Curtains Up on an Unforgettable Week of Music
Coco Cabaret was full of friends, supporters, sponsors, and fellow performers for the premiere of ‘Rock the Opera’ last week. Finally, dear and sweet Tonny Kenneth, under the Music Direction of Edgar Bernache, stood before his peers on stage and brought the house down. A little Simon and Garfunkel, Metallica, and more, mixed in with Puccini’s ‘O Mio Babbino Caro.’ Wow! A highlight was Mexican countertenor, Freddy Othelo, and Tonny in a duet from Phantom of the Opera. The entire audience lined up after the show to personally congratulate Tonny on a superb show. I have never seen anything like it – nobody just left the theatre – that speaks volumes.
Irrepressibly optimistic Zoë Lewis was in fine form at the piano or playing her guitar and the guitar’s ‘baby’ ukulele at The Palm Cabaret and Bar. This mishmash of her former shows will have to do for her myriad fan base until January, when she will unveil new works. Zoe is funny and poignant at the same time. She writes as easily and with the same passion about hummingbirds (she travels with a feeder) as she does about Fabuloso, a highly scented, liquid cleaning product originally from Venezuela that has flooded the Mexican and US markets. Zoe surrounded herself with fine musicians and friends, including Zoe Wood on guitar, David Linares on percussion, David Maiocco, who was occasionally pulled from the audience to play the piano, and Fernanda Hernandez, who contributed vocals toward the end of the show. Everyone who has the pleasure of seeing this troubador vaudevillian will leave the theatre with joy in their hearts; she is a marvel.
Patrice and I, and our two friends who are visiting from Canada, met up at Garbo’s Bar after Zoe Lewis’s show to listen to our friend Sargento Dan belt out Broadway classics.
Sargento has two shows a week at Garbo’s Piano Bar. His early show at 8 pm on Sundays features a Broadway singalong to tracks. His late show starts at 10 pm every Wednesday, and he is joined by maestro Bing Young on piano. Sargento encourages patrons to sing along with him and provides lyrics via a QR code on their smartphones. Sargento’s ‘Whitexican’ sense of humor is blossoming, and if he ever tires of singing, he’ll be a shoo-in as a stand-up comic. To be in this young man’s company for two hours, singing some great old songs together in an extraordinarily comfortable bar, is delightful! Sargento’s coaches, mentors, and most prominent supporters were in the audience: Jan Dorland and Rob Burton. Patrice and I are having dinner with them tomorrow night after we turn them on to the new bar on Morelos Street called White Rabbit Lie, and their stellar Old Fashioned cocktails. Local band The B34st will be playing at this exotic marvel of a bar masquerading as a laundromat. Full report on those shenanigans in good time.
Tonight, we are seeing Freddie Mercury at 5 pm at The Palm Cabaret, the Gay Mixer at Coco Cabaret, and Open Mic at Nacho Daddy (whew!)