Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
July 18, 2011:

CABARET 101

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I don’t know why cabaret is so difficult to get right, but it really is, especially when absolutely no thought has been put into what one is presenting. So, a little Cabaret 101 for paragraph one of these here notes. Last night, I attended a two-person cabaret show at Vitello’s, mostly because the host wanted me to see the gal. The room was completely filled with all family and friends, so you just knew going in there would be stomping and woo-hooing and cheering and yelling, which unfortunately then gives the performers the sense that everything they did was perfect. But if you took this same evening and put it in front of a bunch of strangers, well, that would be a lesson worth learning. Putting aside the talent of the performers (and they were both talented), just what show did they present? Was it thought out? Was there a point? When I am asked to direct a cabaret evening or a one or two-person show, the first question out of my mouth is – what it the point of the show. Here’s what the point of the show should never be – a singer singing a bunch of songs with no context, no structure, and no patter. What did we get last night? The show began with a duet of Tonight with parody lyrics about Carmageddon and people being able to get to the club. The problem with this, of course, is that there was no Carmageddon – it fizzled into nothingness. After the duet, we were told we were going to have a really good time. Lesson one: We’ll be the judge of whether we’re really going to have a good time, and the performer should never be telling an audience that.

Then the guy sang a song. Then the gal sang a song. Then the guy sang a song. Then the gal sang a song. No patter, no set-up, just these weird song choices of songs they apparently like to sing from musicals they’d probably like to appear in. There were too many HUGE songs with too much overplaying them. Lesson two: If you’re doing a really good song, it’s always a good idea to let the song do some of the work, instead of piling on the song and stomping it into submission and it is also a good idea to scale your performance to the size of the room.

The back and forth lasted the entirety of the show, but with no sense of pace or structure. Lesson three: Shows need pace and structure – yes, even cabaret. Before each sang their final song, they decided to tell a story that would let the audience know a little about them. Lesson four: Too little and way too late. Lesson five: Do not tell tearful stories about people who died and then proceed to sing a tearful ballad. Especially at the end of a show.

There is one rule that’s inescapable whether the show is great or terrible – prepare an encore. You know you’re going to be asked for one, especially when your entire audience is made up of friends and family. Don’t have to say “We don’t have anything and we’re really tired.” People who’ve just paid forty bucks don’t really want to hear that.

It was, in fact, a textbook example of what never to do in a cabaret show. Doing a cabaret show is WORK. It’s not just “Oh, I’ll sing these eight songs ’cause I like them.” Peggy Lee, maybe. Newcomers, never. People are coming to see YOU. Therefore, the show must be about YOU. Or, if it’s a tribute act of some sort, the show must be about the subject of the tribute and why it’s important to you. You have to give the audience a reason to care about you and to learn about you, no matter how nebulous the information you’re giving is. Little stories, anecdotes, what a song means to you, why you like a certain song – it’s so easy to give anything context and context is EVERYTHING. It informs EVERYTHING. It personalized EVERYTHING. Lesson six: It is not a good idea to put together a show without a director or someone to help guide you or at least watch the thing. Especially beginners. But then the family and friends give a standing ovation and none of these lessons are learned and that’s why there is so much bad cabaret. Good cabaret can be a magical, transporting experience for an audience, but you’d better not just tailor your show for your friends and family – they’re easy – just invite them to your house and sing there. In a club, especially a nice club like Sterling’s at Vitello’s, put on a show – a real show, with a real POINT.

That said, the two performers are clearly talented and I’m sure both will do well – they are very young. But young is never an excuse. I’m working with a thirteen-year-old who totally understands now why we have put together her act in the way we have – it was a collaboration, not just me telling her exactly what we would be doing. It was thought out, every song, every line of patter – it all has a POINT and it all has CONTEXT and therefore it all makes SENSE.

End of Cabaret 101. We could go on and on and perhaps in other notes we will continue to do so. It’s a fascinating topic. Prior to the show, I’d gotten a nice eight hours of sleep. I got up, a singer picked up their last piece of sheet music, and then I did the four-mile jog. I did some work on the computer, then our Kickstarter campaign closed successfully, and I got everything ready for our Kritzerland announcement this morning. I also sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I finished watching a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Obsession, a film of Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, and John Lithgow. I saw Obsession several times before it was released – in fact, I saw its answer print several times before it was released because they were shopping it to distributors (Columbia eventually picked it up), and my friend who worked for Mann Theaters invited me to several distributor screenings. I was already a fan of De Palma from Sisters and Phantom Of The Paradise, and I quite enjoyed Obsession, even though it was immediately apparent that De Palma was doing his own version of Vertigo. It’s quite a weird film, but I’ve always enjoyed it, despite some not very good writing and dialogue by Paul Schrader, who did much better that year with Taxi Driver. One of the reasons the film works so well is Cliff Robertson, who’s just a wonderful actor and especially wonderful in this film. Another reason is Genevieve Bujold, who is also terrific. And then there’s the magnificent Bernard Herrmann score, which, I’m quite sure, had people back in 1975 scratching their heads, because that type of operatic score was not exactly in favor back then. The film is also quite perverse and it tries to make its perversity less by having one sequence be a dream – it wasn’t shot that way, however, but no one would touch the film if De Palma hadn’t changed it to a dream, as it involved incest. That doesn’t stop some of it from being a wee bit creepy once you know all the details at the end. It’s all shot in a dreamy, hypnotic style, and it was fun to see it again, especially in such a handsome transfer. The film was always grainy (many opticals) and it was shot with a lot of the then fashionable heavy diffusion, so there are times when the image is soft, which is exactly as it should be. The color is completely accurate. The Blu-Ray is an import from the UK (on the Arrow label), but it’s all region and will play in any machine. So, if you’re a fan of the film, or you like Vertigo and want to see a riff on it, this is highly recommended by the likes of me.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it is late and I must get some semblance of beauty sleep before getting up at six in the morning to announce the new Kritzerland title.

Today, I shall be up at six in the morning to announce the new Kritzerland title. I will then hopefully print out a LOT of orders. Then I go to the lab to see some test footage involving some software – I don’t think I’ll be using it, but I thought it would be fun to see and learn about it. I’ll also be watching the first twelve minutes of our transfer to make sure I’m completely happy with the clean up we did the other day. After that, I’ll come home, do the long jog, pick up some packages, write, hopefully print out even more orders, and then try to snooze and relax.

The rest of the week will consist of writing, prepping our next two releases (one show, one soundtrack), a couple of meetings, and lot of the usual errands and whatnot.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, announce a title, go to the lab, do the long jog, pick up packages, write, hopefully print out a LOT of orders and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are the best cabaret acts you’ve ever seen – or one-person shows in bigger venues? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall undoubtedly be singing, “Life is a cabaret, old chum, so come to the cabaret.”

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved