Chicago: January/February 2015 News

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Chicago’s blustery months will be warmed by the sound of live music. Davenport’s welcomes Sam Helmstetter and Ben Brunnette 1/7 in their musical revue Ain’t We Got Fun. Kaylee Durow appears 1/16 and 2/27. Amy Leigh Abelson brings Letters to God to the club 1/19. On February 1, Robert Rodi brings the The Sound of Music, Man, a jazz and Beat-poetry retelling of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s masterwork. Jamie Brady appears in Something to Talk About with Beckie Menzie and Mitch Lavin. Menzie then is musical director for Pat Christianson 2/8 who’s debuting her show, Breaking the Rules.

Kevin Wood is featured 2/ 28 at the Uptown at 10 p.m. in Sentimental Journeys: A Cabaret Travelogue and at midnight in Mr. Blue: The Off-Color Side of Kevin! February 8 features Laura Freeman in The Hills Are Alive…with the Sound of Julie at Moraine Valley Community College.

On January 31, the Skokie Theatre begins its Skokie Idol completion with Cabaret Scenes’ own Carla Gordon serving on the judging panel. Talented Mark Burnell appears at the Signature Room Fridays 1/16 & 2/20 and at the Tortoise Club Saturdays throughout January and February.

Monday Night Live at Petterino’s returns from its holiday hiatus 1/ 12 with loads of music and mayhem provided by co-hosts Denise McGowan Tracy and Beckie Menzie, along with a bevy of guest vocalists. As part of it Musical Mondays series, the Chicago Cabaret Professionals returns to the Victory Gardens Theater 1/12 with Words and Music featuring Elaine Dame, Jeff Dean, Elizabeth Doyle, Ester Hana, Claudia Hommel, Bob Moreen, Audrey Morris, Daryl Nitz, Nick Sula and Jeannie Tanner. Wayne Richards entertains at Big Shot in Arlington Heights Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Singers Elizabeth Doyle and Claudia Hommel and pianist George Lepauw bring the acclaimed Vocal Canvas concerts, and Bravo/Trees, the short art film inspired by its songs, to two of our favorite venues in Michigan: Box Factory for the Arts 2/27 and First Congregational Church of Battle Creek, 2/8.

Carla Gordon

Carla Gordon is a singer/songwriter, director, and producer. The Chicago Tribune cited her among “Chicago’s most accomplished cabaret performers….a major player in Chicago cabaret.” Reviewer Pam Peterson called her “Honey-voiced wisecracker!” Ageless Magazine called her performance as Sophie tucker, “A gem!” Gordon writes custom material for singers nationwide. Her flagship show, "Blacklisted," featuring songs made famous by artists blacklisted under McCarthyism, has toured to critical acclaim. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Cabaret Professionals and on the Advisory Board of the Skokie Theater. Her songs air on WFMT’s Midnight Special and are being performed performed by cabaret artists nationwide. carlacabaret@aol.com