It is no secret that I love a good showtune and a Broadway
Musical! However, this trip is a bit different as I want to explore the Cabaret
world a little it more. Find the piano bars and cabaret clubs and see how the
real kids do it… and they do it really well!
Night 1 in New
York and it is straight to 54 Below, the new cool
funky place for jazz and cabaret. Located under the famous Studio 54, this
intimate showroom / cabaret venue is amazing. Everything about it is amazing.
It starts with a big bald door man who opens the big old school door that in
days gone by, you would need a secret knock and a password to get through. When
you get downstairs and inside, the décor is straight out of the 40’s. The menu
is great (a little bit expensive but the quality of the food and the experience
matches the price).
Anyway, tonight is “Once Upon A Time In New York” – a
showcase of new songs about New York
by emerging Musical Theatre writers and performers. I know Lloyd Webber hasn’t
written a good thing since Phantom and all Sondheim does now is re-write his stuff
for a different context but have no fear, there are some great new writers
coming through who will save us from the onslaught of Jukebox Musicals and
might provide “an original musical” again… one day… if we are lucky…
So that was the first part and then we stayed for the second
session which was a late night Broadway Open Mic type of thing
There was no program provided and I hadn’t slept in a long
time so I can’t remember exactly who sang what by who and which concert it was
in, but the basic highlights:
- Jeremy Jordan
- Celise
- Two kids from Matilda who sang a new song written by the [title of show] team that lists all the theatres on Broadway (think about the song you learnt your times tables to… now imagine it with Broadway Theatres)
- A
song about the music being the heart of
What I took away from this night was a couple of things:
1 – 54 Below is a really cool venue and everyone should
visit it
2 – Australians can see songs about New York , but they don’t get it. Watching
New Yorkers sing songs about New York when you
are in the heart of New York
makes sense
3 – Argentina
are starting to produce some really nice wine!
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