MORE "HERE & THERE" PART II
What's the old saying - if Mohammad doesn't want to go to the mountain, the mountain will go to Mohammad. Currently whenever we update the blog http://cabarethotlineonline.blogspot.com/ (about 12 times a day) we send a notice to the 300 folks who follow us on TWITTER. Now we've opened an account on FaceBook so if you follow us there, you'll get the same notices. Now I have to figure out how folks get to follow CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE on FaceBook - the account is CABARET-HOTLINE-ONLINE (I think). I have to do some studying on how it all works. Check the blog (the MEMBERS ONLY issue tomorrow might have info - I don't even know at this point how to follow myself!).
Please note, you will still have to send us show information and press releases the "old fashioned way" by sending your info to stuhamstra@svhamstra.com - and the same goes with postings to the various group mailing lists I follow (BACA, MAC, CABARETSINGERS, CCP, LA-SINGER, etc.). Please, to be sure your item is seen and read, send it directly. These group mailings often contain incomplete and also non-cabaret items (apartment sublets, kittens to adopt, etc.) so I currently just scan them, saving only an occasional few for the newsletter.
A word about reviews: You may have noted a nearly complete lack of reviews in CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE issues lately. The reasons are several, the main one being a lack of time. But that's all about to change. It is now 9:00 am and I have completed all the listings I needed to include for today! That's 3 1/2 hours before publication time! So now I see I will have time to send a review (or at least a report) on shows seen during the last week in every Thursday issue.
There's a second reason: Very few people read the reviews! They read them in the newsletter (there's no way for me to tell, actually) and a few will go to the website to read reviews - mainly the performer and his/her friends. But, from my own website statistics, after a few days the page counts on reviews go to nearly zero unless the performer has published a link to the review elsewhere. And performers rarely publish a link to a bad review. Which means many reviewers, often at the urging of their publishers, write only "nice" reviews. "Honest" reviews are rare (Steven Holden of the NY TIMES is the only reviewer I actually read regularly). So, many cabaret "reviews" turn out to be "puff" pieces - accentuate the positive, ignore the negative.
Even I am a little bit in a bind, since I have to sell ads on my website. So I rarely write a report/review unless it is an absolute rave! I'll save my honest judgement to a personal e-mail, either to the performer or director (only on request). I hate to waste my time writing something that no one - or at least very few - will actually bother to read. The solution is to "hire" a reviewer or two to cover events. But, I can't afford this. (A review that isn't a paid review is often an exercise in self-aggrandizement on the part of the reviewer).
That being said, I did see a show this week - on Wednesday - and it was one I can give an unqualified and honest rave for: Wesla Whitfield with the Mike Greensill Trio at THE METROPOLITAN ROOM (34 West 22nd Street, NYC - 212-206-0440 - http://www.metropolitanroom.com/ ) - and you have two more chances to see it - Tonight and tomorrow night, Friday & Saturday, June 4th & 5th at 7:30 pm. And see it you must.
This show is a slightly shortened version of the show Wesla did in San Francisco - which sold out the 200-seat RRAZZ ROOM for 3 weeks, and will return to the RRAZZ for en extended run later this month. (The headline shows go 90 minutes at the RRAZZ). The show is "We're In The Money" (Songs from the Movies), and it is cabaret at its finest. It is "close up and personal" without the clap-trap of props and long stretches of patter. The songs were all written for Hollywood, with a few lesser known numbers plus many familiar, well loved songs. But its not the songs I'm raving about - its the performance! With one of the finest trios evert on stage at the METROPOLITAN, combined with one of the finest vocalist - known for magical lyric interpretation - this cabaret event is truly one of the most memorable in my 20 years of covering the art and artists of this live entertainment genre.
A little aside on this show. If you are a regular reader, you are aware that I usually am accompanied by my friend Daniel to cabaret shows. And, since English is not his primary language, I can often gauge the effectiveness of a particular perfomance via his feedback. Just as I can break into tears listening to a heart-rending Spanish ballad sung in a language I do not speak, he is often moved by performances of songs of which he only understands about 70%. (Cabaret has no official language.) By the third song of Wesla's show he was totally entranced! I usually want to scurry out after a show, but he insisted that we hang back after the line of well wishers and CD purchasers was ended so he could personally (with his usual energetic enthusiasm) tell Ms. Whitfield how he was touched by her performance. Of course, he included his usual "Daniel hug".
About the "big rooms"? Well, I've received two invitations to shows at FEINSTEIN'S and one at THE ALGONQUIN for this month. I usually don't attend shows in these spaces because I often have to "jump through hoops" to get a comp. Performers have a limited number of comps to hand out, and these "performer comps" do now include the minimum (normally in the $35-$60 range), which I simply cannot cover. So, what happens is, the performer is asked to pay my minimum instead. I learned this many years ago - it was a show by THE WISEGUYS at THE BALLROOM (that's how long ago!). My cover was deducted from their pay! There is too little money to be made by performers as it is, to ask someone to spend $35 bucks or more so I can attend. So, unless I am assured that "the house" is picking up the complete tab (or a record company), I don't attend.
I have no cabaret plans for tonight - just paid the rent and need to stretch out my funds until the SS check comes. Tomorrow night I will attend two shows - the Booth & Pat show at DON'T TELL MAMA at 7:00 pm and "Remembering Mel" a musical tribute to Mel Torme, by vocalist Warren Schein at THE METROPOLITAN ROOM at 9:45 pm.
COMING IN TOMORROW'S MEMBERS ONLY NEWSLETTER - a special sale on $25 HOME PAGE SIDE-BAR ADS - join today at SILVER lever and above and get in on it - limited number of ads available - order and payment must be made by JUNE 20th.
Wow - this was a good test! It's 10:00 am and I've said all I had to say today in less than 7000 words (far less than the usual 9000+ words. The big test will come on Monday, when we will try to get as much news as possible into that issue - plus a few HERE& THERE items. So, since many folks get to quit work early on Fridays, and many folks get these issues at work, I'm publishing at 10:30 am - just going over my newsletter to catch typos, etc. Waiting for your comments.
See a show or two this week! Visit our websites! Run a banner or sidebar ad! Join CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE for 2010-2011. Now - more than ever - cabaret (and CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE) needs your support. Every day, in every way, we're promoting cabaret!
Look for more news on the website ( http://www.cabarethotlineonline.com/ ), on the blog ( http://cabarethotlineonline.blogspot.com/ ) and updates, picks & reminders on TWITTER ( http://twitter.com/cabarethotline ).
And that's just about the way it was. The rest will have to wait until Monday's issue.
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