Postcard from NY: Birdland and birds...
Monday nights in New York is a great chance to catch Jim Caruso's Cast Party at jazz club Birdland. It can be quite a happening place where aspiring singers, Broadway stars on their night off, and other "talent" get up and have a sing. And since Patti LuPone's solo gig at the Lincoln Centre had sold out I figured it was a worthy second thing to do…
The audience consisted of the standard issue of musical theatre afficianados, aspiring singers and the odd startled tourist who was expecting jazz on a Monday night at the club. Shortly after arriving at the bar I felt a tap-tap-tap on my shoulder. It was a woman next to me. "Excuse me," she began. "Do you mind if you pretend you know me in a minute as there is a guy about to come over and talk to me who I would really like to avoid?"
Well that's something you don't get asked everyday. Naturally I said yes to the woman, thinking it was pretty funny; just like when Terri Hatcher asked Kyle MacLachlan to pretend to know her in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives. Hang on, wait a moment I thought. MacLachlan's character was pretty animated and did a lot of improvising. He was pretty funny too. I quickly drank my gin and tonic and ordered another in preparation to be animated… And funny…
By the time my second drink came it was time to pretend to be old friends. I found out her name was Louise and she actually was blanking the guy so I didn't have to improvise as much. I just commented that he looked a bit of a dodgy character and we kept laughing and carrying on so he didn't bother getting to close. At one point Louise asked if I was interested in musical theatre which I denied completely. Well, I hate that stuff Disney churns out (Tarzan with music by Phil Collins bleah!), and I am not that fond of anything Lloyd Webber writes, so I figured I was being factual. Only later did I wonder (particularly after this question was asked of me several times during the week) whether this was a euphemism for "gay". Oh well live and learn.
The guy eventually left her alone and more friends of Louise's arrived so she was safe. Only then did I realise that she also was there to sing. She got up and performed a Cole Porter number. And she was awful. She forgot the words and gave the song as much feeling as someone dialling for home delivery pizza. Thinking quickly as she returned to her seat next to me all I could say was that she was fantastic. I'd only been there for an hour and already I was as sincere as anybody in the musical theatre business…
Well anyway, that was enough to get her phone number and email address. Fortunately the rest of the performances were pretty hot. It included a performance on the ukulele and a woman from the Johnny Cash musical (don't ask) "Ring of Fire" singing "You make me feel (like a natural woman" with men as her doo-op backups.
Oh and as luck would have it, a relative of Louise's passed away so there was no time to catch up again for now…
The audience consisted of the standard issue of musical theatre afficianados, aspiring singers and the odd startled tourist who was expecting jazz on a Monday night at the club. Shortly after arriving at the bar I felt a tap-tap-tap on my shoulder. It was a woman next to me. "Excuse me," she began. "Do you mind if you pretend you know me in a minute as there is a guy about to come over and talk to me who I would really like to avoid?"
Well that's something you don't get asked everyday. Naturally I said yes to the woman, thinking it was pretty funny; just like when Terri Hatcher asked Kyle MacLachlan to pretend to know her in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives. Hang on, wait a moment I thought. MacLachlan's character was pretty animated and did a lot of improvising. He was pretty funny too. I quickly drank my gin and tonic and ordered another in preparation to be animated… And funny…
By the time my second drink came it was time to pretend to be old friends. I found out her name was Louise and she actually was blanking the guy so I didn't have to improvise as much. I just commented that he looked a bit of a dodgy character and we kept laughing and carrying on so he didn't bother getting to close. At one point Louise asked if I was interested in musical theatre which I denied completely. Well, I hate that stuff Disney churns out (Tarzan with music by Phil Collins bleah!), and I am not that fond of anything Lloyd Webber writes, so I figured I was being factual. Only later did I wonder (particularly after this question was asked of me several times during the week) whether this was a euphemism for "gay". Oh well live and learn.
The guy eventually left her alone and more friends of Louise's arrived so she was safe. Only then did I realise that she also was there to sing. She got up and performed a Cole Porter number. And she was awful. She forgot the words and gave the song as much feeling as someone dialling for home delivery pizza. Thinking quickly as she returned to her seat next to me all I could say was that she was fantastic. I'd only been there for an hour and already I was as sincere as anybody in the musical theatre business…
Well anyway, that was enough to get her phone number and email address. Fortunately the rest of the performances were pretty hot. It included a performance on the ukulele and a woman from the Johnny Cash musical (don't ask) "Ring of Fire" singing "You make me feel (like a natural woman" with men as her doo-op backups.
Oh and as luck would have it, a relative of Louise's passed away so there was no time to catch up again for now…
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