With Mark Janas in the Poconos, Bill Zeffiro took on hosting and accompaniment duties for the evening. The evening's co-host was the adorable Marissa Mulder who started us off with "Come Fly With Me."
Elaine St George gave us the "only American Song Book song with my name in it" - Jimmy Van Hausen and Johnny Mercer's "I Thought About You" which references passing the "Chateau Elaine."
Kevin McMullan got the crowd clapping along with his energetic performance of Canned Heat's "On the Road Again." Kevin will soon be heading into the recording studio to make a demo of his partner's songs, and will be starting a Kick Starter campaign to have his show "Twist of Fate" recorded on CD. Kevin also has a blog recounting his travels.
Donna Stearns was joined by Tony Imgrund for a duet of her original song "This Fiesta Celebrates Dawn." A very fun song about space travel inspired by the recent shuttle launch. Donna then had to leave us early as she was then on her way to her record release party!
Adam Shapiro brought us back to our childhoods with "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon," originally performed by Ernie on Sesame Street. It was a bittersweet moment as Adam is leaving us once again to tour with Zorro! We will miss him while he is gone, but are so thrilled for him!
Barbara Malley serenaded us with Natural High from the off-Broadway show "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road." Barbara is currently working on a one woman show about Brooklyn, and will give us further details as she has them.
Tony Imgrund returned to the stage for a solo performance of Danny Boy in his lovely tenor, which left everyone in the audience a little bit misty-eyed.
Alan Safier gave us a very smooth performance of "Two for the Road." Alan will be performing his one man show - Say Goodnight Gracie - Sunday, Oct 30th at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts.
You can also find his CD, Alan Safier Sings the Songs of George and Gracie, on iTunes.
Maureen Taylor sang an emotional "My White Knight" by David Freidman in her lovely soprano. Maureen just finished a reading at the York Theatre about the life of Jesus through Mary's eyes, and is currently preparing a Lauren Bacall tribute show in the fall.
Nick Levin treated us to one of his original songs - cat on a leash - which he wrote for a friend of his who takes his cat out for walks on a leash.
Annie LeBeaus had us giggling with her original song "Road Trip Song" mostly about how to eat when you are on the road and staying in hotels offering crap Continental breakfasts.
David Ballard, our waiter extraordinaire, brought his extraordinary voice to Jason Robert Brown's Old Red Hills of Home.
The evening's bloggette, Arianna (me!) sang the Frank Wildhorn/Linda Eder ballad Vienna.
Ettceterette Erin Cronican showed us her inner Disney Princess with "Just Around the River Bend" from Pocahontas. Erin is currently in rehearsals for the play "Closer" and just starred in her Actor-Own readings of Rent and Wicked.
Marissa next introduced her friend and mentor, Karen Oberlin, who was the evenings Salon Spotlight. Karen began her set with the wordy "Rhode Island." She followed that up with "April in Paris." Karen informed us that when he wrote "April in Paris," Yip Harburg had never actually BEEN to France. Bill Zeffiro joined her for a duet on "Mountain Greenery Home" too close out her set.
Classical Corner became Zeffiro's Corner for the evening. Bill chose to keep us laughing - starting his set by asking us to imagine him as a 15 year old girl delinquent for the title song from his musical "The Road to Ruin." "Road to Ruin" was followed up by his mother's favourite song, the tale of a certain "Senorita Nina from Argentina" who adamantly refuses to dance. Bill brought Marissa back up onstage to help him close out the first half with the Big Crosby/Bob Hope tune "Road to Morocco."
Marissa Mulder returned to the stage to open the second half of the Salon. She began acapella on "But Beautiful," which truly was beautiful. She next sang Joni Mitchell's hauntingly beautiful "Both Sides Now," which was inspired by looking out the window of a plane at clouds. She closed with "Our Town."
Our wonderful producer, Tanya Moberly, who keeps us running week after week gave a powerful performance of "West End Avenue."
Annie Kozuch gave us the very beautiful "I Know I'll Love You So," in both English and Portuguese. Annie will be making her Feinstein's debut on August 15th in a show titled Mostly Jobim, an evening of honoring Antonio Carlos Jobim, a memorable evening dedicated to the traditional and jazz-infused bossa nova – songs of love, self-discovery, betrayal and love.
Marya Zimmet introduced her song by saying it was "off theme as usual." On or off theme, Marya sang beautifully through "Teach Me Tonight."
The rest of the evening was devoted to Encores, kicked off by Annie Lebeaux and her original song "Let Me Off the Boat." Annie was inspired to write this song while working as a music director for the shows on Crystal Cruises. The song was a comic take on the less than pleased reactions to the cruises she saw from the passengers.
Kevin McMullan returned to the stage with a Honky Tonk song arranged by Bill Zeffiro.
Elaine St George gave us a jazzy rendition of "Over the Rainbow," while Maureen Taylor surprised us all by doing a short, fun uptempo song.
Alan Sayfier gave us a travel song, Arianna (me again!) decided to pull out "Popular," and Erin Cronican sang the emotional "How to Return Home" by Kerrigan and Lowdermilk about an adult child moving home.
Marissa Mulder survived a tumble and closed out the evening.with various thank yous and announcements.
Join us next Sunday, July 31st when our guest host will be Brett Kristofferson and the theme will be That's Original! Remember, any material, on or off theme, is always welcome at Salon. We look forward to seeing you!
-Arianna Armon
Guest Blogette for The Salon
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