BWW Reviews: CANARY CABARET Sings At Gettysburg Fringe Festival

It's said that cabaret is dying out, but you can't prove that by its fans or by its performers, all of whom are devoted to it. As part of the Gettysburg Festival and the Gettysburg Fringe Festival, Gettysburg Community Theatre celebrated four nights of its CANARY CABARET at the Blue Parrot Bistro in downtown Gettysburg,

Emceed by GCT director Chad-Alan Carr, who also performed each night, the rotating cast, backed by pianist Mary George, performed varying mixtures of showtunes and standards in the back room of the Bistro. Entertainers included Carr, Eric Mota (of the Broadway national tour of THE WIZARD OF OZ), local performer Kyleigh Grim, and GCT veteran Greg Trax, among others.

Trax was responsible, among other things, for being half of a stirring rendition of "Feed Me" from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS on one night, and "Dentist" on another, as well as AVENUE Q's fortuitously short "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today." Fortunately, Trax's comedy is well-established. Mota delivered a classic rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" on the closing night.

Grim performed a fine version of "It's All Right With Me" as well as, with Trax, an amusing duet of "Anything You Can Do" in which she proved conclusively that she could indeed sing higher than he could.

Broadway veteran Bruce Moore delighted the closing night audience with an energetic "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" from Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES as well as "Blue Skies."

The last set of the closing evening was a duet, with Carr and Mota, of the famous Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand "Get Happy" and "Happy Days Are Here Again", with Mota making an indeed fabulous Judy Garland.

This was the second year for CANARY CABARET's performances at the Blue Parrot Bistro, although the shortage of decent cabaret in the Central Pennsylvania area makes us hopeful that the event will continue in future years (as well as, possibly, other times of year).

Admission for the cabaret shows was quite reasonably priced at $10.00, and the Blue Parrot had both its bar and an evening show menu available. The venue is more than adequate for cabaret performance, and its dinner menu is served late enough to make dinner followed by late evening cabaret a reasonable option.

Photo: Kyleigh Grim, Mary George, and Eric Mota at the Blue Parrot Bistro; photo credit, M. Rogers

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