My thanks to all those who attended the premiere of my cabaret show, "Here's to Life," June 9, 2011, at the mBar in Hollywood.

Talking with each of you after the performance was the highlight of the evening for me, and I look forward to receiving additional comments from you. Such messages can be posted, anytime, by clicking on the “No Comments” link above.
 
Remember, your feedback re my performances is essential to my future endeavors to connect with my audiences -- and that connection is the reason why I perform.

If you are interested in the back story of how my show, “Here’s to Life,” evolved, read on. Otherwise, you can stop here … taking with you my wish for you from the title song of my show: “May all your storms be weathered. And all that’s good get better. Here’s to life. Here’s to love. And here’s to you.”

Jorian


Back Story of my show, “Here’s to Life.”

The goal of performing my own one-woman cabaret show was achieved with my June 9 performance. It had taken approximately 18 months for me to reach this goal, but the journey was as wonderful as arriving at my destination.

When I “discovered” the world of Cabaret in 2009, a year after I had produced “Lost and Found,” a CD album of my own songs, I was thrilled. Here was a theatrical genre in which I could sing, act and write, all at the same time, whereas in the past I had usually had to concentrate on one or the other of my talents in these areas.

I attended some cabaret workshops and performed at a few open mics, but was impatient to begin work on developing a cabaret show of my own. Because I had been on a long hiatus from show business while concentrating on my career as a writer, I was in need of a repertoire, and this meant I was in need of a collaborator. But my blindness created a problem, since I had no way of getting to the studios of some well-known pianists I had contacted. For help, I turned to my friend, singer Joyce Garro, and she put me in touch with John Belzaguy, a bassist and extraordinary all-round musician. He became my collaborator, music director, and a friend who always has my back.

John solved my mobility problem by having us work primarily via MP3s, which we e-mailed back and forth between his Valley location and my West Hollywood home. He would provide me with songs I had requested, then lyrics if I decided I wanted to take the next step. If the lyrics resonated with me, John would create arrangements for me on his keyboard and e-mail these to me on MP3s. Every 4 to 6 weeks, John would drive in with his electronic equipment for recording and we would have a three-hour work session.

Then, at my first ASCAP conference, I played musical clips from my CD album for award-winning lyricist Amy Powers, who subsequently contacted cabaret producer/director Clifford Bell to recommend me to him. He had me perform in some of his Cabarabia shows and in a seven-song set that was featured in a Cabarabia Spotlight production headlined and hosted by jazz stylist, Joanne Tatham, with a multi-song set by Rosemary Tarquinio in her cabaret debut performance.

After John and I performed our repertoire for Clifford at my home, he arranged for us to “audience test” the songs before “by-invitation-only” Salon performances at the residence of a friend. Eventually, the songs that made the cut for my show were finalized and Clifford worked his storyline magic in structuring the show.

When we were ready, we performed a sneak preview of the show in the Salon venue, then followed this up with the Mbar premiere of my one-woman cabaret show on June 9, 2011.

Like I said earlier, the journey was as wonderful as reaching the destination … because in the process of achieving this goal, I experienced the most intense creative high ever. Collaborating with talented people does that for me.

I experience this same type of high when performing, connecting with an audience, and afterwards, interacting with individual members of the audience for whom I have just performed.

For me, it doesn’t get any better than this!

Jorian