NEWS ABOUT CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE
HERE & THERE or WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION
When we last wrote on Thursday (CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE #80808), I was saying: "In just a few minutes I will head for LaGuardia Airport to fly to St. Louis, MO, to attend the opening of a new cabaret venue - "Casual Cabaret" - which will make its premier at the new KRANZBERG ART CENTER STUDIO THEATRE (501 North Grand Street, St. Louis, MO - 314-795-8778) on Saturday, August 30th. There will be a "meet & greet" after the Saturday night show and I hope to have a chance to chat with many of the folks in the area who subscribe to the newsletter. There will be a 90-minute "mini-seminar" on cabaret on Saturday, August 30th at 11:00 am at the same venue - a time for me to meet you - and share together some thoughts, experiences, questions and even complaints about the art of cabaret."
And thus it was, after the arrival of my pal Daniel to help with last minute packing and one important last minute errand, we caught the bus practically just outside the door of my building on our was o LaGuardia! The last minute errand wasn't quite accomplished - the primary button on the pants I was to wear at the opening night party was missing, and Daniel raced to the dry cleaners across the street for repairs, but the tailor had gone to lunch. They did provide him with a free button, however.
Note to self: Going crosstown on 14th Street by bus at 1:30 pm takes triple the time to go crosstown on 14th Street by bus at 1:30 am. The flight was at 3:55 pm and we planned to arrive at the airport at 2:30 pm. The route was 14th Street bus from Avenue C to 6th Avenue, then the superfast F train to Jackson Heights (Roosevelt Avenue) and then the Q33 bus to LaGuardia. Oh, did I mention? The Q33 is a local bus making local stops - it seemed like 150 of them last Thursday afternoon. But I "think green" and always try to take public transportation to save the planet (and my meager funds - taxi would have cost $35 or more, this trip was $4).
Needless to say (but I will say it anyway) I arrived at the airport at 3:45 pm with just 10 minutes to go through security and get to the ramp. Daniel left me racing down the entry corridor. The line was short. Security was a breeze - 5 minutes or maybe less. I didn't bother to tie my shoes. I ran, laces akimbo, to the gate (of course it was Gate 10 - about as far away from Security as is possible - almost on Riker's Island!) I turned the corner to be greeted by 2 lovely ladies. "Are you Stewart?" one asked. I was ready to correct her, since my first name had been misspelled on the ticket. Nodding yes, the other lady scanned my boarding pass and I was up the gangplank and in the plane - filled nearly to capacity. I had seat A17 - a window seat just ahead of the wing. As I looked down the plane I saw a very large man - a very large tall, bulky, large man. I immediately knew he had to be sitting in 17B - he was. I stuffed my carryon in the last available slot in the overhead bin, squished past him, buckled my seatbelt, and they closed the door and we were off.
Well, not quite. There were 26 other airplanes on the taxiway ahead of us - all inching along in three parallel lines. Our pilot apparently got in the slow line - just as I always manage to do in the supermarket. Our 3:55 pm departure time slipped to 4:25 pm before we left the ground.
The flight itself was uneventful (actually, I prefer that flights be uneventful) and the man next to me actually turned out to be a swell guy - an architect on his way home to Seattle after helping with a 3-million dollar mansion being built in Greenwich CT. Originally from Texas he had one of those drawls normally accompanied by a knee slap. Not much to see out the window - we were above a thick layer of clouds. And we landed (thankfully uneventfully) in St. Louis at 5:39 pm - one minute early. Apparently they pad their flight time schedules a little when flying out of LaGuardia.
De Kaplan, who along with Stellie Siteman are the moving forces behind the new cabaret venture, was waiting for me at the end of the ramp (I did have time to finally tie my laces after I left the plane - a task I was unable to do while in the air). I would not actually meet Stellie until showtime on Saturday, since she was both directing and performing in the show. De led me to her car in the parking garage just outside the door and we were off to town. In minutes we were at the hotel (I said 15, she said 10). She had already checked me in, had my room card (what ever happened to room keys?) and even had prepared a little surprise for me.
When I got to the room there was a large coffee maker (not the 2-cup type normally there), 4 varieties of ground coffee in gold-foiled bags, two large jugs of spring water, 3 packages of Pepperidge Farm cookies and a large bag of potato chips (fat free). She was to return in an hour to take me to dinner. Having been up since 5:30 am to get Thursday's newsletter out (did I mention that I got home at 3:30 am on Wednesday night?) I quickly emptied the carryon and hung my clothes and flopped on the bed for a cat-nap.
At 7:30 pm I was all refreshed, bright and alert when De arrived and that night we dined in St. Louis at a restaurant called Liluma, with two St. Louis friends of cabaret, Aracili and Rick Zimmer. The host suggested we dine inside instead of outdoors since it looked like rain - and within half an hour it certainly did - along with lightening, wind and thunder (there were reports of heavy wind damage a few miles away). After nearly two hours of fine dining and scintillating conversation, De returned me to the hotel where I promptly turned in for the night - it was a long day!
Friday was a fairly free day - nothing on the schedule actually. After 3 cups of fresh brewed coffee in my room (and 4 or 5 cookies), I took a little walk to seek out some breakfast. It was past 10:30 am but the gal at the Quiznos store let me slide and made a nicely toasted bacon/egg/cheese sandwich which I took back to the room to enjoy with my coffee (I started a second pot). De was at the front door with her car promptly at 1:00 pm and we went for lunch "downtown" near the new cabaret space at a very NY-style place called Kitchen K - salads, soups, sandwiches & burgers mostly with a slight tex-mex flair. Then we went to the KRANZBERG ART CENTER a few minutes away.
The center is located in a former WOOLWORTH store, completely refurbished, with the exterior fully restored (see http://thevitalvoice.com/node/611 ). In addition to a 2,000-square-foot, black box-style theater that can seat up to 110 people, and the adjacent, 1,040-square-foot studio cabaret theater that can seat up to 80, it also houses a service organization called Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and the Craft Alliance, with an exhibition space visible from the street and another 4,000-square feet of studio space.
When I walked into the new cabaret room the first time I was reminded a bit of DAVENPORT'S in Chicago - a similar color scheme and ambiance. Two more volunteers were at one of the tables - the task at hand today was finalizing the reservations and planning a seating chart. A large stage is at one end of the room, and one of good height. The 80 seats are divided 4 to a table with plenty of space between tables (in NYC I am certain there would be 50% more tables in the room with no space to navigate). De related some of the problems encountered in the 4-months of planning that went into this opening night - this was to be the first show ever in the new venue. The lights arrived late, the used on-site piano had to be replaced at the last minute with a new rental - and then re-tuned a second time because no one of the building staff realized that a piano needed consistent temperature and humidity to stay in tune (in fact, just to be safe, the piano was re-tuned on Saturday afternoon, an hour or so before showtime). There was even some picketing (St. Louis is a "Union" town) regarding a misunderstanding as to who installed the lighting system.
All the while De's cell phone kept ringing - the show was already a sellout (there were actually 83 reservations for 80 seats) but there were many who still wanted to get tickets and folks with large reservation orders were called back to check on any cancellations. Somehow through the chaos order was restored and it was back to the hotel for a rest, then off to dinner at 8:00 pm at BOLE in a nearby shopping center. We were joined by a local celebrity with some national fame, Stan Kann. Stan is a man of many talents - he regularly plays the Wurlitzer organ at the fully restored Fox Theater - which shares the block with the KRANZBERG. He also collects vacuum cleaners (yes, you read correctly) and appeared numerous time on the Johnny Carson show (and is a pal of Marilyn Maye!). Stan is the textbook definition of "a character" and had De and I laughing all through the meal. And I ate a whole roasted chicken. I didn't intend to eat the whole thing, and I can't believe I ate the whole thing, but I did. It was a small chicken to be sure, but not a game hen - it was a real chicken!
Saturday morning at 11:00 am I was to lead a mini-seminar on the art of cabaret, so I skipped breakfast and loaded up on coffee. At 9:15 am my "de taxi" arrived and off we went. Interestingly, De seemed to take a different route every trip to or from the art center so I saw plenty of St. Louis while there. Not quite a dozen folks gave up the heart of their Labor Day weekend to attend the event, but I was OK with that since I am "unaccustomed to public speaking." I was quite interesting for me to hear myself speak for a change, rather than simply watch the little letters appear on my computer monitor as I prepare newsletters and website pages.
There remained a lot of work to be done to get the room ready to open, so after a quick lunch at the Steak House across the street, De took me to the hotel and she was off to pick up last minute items to dress up the room. I had to sew on that button - the hotel provided me with needle and thread. It was a breeze - except when I put the pants on. The button was just slightly larger than the buttonhole. I struggled and tugged to no avail. Just fortunately I had a new fingernail clipper handy - purchased after my arrival since I wasn't sure what the airline security rules were and had left mine at home. A few well aimed clips and the button went through with ease.
Showtime was 8:00 pm, and De was back at 6:15 pm to take me to the cabaret - early enough so that she could handle any last minute crisis that might arise. It was free time for me, so I walked down Grand Street to check out the Fox Theater, and a jazz club I had noted further down the block on one of our "drive-bys". I stopped for a pre-show cocktail at a great restaurant/bar (Backstage) and picked up some of the history of the area from a friendly fellow patron. They call Missouri the "show me" state and I always assumed everyone in St. Louis would be sort of gruff like Lennie Watts, but actually everyone was terrific!
The show went so smoothly one would have assumed that De and Stellie had been putting on such events for many years! I was going to include a review of the revue (5 terrific gals who sang up a storm) but this special issue is getting pretty long and it is already 2:00 pm. Let's just say for now that great and talented cabaret performers do not only live in NYC - a fact I am well aware of, having visited cabaret events in Boston, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago over the years. It was just great to be reminded of the fact once again.
But wait - there's one more thing to tell about Saturday. For dessert, on the way back to my hotel, we had to satisfy one of De's addictions: peanut butter frozen yogurt from a shop en route. All the kids working in the store knew her by name and were shouting "hellos", and she didn't even have to place her order as one lad started making up her dish as soon as we entered, and we were even allowed to "jump the line"! (I had strawberry).
Saturday night I slept like a baby. My flight home was at 11:35 am on Sunday, and this time both De and Stellie were waiting in the car at 9:00 am in the hotel drive-through. A zip, a turn and another zip and we were at the airport - hardly enough time to share our exuberant feelings about the events of the past few days. More hugs as I headed for my gate and I made a promise to return. There are four more monthly cabaret events scheduled through January 17th - October 11th, November 15th and December 13th. If I do get to return, I know that Daniel will want to tag along - cigarettes are just $4.28 a pack (compared to $9 in NYC)! I bought him 4 packs in the terminal.
As you can probably recall from last Thursday's newsletter, my trip started with me in a "not quite so bright" mood. Because someone let me down on paying a bill, I had no idea how I would pay the rent on my return. But thanks to some wonderful cabaret folks who pay-palled me some funds while I was in Missouri, and an unexpected "honorarium" from Casual Cabaret, the weekend ended on a very happy note. When I left for Missouri I had just $40 in my pocket - leaving as much as I could in the bank. Thanks to the kindness and generosity Casual Cabaret, I didn't even break the first $20 until Friday morning for breakfast, and didn't spend another dime until I was back at the airport and had breakfast there (the guy at the BackStage bar bought my cocktail on Saturday night!). I got to the airport with one of the original 20s!
The plane arrived at LaGuardia 15 minutes early and Daniel was still on the bus to the airport when we landed, so I met him at the curb and we hopped right on the next bus back to Jackson Heights. With the "honorarium" in hand I wanted to treat Daniel to an early supper at our favorite Columbian restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue, but ever frugal Daniel pointed to the shopping bag he was holding and said that he had cooked dinner for both of us to eat back at my apartment! What's more, it was my favorite meal!
Bus to subway to bus connections went off without a hitch and I was back home in less than an hour, only to be shunned by the cat who apparently felt it was mean of me to leave her for so long.
Thus ends my tale - with so many more memories I have no time to include here. Here's a huge thank you and an electronic hug to De and Stellie, to Mary Dyson, Devon Barnes Roberts, B. J Ware, who were on stage with Stellie in the show and especially to Barbara Parker Helmer who did a 2-song guest spot and stole my heart! Her second song "If He Walked Into My Life" from Jerry Herman's MAME had me in tears! More about the show next issue.
Thank you everyone in St. Louis who made my visit so fantastic. By the way, when I got back to NYC there was an e-mail waiting from Lennie Watts, who just happened to be in St. Louis as the same time I was but couldn't get a ticket to the sold out show! Go figure!
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