Come to the Cabarets- All of Them!

I have been wallowing in Cabaret music this month. It has been wonderful. A steady diet of hot fudge sundaes on peppermint ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry.  (I just put on ten pounds thinking about that!)

In spite of my training in classical music, or perhaps, because of it, I have always loved cabaret music, show tunes, you name it. When I was in Junior High School in Battle Creek, Michigan about a hundred years ago, it was normal for our friends and neighbors to come to our house of an evening, gather around the piano and sing all the popular songs of the day, so I got an early start in this musical genre.

The month began with my long-time friend and student, Peggy Noecker, and I performing two cabarets, which have already been noted in these pages.

Then, just last Tuesday, my friend and student, Karen Smith Emerson, who is the Elise Irwin Sweeney Professor of Music (Voice) at Smith College, sang a beautiful recital of songs by Francis Poulenc, who was one of Erik Satie's Les nouveaux jeunes. He was also one of Stravinsky's Les Six. Satie spent a lot of time playing piano in Parisian saloons and undoubtedly had an influence on Poulenc. When Karen and I were working on her program, I said, several times to her, 'Think Edith Piaf'. So much of Poulenc's Fiançailles pour rire, which was the main part of her program, evokes the smokey atmosphere of a Paris Boite. Karen was able to bring her high soprano voice right down below the passaggio to deliver this kind of sexy sound. It was a great recital.

To round out my indulgence in Musique de Cabaret, tonight my friend Sue and I heard Brel in the Berkshires presented by Barrington Stage Company. It was not held in their usual venue but rather upstairs at the Spice Dragon Restaurant in a great room for this kind of event.

The two exceptional singers were Amanda McBroom and George Ball, accompanied by the fine pianist, Michele Brourman. I have heard Amanda several times and am blown away every time I hear her by the emotional strength and communication of her performance. She grabs you by the collar and won't let you go until she leaves the stage. She is about the most intense cabaret singer I know of. She has the kind of voice that seems able to do absolutely anything she wants it to. She is simply wonderful!

Her husband, George Ball, is equally good and together, with Michele, they brought an exciting evening to Pittsfield.

Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter-actor who created  a new type of chanson that became an international sensation. His musical, Jacques Brel is alive and well and living in Paris, has been performed throughout the world for many years. Both Amanda and George have appeared in this show many times.

Amanda is a talented song writer in her own right, having penned 'The Rose' which was made famous by Bette Midler some time ago. She sang this as an encore.

This was a great evening. Let's have more of this from Barrington Stage!