Society Cabaret presents the 2014 edition of Cabaret Comico: A salute to comic singers and songwriters. Two different shows of original song and comic musical theatre hosted by Society Cabaret's Director of Entertainment G. Scott Lacy with vocalist and emcee Lua Hadar. GUEST STARS: Tonight, OCT 17, 8pm - Candace Forest, Paul Frantz, Diane Merlino, Nancy Schimmel, Bobby Weinapple, and Beth Wilmurt. OCT 18, 8pm - Marilyn Cooney, Bill Cooper, Barry Lloyd, Lauren Mayer, Darlene Popovic, and Ray Renati. Hotel Rex Union Square, 562 Sutter St, San Francisco Tickets at Ticketmaster.com http://bit.ly/1lX2JJ5, Societycabaret.com or call 415-857-1896. Video http://bit.ly/1pOgXM6
October 26, 2013 marked Chapter One of an international cultural exchange for the production of Cabaret Comico, a partnership of San Francisco's Society Cabaret and New Performance Group with the Italian Centro Culturale Teatro Camuno, and their Festival Dallo Sciamano allo Showman (From the Shaman to the Showman), the cabaret festival of original comic songs and songwriters. The word 'comic' is key here; in Italy all cabaret is comic.
Since 1987 Lua Hadar's New Performance Group has maintained a cultural dialogue and collaboration with Nini Giacomelli's Centro Culturale Teatro Camuno. As co-producer and co-host of the San Francisco cabaret event, Lua says, "I'm thrilled that after the years of success this Italian festival has experienced, we have been able to create a cultural partnership through Society Cabaret which offers two fresh and funny evenings by local entertainers, designed to tickle San Francisco's funny bone.
Victor Borge said, 'Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.' When the audience laughs together, we can feel our common humanity. We need that."
Now in it's 11th year in Italy's Valle Camonica, Dallo Sciamano allo Showman is a co-production of Centro Culturale Teatro Camuno and the renowned festival of original song and songwriters, Club Tenco. Featuring many stars as well as emerging artists, it has been covered by Italian National Television RAI. The Valle Camonica, in the Lombardy Region of northern Italy, boasts a UNESCO site of prehistoric rock carvings, which have greatly influenced local artists and scholars, among them festival producer Nini Giacomelli and her creative team, who see the performer as a kind of shaman, healing the audience through laughter.
Society Cabaret enters its second year of international co-production to expand last year's 1-night pilot project to a 2-night event, with this year's edition of Cabaret Comico. The star attraction at San Francisco's Hotel Rex Union Square, Society Cabaret's 75-seat house is a gem of a performance space, with sound, lights, a grand piano, cabaret tables, a full bar and a terrific kitchen. Society Cabaret's four founding partners combine their individual artistic expertise to bring a cooperative vision to their thriving performance venue. Director of Entertainment, G. Scott Lacy, co-hosts both evenings together with Lua Hadar.
Lua Hadar's New Performance Group is dedicated to deepening intercultural communication through the performing arts, arts education and cultural exchange with the goal to bring an awareness of our common humanity to audiences and participants. New Performance Group has produced classes, performances, CDs, community events, international exchange and a DVD in its 20-year history. Nominated for an Independent Music Award, Lua Hadar is a vocalist, emcee and indie producer with a long history of performing both abroad (Italy, France, Thailand and more) and in New York and San Francisco, including at legendary North Beach music venues such as The Purple Onion, Peña Pachamama, Caffé Trieste and Jazz at Pearl's.
