What do “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” “Miss Otis Regrets,” “Love for Sale,” and “Begin the Beguine” all have in common?
Well, the first was written by Ellington, and the other three by Porter, but as I was sitting listening to the gifted Tommi Rose sing at Wednesday night’s performance, I realized that I had unconsciously ordered these songs in such a way as to tell a story of love found, lost and avenged, fallen off the deep end, and fondly remembered. So, I relaxed a bit about what to say to the audience before and between songs.
Of course, staring out into the audience of 50 or so patrons, many of whom I knew fairly well, after having not sung in public like this in several years, didn’t help me remember the opening note to the first song, and I floundered about like a wounded moose on-stage until I suddenly caught the melody again, and my voice came back strong and clear. I recovered that song, and went into the next three songs with more confidence, and ended Begin the Beguine with a long sustained note that lasted a heck of a lot longer than I thought I could hold.
The evening’s entertainment consisted of Carla Ozard, a professional theater and cabaret singer, Tommi Rose, who was the Mistress of Ceremonies at the famous Finnoccio’s club in North Beach for 15 years or so, Donna Sachet, who doesn’t need much of an introduction, me, and magician Scott Alcalay, who’s on LJ as scottasf, I think. And the headliner, the dance/hiNRG diva recording artist Vicki Shepard, who did a lovely jazz set for us.
Ann Walker, who plays Lavonda Dupree on Logo TV’s hit series Sordid Lives, was our host for the evening, and she was as charming and funny as you’d expect of someone who’s been in show business for a long time. I fell in love with her instantly! And for some strange reason, she was enjoying my company as well, so we chatted about politics quite a bit, and other things. I don’t really know much about the TV show she’s on, but apparently everyone else in the place did, as people kept coming up to her and gushing about it. I know the movie upon which the show is based, though, so I’m not a complete moron.
After the show, a bunch of us headed across the street to Martuni’s and sang a few more songs and had, of course, martinis. But we were hungry, so Tommi, Matt Consola, Ann, and I piled into Tommi’s car and headed up to Sparky’s, where we had a late supper. Finally, though, it was time to go home, so Tommi gave Matt and I a ride home, and I assume dropped Ms. Walker off at her hotel.
So, despite the embarrassing start, a lovely evening!
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