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A double bill of cabaret
(by Jenny Fisher - August 27, 2008)
On a recent evening, marquee lights spelling “KRANZBERG ARTS CENTER” and the new and freshly painted rooms of the Craft Alliance made the former Woolworth Building in Grand Center shine like a beacon.
Though the bright rooms visible from the street were empty, five women in a black box theater inside were singing and slinking seductively under hot white lights, rehearsing for a cabaret show that opens this Friday.
Directed by Stellie Siteman, Casual Cabaret’s debut show stars Siteman and local singers B.J. Ware, Mary Dyson and Devon Barnes Roberts. The monthly series will visit the black box theater at Kranzberg each month through January.
The intimacy of cabaret was something that appealed to Siteman when she took her first cabaret class two years ago. A longtime actor and singer in St. Louis, Siteman immediately loved how she was able to interact with the audience in a way she never could as an actress.
“For me, breaking the fourth wall is amazing,” Siteman said. “What I love about cabaret is: there’s a boy and a girl in love, and they’re sitting out there in the audience, and when I sing I like to become part of their love affair. I like to make them fall just a little bit more in love with each other.”
Casual Cabaret’s first show will feature torch songs — those sentimental tunes about unrequited love — as well as witty songs like “Ladies who Lunch” by Elaine Stritch and sexier numbers like Bessie Smith’s “My Handy Man Ain’t Handy No More,” which will be sung by B.J. Ware.
A kindergarten teacher at Forsyth Elementary School, Ware has been singing for more than three decades, performing rock and jazz in St. Louis nightclubs. At last week’s rehearsal, Ware threw her head back and taunted the imaginary audience in the Kranzberg as she sang “Handy Man,” emphasizing the song’s double entendres with bawdy gestures.
“I’m loving it,” Ware said. “[Cabaret is] more intimate, you have a relationship with the audience. It’s different from just being me on stage. And you have this sisterhood with the other ladies that are singing with you and support you.”
Roberts, the youngest of the group, sings mostly comedic songs. Siteman calls her “the soubrette,” meaning she acts funny, flirtatious and saucy. Dyson, who is working with Siteman and Ware for the first time, has sung pop, R&B and blues in St. Louis for years. She will sing “Peel Me A Grape” in Casual Cabaret’s first performance, among other songs.
In future performances, Casual Cabaret will feature four local singers, as well as a special guest each month, beginning with Stu Hamstra, the creator of Cabaret Hotline Online, a website providing news about cabaret, on opening night.
“We are anxious to showcase those that you may not have seen before,” said Casual Cabaret’s producer Dee Kaplan. “Let’s just say that we in St. Louis are just beginning to make this a well-known cabaret town.”
As if to prove Kaplan’s words, Casual Cabaret is just one of two cabaret series opening this year. The other is Cabaret St. Louis, which will be executive directed by Jim Dolan and produced by the Sheldon Concert Hall and Fox Associates.
The initial Cabaret St. Louis show, which will bring acclaimed singer Steve Ross and his collection of clever and irreverent songs to the Kranzberg black box, opens Oct. 1. Subsequent Cabaret St. Louis events will take place at venues throughout the city.
Dolan, the Sheldon and Fox Associates have all produced cabaret series in the past; Dolan’s The Cabaret at Savor series ended earlier this summer when the Savor restaurant closed unexpectedly, while the Sheldon and Fox Associates’ Cabaret in the Savoy Room hosted its last performance in March. Chris Peimann, director of marketing and publicity for the Sheldon, said that plans were in full swing to continue with Cabaret in Savoy Room this fall when the two organizations decided to create Cabaret St. Louis by merging their cabaret efforts with Dolan’s.
“What’s special about cabaret is the intimacy,” Dolan said. “The intimacy of the room and the closeness of the singer, who has the chance to talk to us practically individually.”
Cabaret St. Louis will feature four performances following Steve Ross. Grammy award-winning soprano Sylvia McNair, who started out performing opera and now does songs from the Great American Songbook, will headline the series when it travels to the Sheldon Oct. 16 and 17.
Proprietress of Gaslight Square’s long-gone Crystal Palace Fran Landesman will follow Oct. 22 through 25 at the Gaslight Theatre. Landesman’s son Myles will accompany her on guitar as she performs some of the songs she wrote, including “Spring Can Hang You Up the Most” and “The Ballad of the Sad Young Man.”
“She’s a piece of St. Louis history and American musical theater history,” Dolan said.
Lee Lessack, who has performed extensively in the United States and Europe, and Tony Sandler, who will perform an homage to singer Maurice Chevalier, complete Cabaret St. Louis’ fall lineup.
Cabaret St. Louis will have a fall and spring season, Dolan said. And in future seasons, he said, “We hope to bring some of the top names in the field.”
• For Casual Cabaret reservations call 795-8778. Tickets for all five Cabaret St. Louis performances go on sale Sept. 2 and are available by calling 534-1111.
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