This Sunday, October 2nd, I will be making my debut at the Empire Plush Room as part of "Shawn Ryan and Friends: A Fundraiser for The Young Actors' Theatre Camp Scholarship Fund"!

Shawn Ryan - one of today's hottest jazz/cabaret stars - and his partner John Ainsworth are the program directors for the The Young Actors' Theatre Camp, a 6-day, 5-night intensive theatre training congress especially designed for young actors between the ages of 10-18 years old who are interested in the performing arts. Shawn and John are producing this fundraising show to benefit the camp's scholarship fund. They have invited me to perform as part of this fundraiser for a really great cause!

The show will be held at The Empire Plush Room, located at the York Hotel, at 940 Sutter Street (between Hyde and Leavenworth) in San Francisco. The Empire Plush Room is one of the top cabaret venues in the US, and the performers (scheduled to include The Kelly Park Trio, Kim Nalley, Linda Kosut, Lua Hadar, Barry Lloyd, Terese Genecco and others) will be top notch!

Tickets are $25, and there is a two drink minimum, with all proceeds going to the scholarship fund. There will also be a Live Auction so bring your check books! Reservations are HIGHLY recommended! Call the Plush Room box office at (415) 885-2800 for tickets. The show begins at 8pm.

About The Empire Plush Room:

Voted one of the Best Cabarets in the Country by USA TODAY, this former 1920's speakeasy in the York Hotel is truly a part of San Francisco history.

During the late 1920's at the height of Prohibition, the hotel quietly and illegally opened its now renowned Empire Plush Room Cabaret theatre. Merry-makers found their way through a maze of underground passageways, which still exist, to reach the secret nightclub. San Francisco socialites, world famous singers, gangsters and movie stars gathered nightly to enjoy illegal spirits and to hear the top entertainers of the era perform.

As prohibition faded into history, the Empire Plush Room, once shrouded in secrecy, became one of the city’s most popular live music venues. Young torch singers, comedians, dancers, and pianists flocked to the Empire Plush Room hoping to be discovered.

In 1956, the York Hotel entered into film history when Alfred Hitchcock chose it as a major location in his classic thriller "Vertigo". Hitchcock fans flock to the York Hotel to witness the place where the charlatan Kirn Novak lived during the second half of the film. You can still recognize the view from the rooms and the exterior of the building from the film.

Today the York Hotel and the Empire Plush Room continue to keep the tradition of cabaret alive by hosting entertainers like Rita Moreno, Andrea Marcovicci, Sam Harris, Maureen McGovern, Wesla Whitfield, and Paula West.

More info...

We are into our second weekend of performances for "Red, Hot & Blue!" at 42nd Street Moon. The houses were completely sold out during our first weekend, and both the audiences and the critics have loved the show!

Yes, the San Francisco Chronicle's Little Man is applauding!
And here's the review.

Chad Jones from InsideBayArea.com loves us too! Here's his review.

About the show:

In the first show of their 2005-2006 season, 42nd Street Moon is presenting Cole Porter's "Red, Hot & Blue!", starring the incredible cabaret star Klea Blackhurst! Klea is well-known for her one-woman Ethel Merman tribute show, "Everything the Traffic Will Allow" and will be starring in Merman’s original role as “Nails” O’Reilly Duquesne, a New York socialite involved in a delightfully daffy caper with assorted oddballs and eccentrics. The Porter classics include It’s De-lovely, Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor, Ridin’ High, Ours, Red, Hot and Blue, and You’re a Bad Influence On Me. The show will be directed by Greg MacKellan, Moon's co-Artistic Director (and director of the riotously funny "Minnie's Boys", which we did together last season). The show will run three more weeks (through October 16) on Thursdays & Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 6:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm. There will be also be a special early Wednesday performance at 7:00pm on October 12. You can get tickets by clicking here, or by calling the box office at (415) 978-2787.

What is 42nd Street Moon?

42nd Street Moon, based in San Francisco, is one of only four theatre groups in the nation whose mission is to present concert performances of classic Broadway musicals of the 1920s through the 1970s. After Ian Marshall Fisher’s “Discover the Lost Musicals” series in London, 42nd Street Moon is the next oldest, worldwide, of these companies devoted to the preservation and performance of “lost” musical theater in concert. They have presented the American premieres of lost musicals such as Jerome Kern’s “Three Sisters”, which was written in 1934 but never produced until their 1995 season – sixty-one years later! Since 1993, the organization has mounted five productions every year, and serves a loyal constituency.

The research required to re-stage these timeless gems involves many hours of locating missing scores and scripts and piecing them together. As a result of both the dedicated research efforts of the Artistic Directors and also their success in putting these restored classics on stage, the organization has developed solid working relationships with the Gershwin Trustees, the Cole Porter Trustees, the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the Kurt Weill Organization, and the families of Yip Harburg, Jerome Kern, and Dorothy and Herbert Fields. 42nd Street Moon’s work has been sufficiently distinguished that Theodore S. Chapin, president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization of New York, named it one of the most important theatre companies currently staging the masterpieces of the American musical theatre.

42nd Street Moon (so named because during the 1920’s and 1930’s, the bright lights of Broadway were known as “the 42nd Street Moon,” honoring the theatre’s most exciting thoroughfare) present these classic Broadway shows as “staged concert performances.” In staged concerts, actors hold scripts in-hand throughout the performance. There are no sets or elaborate costumes. They do not present their work through digitally engineered sound systems. The material itself is the star. This format allows their audiences to hear the work with remarkable clarity, and to use their imaginations. They allow their audiences to participate in the here and now, the very essence of LIVE theatre.

Learn more...

Speaking of Klea, following her acclaimed tribute to Ethel Merman, Klea has turned her passion for musical theatre history toward the checkered (his own word!) Broadway career of composer Vernon Duke. Vernon Duke was the creator of such indisputable standards as "April in Paris" and "Autumn in New York", although each was unfortunately nestled in a gargantuan flop - Walk a Little Faster and Thumbs Up!, respectively. His legacy as a Broadway composer ultimately rests on 1940's Cabin in the Sky, but there are countless musical treasures written throughout his career.

Klea has compiled these gems on her new CD, "Autumn in New York: Vernon Duke's Broadway", and has lovingly invigorated them with her own unique style, supported by the fresh, sparkling arrangements of Michael Rice.

Klea, Michael and bassist Daniel Fabricant will be performing a CD release concert as a benefit for 42nd Street Moon on Tuesday, October 11 at 7:00pm. Tickets are $75, $50 of which is tax-deductible.

Sponsored by internationally renowned Trader Vic's restaurants, admission includes Trader Vic's signature Mai Tais and Polynesian appetizers!!

To purchase tickets call the 42nd Street Moon administrative office at: (415) 255-8205.

Learn more...

On October 26th, I will be participating in a fundraising concert whose beneficiary will be the Don't Stop The Music Foundation, a 501(c)3 formed following Hurricane Katrina to assist New Orleans musicians in continuing their livelihoods until they can go back home to New Orleans. The organization is backed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and several major clubs and hotels around San Francisco. The non-profit foundation will help provide much needed infrastructure for up to 100 New Orleans-based musicians including housing, food, instruments, transportation, medical and other assistance and obtain performing venues in the Bay Area.

The cast list (subject to change) is a Who's Who of Bay Area jazz, cabaret and comedy talent, including Rita Moreno, Will Durst, Kim Nalley, Terese Genecco, Tim Hockenberry, Lua Hadar, Barry Lloyd, Benn Bacot, Jason Emanuel Britton, Bill Bunn, Connie Champagne, Debbie deCoudreaux, Daniel Fabricant, Rita Glassman, Kathy Holly and the Uptown Singers, Terri Kelly, David Miotke, Veronica Klaus, John McCullough, Denise Perrier, Bruce Philips, Robert Roger, Bob Sarlatte, Shirley Smallwood, Steve Snelling, Carole Stuart, Nancy Tierney, Tammy White, and more!.

The show will take place at The Julia Morgan Ballroom in The Merchant's Exchange Building, at 465 California Street in San Francisco. Spanning the 15th floor of the historic Merchants Exchange Building, the Julia Morgan Ballroom is one of the city’s premier sites for wedding ceremonies, receptions, and special events. The grand 4,100-square-foot space features a marble fireplace, carved wood-paneled walls, floor-to-ceiling windows offering exquisite views of the Financial District, and mirrors to reflect the city’s lights.

Event Sponsors to date include: Clint Reilly Holdings, Global Gourmet Catering, Best Beverage, The San Francisco Examiner.

The show will be on October 26th, from 6:30 - "til the music stops!"  Tickets are $50 (with drink tickets available for purchase); $100 (includes 2 complimentary drink tickets); Sponsor tickets at $150 (includes 4 comp drink tickets plus admission to the VIP Lounge); or Table Sponsor at $1,500. Tickets are available in advance through Tin Pan Alley Productions or by calling (415) 923-1452.

Learn more...

Many of you know that in August, I participated in "CabFab! A Confabulation for Singers", a cabaret master class which culminated in a performance at a BRAND NEW cabaret venue in San Francisco - the Café Majestic at the historic Hotel Majestic! Thanks to Philip Rey (cameraman) and Dan Geller (editor) of Geller/Goldfine Productions, the video of my performance is up on my website! Go to the "Past Appearances" section of this page, and you can see it for yourself!

And many thanks to Yao-Lien Wang for his photographs of the evening!

Once "Red, Hot & Blue!" closes, things really go into high gear with my show...but in the meantime, let me give you an update on a few things going on in the background:

● All of the piano charts have been completed, and Kelly Park, my musical director, is busily translating these into charts for the trio
● The photo shoot for the CD cover art, posters, and other promotional materials takes place this coming Friday, October 7, in historic Niles, CA
● We have a December date with the TV studio for the taping of the promotional DVD
● The show will get it's first run-throughs at Kelly's of Alameda in November (dates TBA in next month's newsletter)

Watch here for updates...