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Saturday, February 29, 2020

Day 363- Hollywoodland -Trust Cabaret Series-Intimate Evenings with the Best of Broadway



You get an intimate evening of music with  the Trust Cabaret Series  which brings top notch recording and Broadway talent to the Greer Cabaret Theater. Hollywoodland: Songs of the Silver Screen recently brought together three powerhouse vocalists, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso (originally from Pittsburgh) and singer-pianist Billy Stritch. The lighthearted classic Hollywood musical movies of the 1930's, 1940’s and 1950’s where Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and others sang and danced were the focus of the night.


Greer Cabaret Theater -260 seat venue for an intimate evening with the best of Broadway 
Refection

Trust Cabaret brings some of New York’s best to Pittsburgh once a month on Monday nights (the only night that Broadway sleeps).  These artists travel to our city on their off night to share their lives and their love for music (see Day 350).  The cabaret style, relaxed atmosphere where the artist(s) converse with the audience, produces an intimate evening with the best of Broadway.

There is a meet and greet after after each show
Singers, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch on the piano, had great chemistry on stage as they laughed, joked and complemented each other vocally. They opened with the spunky song “Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain (1952) made famous by Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbi Reynolds.  Singing to Monheit, Stricth belted “You Oughta Be in Pictures” (1934) and then gave us a beautiful ballad “Out of My Dreams” from  Oklahoma (1955).

The show was packed with more silver screen  musical classics from Caruso’s Wizard of Oz (1939) medley to the trios’ jazzy rendition of “Avalon” from The Al Jolson Story (1945).  Monheit  bought  Ella Fitzgerald to life and had me swaying in my seat with “Cheek to Cheek” from Top Hat (1935).

Hollywoodland was a wonderful revival of these silver screen songs.  It was a show that had some seasoned audience members singing along and others, like me, enjoying the memories of the classic movie musical where life was “rosy and bright.”

I can’t wait to meet  Shoshana Bean (star of Wicked and Waitress) at the Cabaret on March 2, 2020. The Trust Cabaret Series sure does give us the best from Broadway.  

(Tickets for Trust Cabaret  Series, Shoshana Beam shows  at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm are available at trustarts.org.)

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