Soft music is heard in the background as an eager
audience trickles in, filling the bar lounge on 21st and K Streets with warm conversation
and laughter. Sprays of small lights and starlight stencils accent black lights dropping a
bluish hue onto two-dozen crisp white tables. A spotlight rises to reveal a lone stool
standing in the center of a stage framed by a black satin backdrop, a baby grand piano and
a carefully positioned, waiting microphone.
Jimmy Jordan, a 41-year veteran pianist who has accompanied such performers as Della Reese
and Sandi Patti, begins to play the refrain to Somewhere Over The Rainbow. A woman with a
sensual, earthy beauty enters in a leopard print shirt, wide brimmed black Stetson hat and
silver drop earrings with turquoise inlay and a silver and turquoise ring that once
belonged to Hermoine Gingold. She takes the microphone and with eyes closed, she raises it
to her fiery red lips.
As her rich, powerful voice belts forth with a force that echoes off the far walls of the
room, the applause can barely be contained. She takes a moment to look each member of the
audience in the eye as she talks, sings and jokes her way through the evening without
missing a single beat of music. This evening’s songs include Memory, Lush Life and
River City; gospel, blues, country, jazz, torch and whatever else strikes her fancy. In
between each song, she interacts with the audience as though they were her lifelong
friends. To her they are.
She is Gayiel Von; she is Sacramento’s reigning queen of Cabaret. As Jordan sees it,
“probably one of the most phenomenal vocal talents I’ve ever met.”
A nationally recognized entertainer and voice over artist, Von leads fans of cabaret back
to a time when a lyric and a melody mattered most and gives them what they came for: some
of the best entertainment in Sacramento. She is a songwriter and poet who recounts stories
about life on the edge into her performances and shares personal anecdotes about the many
famous and infamous characters she has worked with during her expansive career. Her
audiences are encouraged to laugh and cry along with her, and most do.
Von epitomizes the soul of the cabaret artist and has an animated style that captivates
her audiences at every performance. The range of her voice moves deftly from a lively show
tune to a gospel song. Von rocks back and forth with hands clapping and tells the audience
“I need some church; help me out,” as she walks between the tables and invites
the audience to clap and sing to the African American spiritual ‘Wade In The
Water.’ And her emotional rendition of ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’
triggers applause even before the song ends.
Von’s sense of humor and classic style weaves its way through every part of her act.
When she recently broke her arm, instead of taking time away from her cabaret, she
requested a bed to be placed on stage from which she would perform with her arm nestled
securely in a fashionable sling. With a career spanning over 20 years, Von has an
extensive resume boasting performances with Mel Torme, Bob Hope, Red Buttons, Milton
Berle, Michael Fienstein as well as having sung at and produced parties for Hugh Hefner,
and appeared (fully clothed) on Howard Stern. She is also a series regular on
Nickelodeon’s the Brother’s Flub.
It is Sacramento that now garners much of Von’s attention as she shares her love of
cabaret with a city that is thirsting for more.
Cabaret began in 19th century France, founded mostly on the performances of Rodolphe Silas
which lead to the style of the Black Cat and Moulin Rouge. Today, “It’s a dying
art form which is especially needed in these times when people need to connect.
That’s what cabaret is about-connecting,” says Von.
At times bawdy and irreverent, and at times sensual or even innocent, cabaret cannot be
pigeonholed into a singular form of entertainment. It is as rich and varied as the
performers who make it happen. “In cabaret you may hear blues, show tunes, opera,
jazz...and later we might have some polka or square dancing,” Von lightheartedly
tells her audience. It isn’t merely the cabaret that allows for diverse styles, but
the audiences who are as colorful and varied as the show. “Old, young, black, white,
gay, straight, musicians, non-musicians...” Von smiles happily looking into her
eclectic audience. “Bikers and a man in a pillbox hat...are there any drag queens
here tonight?”
As Von points out, Cabaret is intimate in the vaudeville style-playful, musical
interaction between audience and performer. Cabaret celebrates composers and lyricists.
Great cabaret artists have the ability to make people laugh and cry; emotion is a part of
cabaret.
Cabaret is in Sacramento because Von had and continues to have a vision that local
audiences are ready for the cosmopolitan quality cabaret has long offered in cities like
New York and Los Angeles. A big fan of cabaret and self-proclaimed “Gayiel
groupie”, Jan Valente pronounces that “Gayiel’s presence, show and passion
are the best things that have happened to Sacramento.”
“She not only has an incredible show herself, but has encouraged talent from the area
to perform,” adds Betty White. Other audience members give enthusiastic thumbs up to
having Von and cabaret continue being integral parts of the music and arts scene in
Sacramento.
While others laud Von for her many accomplishments both nationally and locally, she sings
her praises for the wealth of talent she is actively encouraging to flower on stage
through cabaret. “Exceptional talent in Sacramento doesn’t have a place to go.
If somebody is really talented, as a dancer, singer, or actor, they usually end up leaving
the pool-they leave town. One of my goals is to provide them a place to develop their
crafts” says Von.
Von has a commitment and a “calling” to find and develop talent while creating
venues and opportunities for them to present their métier to enthusiastic audiences,
while offering the chance to see fresh and gifted entertainers. Sarah Price, 21, a
talented protégé of Von’s, is a trained operatic and a favorite at cabaret. Janice
Steel, accompanied on the piano by her partner of 11 years, Patricia Gill, came on the
cabaret scene and brought the house down with her bluesy numbers and showed off her
multi-talents with a switch to a bit of country in her act.
Another focus for Von is supporting and highlighting women’s music by forming
women’s jams. Anyone interested in auditioning with Von for cabaret or the
women’s jam is invited to try out at Faces on K and 20th Streets on Wednesday
evenings between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Cabaret is held on Thursday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., making for a great
pre-weekend date that won’t keep the 9-to-5 crowd out too late. Another outstanding
part of cabaret is that it is currently without a cover charge. (A cover charge, however,
will be applied in the future for special, showcased entertainers).
Although Von has been here for only a year, her popularity around Sacramento shows in the
demand for her regular performances at other clubs in town. Von also sings the blues at
the Torch Club on Sundays at 4 p.m. and performs at the piano bar at Faces on Wednesday
and Friday evenings.
Von’s vision for cabaret in Sacramento is to “...see a classy show like the old
days. People dressing up.” And now people have that opportunity--every Thursday
night.
“So,” as Joel Grey quips in the film ‘Cabaret,’ “Life is
disappointing? Forget it! In here, life is beautiful.” So, come to the cabaret. |
