Hello, everyone! I’m so thrilled to be back at The Salon after catching a bit of an illness (boo!) And what a night to return, because in the wake of the Golden Globes and with the Oscars coming up, we had the fun and eclectic theme, “Just Go To The Movies!”
This week’s hosts were Raissa Katona Bennett and Kenneth Gartman. Raissa and Kenneth will be appearing in “3 Decades in the Dark: Raissa & Kenneth Go To The Movies” at The Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 W 42nd Street on Tuesdays, February 10 & 17 (7pm); Thursdays February 12 & 19 (7pm); and Saturday February 21 (4pm). For more information: www.raissakatonabennett.com / www.kennethgartman.com.
For her first song of the night (with Mark Janas on piano) Raissa sang a powerful “Italian Street Song” from Naughty Marrieta. In her mid-show set she started by welcoming Kenneth Gartman to the piano and they did a duet mashup of “For Your Eyes Only” and “Nobody Does It Better” (both James Bond movie themes.) For their next song, Kenneth took to the mic & piano and Raissa played the flute(!) on “Beautiful Maria of My Soul.” To close this set, Raissa and Kenneth sang “Piece of Sky.” At the end of the evening these two dear friends gave us a charming “Friends to the End” from the “Tom & Jerry” movie.
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| Co-Hosts Raissa & Kenneth |
Quick Wrap: Classical Corner
Keeping with this week's theme, Mark started by playing a few notes from Disney’s “Fantasia,” to illustrate the impact classical music has had in the scores of movies. He talked about some of the movies that have been made of opera (like “The Magic Flute.”) And then there are orchestras that are featured in movies playing classical music, which enhances the plot of the movie.
One of the pieces that will always be planted in Mark’s mind as being connected to a movie was “The Ride of the Valkyries”, which so deeply defined that scene in “Apocalypse Now.” He told some stories about the Chicago Symphony and some of their amazing musicians, and then started discussing “score reading. ” He plays the intro to the theme song of “2001: A Space Odyssey” (“Sprach Zarathustra” by Strauss) and then continued to play the next 90 seconds of the song part what we already knew. (Did you know that the piece is actually 30 minutes long? Me neither!) He then presented a recording of the song (from a track on YouTube) which highlighted what the song would sound like with a full orchestra. It was thrilling! :)
To finish Classical Corner, he invited up classical singers Angela Pinti and Heather Peterson to sing Offenbach’s “Barcarolle” from “The Tales of Hoffman.”
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
Richie Eisenberg
Jennie Litt (with David Alpher on piano)
Sally Darling (with Matthew Martin Ward on piano)
Matthew Martin Ward
David Ballard
Christopher Sale
Natalie Arneson
Heather Peterson (with Jonathan Best on piano)
Special thanks to tonight’s pianists and musicians: Mark Janas, Kenneth Gartman, Matthew Martin Ward, Jonathan Best and David Alpher.
And thank you to Gill Alexandre on lights and sound, and our amazing waitstaff who always handle the demands of a full house with grace and style.
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, January 20, 2015 (7pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of musicians - this date has Mark Janas) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 (7pm) - "Once In Love With Amy", a benefit to help beloved singer and teacher Amy Beth Williams get back on her feet. (Featuring Adam Shapiro, Tanya Moberly, Janice Hall, and several others) Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Friday, January 23, 2015 (6:30pm) - Natalie Arneson is performing in her new show, “Mama Drama” at The Duplex, 61 Christopher St, NYC.
Sunday, January 25, 2015 (3pm) - Barb Malley is bringing back her show “Eat! Drink! Be Merry” to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Sunday, January 25 & 26, 2015 - Zach Wobensmith is performing in a developmental reading of Plagued, with the Gallery Players, NYC.
Sunday, February 1, 2015 - Lauren Stanford is bringing back her debut cabaret to the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Friday, February 6, 2015 - Lauren Stanford is appearing in “An Evening of Judy Garland” at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Monday, February 9, 2015 (6:30pm) - Natalie Arneson is performing in her new show, “Mama Drama” at The Duplex, 61 Christopher St, NYC.
Saturday, February 14, 2015 (6pm): Erin Cronican is a special guest performer in the Alanis Morisette tribute show, “Jagged Little Pill: A Valentine's Story” at the West End Lounge, 955 West End Ave, NYC.
Sunday, February 15, 2015 (5:30pm) - Bennett Silverstein is appearing in “Bennett Sings (Tony) Bennett” at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Monday, February 16, 2015 (9:30pm) - Adam Shapiro is appearing in “Nothing Normal”, (with Erin Cronican on vocals), at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Friday, February 20, 2015 (9:30pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of musicians - this date has Sean Harkness) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Monday, February 23, 2015 (6:30pm) - The Broadway World Cabaret Awards, hosted by Stephen Hanks (with tons of nominees who are Salon regulars!) are being held at Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St, NYC.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 (7pm) - Barb Malley is bringing back her show “Eat! Drink! Be Merry” to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 (7pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of musicians - this date has Sean Harkness) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 (7pm) - Eric Michael Gillett is appearing in “Dirty Little Songs” at the Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 W 42nd St, NYC.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 (7pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of musicians - this date has Sean Harkness) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Wednesday, February 26 - March 15, 2015 (Tues-Sat 7pm, Sun 2pm) - Erin Cronican is appearing as Desdemona in OTHELLO with The Seeing Place Theater in their brand new home, the Clarion Theater, 309 E 26th St.
Thursday, March 12, 2015 (9:30pm) - Charles Baran is bringing back his show, “Recipes for Disaster!” to the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Friday, March 20, 2015 (7pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of pianist - this date has Ritt Henn) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Friday, March 20, 2015 (7pm) - Barb Malley is bringing back her show “Eat! Drink! Be Merry” to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Sunday, March 22, 2015 (5pm) - Sally Darling is appearing in “Matters of the Heart”at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Saturday, March 28, 2015 (5pm) - Sally Darling is appearing in “Matters of the Heart”at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (9:30pm) - Tanya Moberly is bringing a new series of shows called, “Songs I Feel Like Singing” (with a rotation of musicians - this date has Ritt Henn) to Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th St, NYC.
Thursday, April 23, 2015 (9:30pm) - Charles Baran is bringing back his show, “Recipes for Disaster!” to the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Sunday, May 2, 2015 (4pm) - Nicholas Levin has a cabaret revue of his music premiering at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, NYC.
Next Week’s Salon
Next week we’ll be back with the theme, “Optimism vs Pessimism” with our co-host Kristoffer Lowe. We'll see you then!
Erin Cronican
Blogette for the Salon
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