissa just appeared in LIVING STANDARDS at Urban Stages on December 5. Bill will be at La Mediterranee – 947 Second Avenue (at 50th St) – every Tuesday from 9-11pm until the end of time. For more information: www.marissamulder.com / www.billzeffiro.com / www.lamediterraneeny.com
Marissa and Bill opened the show with one of the most charming duets on the cabaret circuit (written by Bill himself): “What The Hell (It’s Christmas).” For their mid-show set, Marissa gave us a luscious “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, followed by a simple, contemplative, “The Very Thought Of You.” For their final set of the evening, Bill first sang his iconic tune, “New York Song,” then he and Marissa closed out the night with a charming and playful, “Me and My Shadow.”
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| Co-Host Marissa Mulder |
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| Co-Host Bill Zeffiro |
Our Salon Spotlight featured BROADWAY FOUR - Michael Osso, Thomas Dieter, Tom Guthrie & Dana Steer (with music director James Horan!) BROADWAY FOUR will be appearing at Stage 72 – 158 West 72nd St, NYC – on December 17th at 9:30pm.
They did 3 beautiful arrangements of pop songs with a Broadway flair (they even got a little bit of Broadway into the mix!) Their set included:
1) Beautiful (Carole King)
2) Grown Up Christmas / Somewhere
3) Josh Groban Medley
For more information about this great group, visit www.broadwayfour.com
Quick Wrap: Classical Corner
Mark started by opening up a thick book of music and got right into playing Bach’s “Partita I Praeludium” in B Flat. He said that initially he thought about doing the whole segment about Bach, but that wasn’t really a "what the hell" theme. He started thinking, “What the hell IS classical music?” which led him to a memory of when he was in school. He and his friends would find out how many random songs they could string together.
Inspired by this memory, he invited up all of the pianists in the room (Bill, Matthew and James) to have a little pianist play-along. Mark first laid out the rules - Mark said he would choose classical pieces on the fly and connect them in strange ways (maybe throw in some pop music, maybe throw in a few jokes.) At any point, a pianist could cut in and take over the improvisation.
And...Dear Me! There were all kinds of things thrown, including “The Butterfly Etude”, “The Pink Panther Theme”, “And All That Jazz”, “Bewitched Bother & Bewildered”, and many others - culminating in an 8 HAND (4 pianist) version of “New York New York.” What a thrilling display of spontaneity and musicianship!
Roster of singers for the evening (in order of appearance):
Click link to visit the performer’s website, when available.
All piano accompaniment by Mark Janas unless otherwise noted.
Bennett Silverstein
Lea McKenna-Garcia
Lisa Yaeger
Matthew Martin Ward (also on piano)
David Ballard
Broadway Four - Michael Osso, Thomas Dieter, Tom Guthrie & Dana Steer (with James Horan on piano)
Angela Leone
Zach Wobensmith (with Bill Zeffiro on piano)
Abbie Waxman
Special thanks to tonight’s pianists and musicians: Mark Janas, Bill Zeffiro, Matthew Martin Ward, and James Horan.
And thank you to Gill Alexandre on lights and sound, our videographer Steve Bustamante, and our amazing waitstaff (David Ballard and team!) who always handles the demands of a full house with aplomb!
Upcoming shows:
Ongoing: Matthew Martin Ward plays on Mondays at the West End Lounge, 955 West End Ave, NYC.
Ongoing: Bill Zeffiro plays every Tuesday from 9-11pm at La Mediterranee, 947 Second Avenue (at 50th St), NYC.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 (9:30pm) - David Ballard is appearing in a brand new show “True North” (directed by Tanya Moberly) at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (7pm) - Adam Shapiro is appearing in “Nothing Normal” (directed by Peter Napolitano, with Erin Cronican on vocals) as a part of the Winter Rhythms Festival at Urban Stages, 259 W 30th St, NYC.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (9:30pm) - David Ballard is appearing in a brand new show “True North” (directed by Tanya Moberly) at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Saturday, December 13, 2014 (3pm) - Adam Shapiro is producing and starring in “The Lovers, The Dreamers and Jim: The Music of Jim Henson,” with Special Guest Zach Wobensmith (and others), as a part of the Winter Rhythms Festival at Urban Stages, 259 W 30th St, NYC.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 (9:30pm) - BROADWAY FOUR - Michael Osso, Thomas Dieter, Tom Guthrie & Dana Steer with music director James Horan - will be appearing in their newest show at Stage 72, 158 West 72nd St, NYC.
Sunday, December 28, 2014 - Lisa Yaeger will be appearing in “An Evening with Judy Garland” at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Sunday, February 15, 2014 (5:30pm) - Bennett Silverstein is appearing in his Tony Bennett tribute show, “Bennett sings Bennett” at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Sunday, February 22, 2014 - Kathleen France and Dawn Derow are bringing back their show, “Revolution” to The Duplex, 61 Christopher Street, NYC.
Sunday, March 15, 2014 - Kathleen France and Dawn Derow are bringing back their show, “Revolution” to The Duplex, 61 Christopher Street, NYC.
Next Week’s Salon
Next week we’ll be back with the theme, “To Wit - Songs That Are Clever.” Your co-host will be Jeff Harnar. We’ll see you then!
Erin Cronican
Blogette for The Salon
(Updates? Changes? Email me.)
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