February 14, 2009: Capital City Men’s Chorus’ Sweethearts
Cabaret
I genuinely enjoy
emceeing the cabaret shows for the Capital
City Men’s Chorus.
Not only does it give me the opportunity to be on stage -
cracking jokes and occasionally singing - it keeps me relevent
to the Austin arts scene. Since I rarely have the
opportunity to devote six-to-eight weeks performing a stage
production anymore, this is as close as I get to performing
these days.
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Plus, the Men’s
Chorus guys are extremely talented and very nice. That
combination makes it a joy to work with them, and several of
the members have become very good friends.
So with the begrudging
blessing of my husband JoeLane, I got to spend
Valentine’s night on the Austin Woman’s Club stage to emcee the Chorus’ annual
Sweethearts Cabaret. 2009 is the 20th season for the
Chorus, the 10th time the Cabaret has been held in the downtown
historic mansion, and my third year to serve as their event
emcee.
The beautiful setting of
the Bellvue Chateau, the exquisite four-course meal, and the
talents on stage made for another memorable event.
Special guest Larisa Montanaro seduced
the crowd with her sultry jazz voice, and the solo and ensemble
acts were loving received by the audience - a wonderful mix of
local arts performers and patrons.
CCMC Artistic Director Jeffrey Jones-Ragona guided the near-sold-old performance to
perfection. If you missed this year’s event, mark
your calendars for March 13th, 2009, when the Sweethearts
Cabaret returns.
And for the more bawdy
bunch, don’t miss the CCMC’s Midnight Cabaret on
October 2nd and 3rd. I’ll be back to emcee the
annual burlesque production of naughty songs and scandalous
skits at the Vortex Theatre.