Tony DeSare: Nightlife

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Tony DeSare

Nightlife

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, October 17, 2014

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

Tony-DeSare-Nightlife-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Tony DeSare’s new show, Nightlife, explores love best expressed in the moody, dark atmospheres of the after hours. Opening with a jazzy swing version of “Charade,” DeSare croons with a hip, youthful edge imbued with a ’40s/’50s sensibility that belies his age. A few bars of Willie Nelson’s “Nightlife” sets the stage with its smoky refrain, ”Many people just like me/Dreamin’ of old used-to-bes/Oh, the night life, it ain’t no good life/Ah, but it’s my life.” The Ray Charles hit “You Don’t Know Me” and a tender “My Funny Valentine” suit DeSare’s pleasing tenor.

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A talented songwriter and pianist, he shared a song written for a new musical he’s working on about an interracial woman’s big band circa World War II. The song, “Rather Be Me,” has a distinct ’40s vibe and displays DeSare’s creative talents. Two highlights of the set were instrumentals, a fun iteration of Aram Il’yich Khachaturian’s classical Sabre Dance, done as a boogie woogie, and a wild four-handed cover of Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train,” performed with pianist Allen Leong. “Lover, Come Back to Me” allowed the band to fly, featuring local musicians Daniel Fabricant (bass) and Dave Rokeach (drums), as well as Tony’s great jazz guitarist Ed Decker.

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You can count the young male cabaret stars on one hand, and DeSare is certainly one of those rare talents.

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Steve Murray

Always interested in the arts, Steve was encouraged to begin producing and, in 1998, staged four, one-man vehicles starring San Francisco's most gifted performers. In 1999, he began the Viva Variety series, a live stage show with a threefold mission to highlight, support, and encourage gay and gay-friendly art in all the performance forms, to entertain and document the shows, and to contribute to the community by donating proceeds to local non-profits. The shows utilized the old variety show style popularized by his childhood idol Ed Sullivan. He’s produced over 150 successful shows, including parodies of Bette Davis’s gothic melodramedy Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and Joan Crawford’s very awful Trog. He joined Cabaret Scenes 2007 and enjoys the writing and relationships he’s built with very talented performers.