Shana Farr Celebrates Debut CD with Release Party and Concert at The Players Club Tonight

Shana Farr, who last month won The Mabel Mercer Foundation's 2012 Julie Wilson Award as "a cabaret singer who is a rising star," has just completed her debut CD, titled Shana Farr: Out Of The Shadows , which will be introduced at a CD release party and performance at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South, in New York City tonight, November 30, at 9 PM. Ms. Farr is backed by a trio comprised of Music Director Jon Weber (piano), Adam Fisher (cello) and Dan Levinson (clarinet).

Ms. Farr has woven together an artistic tapestry of song that includes 11 tracks, representing songs by some of her favorite composers and lyricists, including: Pure Imagination (Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley), Moon River and Whistling Away The Dark (Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer), My Ship (Kurt Weill & Ira Gershwin), Once Upon A Long Ago (Arthur Schwartz & Maxwell Anderson), Someday I'll Find You and I'll Follow My Secret Heart (Noel Coward), Always (Irving Berlin), Crazy World (Henry Mancini & Leslie Bricusse), Living in The Shadows (Frank Wildhorn) and I'd Settle (Eric-jon).

The CD, recorded at Carriage House Music in Stamford, CT, was produced by Lawrence Manchester, who also served as recorder/mixer. Ms. Farr also served as Producer/Artistic Director. Anthony Gentile of Gentile Entertainment Group (GEG), provided the CD cover design. The photos are by Marty Umans.

"I gave a lot of thought to the songs on my debut CD," says Shana. "I wanted the music to really reflect my personal musical tastes – not just in the songs I selected but also in the instrumentation. All of the songs have hauntingly beautiful melodies that may at first sound melancholy, but in fact they all have an optimistic message. I am very lucky to have an experienced, award-winning team to help me bring these well-loved melodies to life with piano, cello and clarinet, and I am very grateful to the contributions made by my Musical Director/Pianist Jon Weber and my record producer Lawrence Manchester."

Shana Farr, supported by Jon Weber, Adam Fisher and Dan Levinson, will give a live performance of the new album in the historic Greek revival townhouse where in 1888 Edwin Booth, America's preeminent Shakespearean actor, and 15 other incorporators (including Mark Twain and General William Tecumseh Sherman) founded The Players.

Guests to The Players: $15; Members of The Players: Free admission. Reservations are recommended: 212-475-6116 or by contacting dan@theplayersnyc.org or robbin@theplayersnyc.org. There will be a cash bar in the Great Room on the second floor starting at 8 PM – no minimum required.

Shana Farr is a singer/actress who has performed leading roles in operetta and musical theater on New York stages and beyond and recently entered the world of cabaret with a bang! Shana Farr received rave reviews in The New York Post, Wall Street Journal, New Jersey Star Ledger, Cabaret Scenes, Back Stage and numerous other publications for her performances at New York City Center, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Feinstein's at the Regency, and, most recently, The Metropolitan Room in New York. She has also been recognized for her performances with symphony orchestras such as the Missouri Symphony Orchestra and South Shore Symphony among others. 

Classically trained at Boston University, Shana has a voice that has been compared to some of the greats – Julie Andrews, Barbara Cooke, Marni Nixon, Kristen Chenoweth, for example. She is a true performer with the voice, the look, and the presence that seduces the crowd. The Wall Street Journal hailed Shana as "an appropriate role model for an opera-pop hybrid." In Cabaret Scenes, she was called "a tour de force with a shining career path ahead of her." Since turning her attention to cabaret, three years ago, Shana Farr has performed at some of New York City's leading cabaret venues, among them Feinstein's at the Loews Regency, The Metropolitan Room and The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Her cabaret shows include: Pure Imagination, guided by director Lennie Watts and musical director Steven Ray Watkins, which was presented at The Laurie Beechman Theatre and later at Feinsteins (during Christmas 2009); Whistling Away The Dark, her musical tribute to Julie Andrews, guided by award-winning director Eric Michael Gillett and Emmy Award-winning Musical Director, Fred Barton, which was presented at Feinstein's (2010) and The Metropolitan Room (2011) as well as at The Players in 2012. Shana has also performed her cabaret shows at The Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis as well as in her native Columbia, MO.

The passion Shana has for music, lyrics, and characters is shared with the audience as she invites them into her world. Everything she sings from operetta and great American standards to contemporary musical theater and jazz is sung from within this beautiful woman. Her lush voice matches her elegance as she uses all of her different colors.

For more information about Shana Farr: Out of The Shadows, visit www.shanafarr.com.

Photo Credit: Marty Umans