Rising Star

Posted on by Thor

It was Jeremy Seghers birthday. A group of his friends gathered at Ethos Kitchen, a vegan restaurant, to celebrate. We all pushed some tables together and everyone ordered dinner from the front counter. There was plenty of playful conversation. Someone had ordered a huge birthday cake from Rhapsodic Bakery. It was tasty but a little too sweet. After dinner a group of us went to Theater Downtown where Chicago had just begun it’s run. The cast of the show was gathered in the lobby. The room was converted into a makeshift karaoke bar. Amenda Chadwick insisted I join her singing, “Somewhere Out There”. I don’t know why I can’t just say no. She is persuasive.

Amanda did a soft shoe routine waiting for the piano introduction to finish up. We sang a bit timid at first then shouting till our voices cracked. Terry, who claimed she had never seen me sing, shot video on her iPhone which I hope was properly destroyed. To round out the festivities we went to Rising Start at Universal’s City walk. Terry and I were driving separate cars so I followed her there. When we got to the parking garage Terry realized she didn’t have her cell phone. She used my phone to call her number. Someone at the Theater Downtown, picked up and described the phone to Terry. She had to go back. I pushed on to City Walk. “The guard at the entrance to the parking garage told me that if I wanted one minute, I wouldn’t have to pay. I think there was a $5 admission for the club. I got a wristband.

Our table was populated with talented actors, actresses and musicians. Mathew Mendel got up to sing and he really bought the roof down. A table full of women were sitting at the table behind us and they were swooning and screaming. Brian Feldman looked around comically for effect. After finishing his song, Mathew took the longest time, finding his way back to our table. He must have been shanghied. This place offered karaoke with a boost. There were sexy backup singers and talented band members. Jeremy and an actress I had never met before sang, “How do I get you Alone” and the crowd loved it. Terry finally stopped in as I was finishing my sketch. She was tired and I wanted to get away before someone insisted I get up to sing.

K.T. Sullivan -Mad Cow Cabaret

Posted on by Thor

For the next three weeks the Mad Cow Theater is offering great cabaret entertainment from all over the world. This is the 8th annual cabaret festival hosted by Mad Cow. Cabaret offers a celebration of song and personality; musical entertainment in a intimate setting. I saw Zac Alfson who works at the Mad Cow at the WPRK radio station and he invited me to go to the opening night performance by K.T. Sullivan which would then be followed by a cabaret party. I have never been to a cabaret before, so I jumped at the opportunity. I got a seat in the back row and that worked out great since I needed to use a book light to see the pages the whole time I sketched. This is the first time I have done a sketch with a book light in a theater and I was a bit self conscious. When the house went totally dark I would shield the light with my hand.
Just as the show was about to get started two young women in fluffy night gowns and high heels got into the row in front of me. One of the girls got up probably to go to the rest room and she pranced down the steps theatrically as if trying not to make a sound. Half of the audience was able to see her stealthy comical movements and they started laughing uncontrollably. The woman had to be an actress and I wondered if she had been planted in the audience.
K.T. Sullivan’s performance was both sultry and humorous. Jon Weber accompanied her on the piano. She sang the songs of Dietz and Schwartz who she said wrote the songs late at night. One song written around the time of WWII was about a woman having to date young boys and old men since all the best men had been shipped off to war. The lyrics were very funny. Seeing her performance from the back row let me focus more on the overall feeling of the intimate setting of the space.
After the show was over everyone gathered in the lobby and I was surprised that no one left. I noticed one of Terry’s friends named Eileen and I went over to say hello. She had just gotten back from Louis’s funeral in New Orleans. She is selling her home in Chuluota and will be moving to New York City soon. I offered my condolences and told her a bit about my trip to Pennsylvania. She was with a large group of people and they left for another venue.
There was to be a Cabaret House Party starting at 10PM and so everyone waited in the lobby for the next half hour or so till that started. I got a chance to talk to Genevieve who is now working with Aradhana Tiwari on Project F. Genevieve is the choreographer of Voci Dance and she is excited about the Facebook themed show she is collaborating on. She told me about a rehearsal I missed in which everyone on stage had yarn and as they walked on stage they would leave a trail behind them. All the actors became entangled in this web and it affected their movements. I can kick myself for missing that rehearsal.
I got a white wine when the Cabaret House Party began. Seth Kubersky carried a clip board and wandered the crowd looking for people to sign up for Karaoke Cabaret. Tod Kimbro took to the piano and entertained the audience for a while. The first singer that took to the stage was seventeen year old Samantha. She said she was a bit nervous because she had never been to the Mad Cow Theater before then she quietly began to sing “Till there was you.” She began tentatively but then her voice rang clear and beautiful. She had a gorgeous voice. What a fabulous start for the night! Another couple that I absolutely adored sang “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors. I love this show, and used to sing the songs to myself as I painted in my rundown apartment in New York City. The notion of finding romance in the ruins of New York appealed to me, as did the idea of escaping to find a better life somewhere else. Who would have imagined that might be Orlando. They finished their song and kissed. She quietly said to herself,”He’s so adorable.” I found myself humming “Suddenly Seymour” to myself on the whole drive home.

Sunday Karaoke at the Parliament House

Posted on by Thor

There are many people who have known me for years who will never believe what I am about to tell you. But these events did unfold, on a quiet Superbowl Sunday, just as written . Amanda Chadwick put out an invitation to go to the Parliament House for Sunday morning Karaoke at the piano bar. Only the night before, actress, Lindsay Cohen had told me that she had once worked as a waitress at the Parliament House. I have never been, so I was curious. This sounded like a perfect sketching opportunity.
When I arrived maybe an hour late, I could hear the loud singing from the street. When I walked in it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the dark interior. The room was filled with men all sitting at the bar and in folding chairs facing the piano player. At the front table sat the only three women in the room and Amanda was one of them. She saw me and came over to say hello. The proprietor of the bar offered me a folding chair so I could sit with the 3 ladies, but I rather liked the view from my bar stool. I got out my sketchbook and started to sketch. The first person to take the stage after I started working was Dina Peterson who was one of Amanda’s friends. She sang Elton John’s “Your Song” and she bought down the house. All the men joined her singing the chorus and they all swayed to the music. I found myself singing along myself as I sketched, the lines flowing along with the words. To myself I sang , “I know its not much, but it’s the best I can do… My gift is my sketch, and this ones for you….”
There was long break after Dina sang because the foot pedal to the piano was stuck causing too much reverberation. Leslie Lormann, another friend of Amanda’s got on her hands and knees and worked on the pedal by wedging a book under it or something. One of the guys at the bar shouted out “Nice Ass, and that is some compliment coming from a gay guy!” She took it in stride and laughed it off. However it was done, the piano came back to life.
Mark Baratelli entered the bar and was greeted much like Norm from Cheers. He then got on the stage and sang “Somewhere over the Rainbow” everyone went wild. Mark added humor to the song by pushing the notes in new and unexpected ways. This was pure comic genius. By this time I had one white wine and when Mark gave the word, we all joined in the chorus. This was a side of Mark I had never seen before, and it was pure comic fun.
When his performance was over Amanda came over to see how my sketch was going. I was just about done. She asked, “Are you going to sing?” I said, “I haven’t seen YOU sing yet.” She said “No one wants to see me sing, trust me.” Offhandedly, figuring I was safe, I said “OK if you sing, I will join you.” She said, “OK, lets sing a duet.” In my mind I was thinking, “What have I done?” She bought over the play list and we started pouring over all the choices. She suggested a song from “Beauty and the Beast but I said, “No Disney, I will not sing a Disney song, that might cause flashbacks.” She finally chose the song, “Somewhere out There” from “An American Tail.” She hesitated a second saying, “Isn’t that a Disney movie?” I had to confirm that it wasn’t, so I agreed.
When we got on stage, my heart was in my throat. Luckily the duet starts with the female lead singing alone. Amanda missed the first cue but then she began, her voice quavering just a bit. The good thing about this song is that it is sung by mice in the movie. Thus any tightness in the throat or nervousness might sound like we were trying to sing the song in a mouse like manner. When I started singing, I was surprised by the sound of my voice on the speakers, I moved the microphone towards and away from my mouth trying to find the sweet spot where I sounded human again. I thought we did a fine job leaning towards each other and glancing up when the moment seemed right. When we sang together we actually harmonized, in our own way. To my untrained ears, Amanda sounded great. When the chorus came around again everyone in the bar was singing along drowning out our humble efforts. It is impossible not to have your heart warmed by a room full of people singing this song. It was a glorious moment which apparently Mark Baratelli decided to record on his little video camera. Luckily his camera has the worst microphone ever made, so you will not be subjected to my singing efforts. What ever it sounded like, it felt great! Thank you Amanda for the experience!
This Sunday Karaoke Singing Session happens every Sunday from 1PM to 4PM at the Parliament House (410 North Orange Blossom Trail). This is a unique Orlando experience! Happy Valentines Day!