Review: Resonance Ensemble Shows Off the Art of Cabaret in Wildly Entertaining DIRTY, STUPID MUSIC

I'm a sucker for a good cabaret, so I was excited to see Resonance Ensemble's DIRTY, STUPID MUSIC. And I'm happy to report that it surpassed all expectations -- I had a ridiculous amount of fun at this show.

DIRTY, STUPID MUSIC gets its name from a quote by composer Erik Satie, who worked as a pianist and wrote many songs for Le Chat Noir, considered to be the first modern cabaret. Satie apparently hated the cabaret songs he composed, commenting that the music "is more stupid and dirty than anything."

Appropriately, the evening kicked off with Vakare Petroliunaite lending her beautiful soprano to Satie's "La Diva de l'Empire." The cabaret proceeded with a variety of selections, mostly from musicals and operas, sung by the magnificent Beth Madsen Bradford, Stacey Murdock, and Erik Hundtoft. My personal favorites were Bradford's "The Modest Maid," the selections from Candide, and Erik Hundtoft singing anything at all.

And then there was Liberace. Liberace died when I was young, but I remember seeing him on reruns of Sesame Street. And the person in my memory looks exactly like Portland Liberace impersonator David Saffert. (Yes, we have our own Liberace impersonator!) Saffert was just awesome -- he's funny, he's a talented pianist, and he wears pink sequined suits and capes like nobody's business. I could easily watch a show of just this guy.

Sadly, this was a one-weekend-only thing, so you've missed your chance to see it. On a positive note, this is the second time Resonance has offered DIRTY, STUPID MUSIC, so there's always a chance they'll do it again. And if they do, I'll be there, and I highly recommend you are too.

They also have another show coming up in June. Learn more here.

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