Garage Cabaret Grows Exponentially in Arizona
June 17, 2020
By Lynn Timmons Edwards
On June 9, 2020 Seth Tucker (host, writer, producer, performer) went live on Facebook with another in his series of Garage Concerts. The 40-minute show was labeled as a “Pop-Up” in honor of the 90th birthday of Arizona arts patron and philanthropist Judith Hardes.
Mark 4man and Toby Yatso kicked it off with a parody, “2090” from Tick, Tick Boom by Jonathan Larsen. That was followed by a beautiful medley from Les Misérables. Matravius Avent, Trisha Ditsworth, and a melodramatic Tucker delivered “Music of the Night” (from The Phantom of the Opera) followed by a stunning quartet of “I Have Dreamed” (from The King and I) by Addison Bowman, joined by Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda, then Ditsworth, and finally Alysssa Chiarello. The four voices “zoomed” in precise harmony.
Lucas Coatney offered his own charming gender-bending version of “I Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma! My favorite moment was Tucker’s “Laughing Matters” from When Pigs Fly and sung by Bette Midler in her shows. It’s the perfect anthem for these Covid-19 times. Tucker introduced a selection of songs from a Hardes favorite show, Take Me Along, admitting that he was not familiar with the 1959 musical. From the score, Carlisle-Zepeda delivered a strong “I’m Staying Young,” impersonating Hardes, and showing pictures and cards in honor of her birthday. Sime Kosta (producer, musician, video supervisor) and Tucker were funny in front of their home staircase followed by Yatso and his husband Chad McClusky from. Carlisle-Zepeda got into the “Take Me Along” act as did Tucker and Kosta’s dog, a regular extra in the Garage cabarets.
Hardes herself appeared, lamenting that her birthday party for 50 scheduled to be held at the theater named after her at The Phoenix Theatre Company had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. There were many spoken tributes from friends and theater colleagues.
Kosta, usually seen at the keyboard, showed off his vocal prowess with a mash-up of “Over the Rainbow” and “Home” (The Wiz). This 11th-hour number was followed by the full cast singing “Happy Birthday” and well wishes coming in from all over the country.
Tucker’s cabarets moved out of the garage awhile ago. I had the opportunity to interview him after enjoying the Hardes tribute so much. My first question was how much was live? The answer, “None of it.” Tucker admits he has come to hate the sound produced over Zoom Live. But the pre-recorded virtual cabaret had a very spontaneous feeling. And there’s the rub; how does he make that happen?
Once a show has a theme and a plan, Tucker and Kosta first find the right artists and the right tracks. For instance, the “I Have Dreamed” quartet took 10 days as each singer laid their own tracks down at their homes. All this careful planning and musical layering and editing makes for a streamed show that is heads above any others I have seen in terms of quality and entertainment. Tucker has been a leader in keeping artists employed (raising money to pay $40 per artist per show) and growing the art form for the past three months since Arizona’s theaters shut down.
Friends of Judith Hardes had approached Tucker in early 2020 about doing a cabaret show to celebrate her 90th birthday. It was originally conceived as a live performance, but fortunately, according to Tucker, “I love change; love to adapt.” All the extra time and effort is helping him hone his skills which he hopes will pay back professionally over time. Other artists interested in learning how he’s doing it can reach him at actingupseries@gmail.com.
