WESTFIELD – Several world class performers are going to appear in Westfield over the next couple of months in one of the most intimate of performance settings. Westfield on Weekends’ “WOW… It’s Cabaret” will kick off a series of three cabaret performances with “Songs from the Heart,” a staged concert by international cabaret star Linda Mironti and award-winning accompanist Bobby Peaco. “Songs from the Heart” will take place on Friday, April 28 at 8 p.m. in the Great Room of the Westfield Senior Center at 45 Noble Street, which will be transformed by theatrical curtains, lighting and sound, tables and chairs into an intimate club-like atmosphere.
Internationally acclaimed Cabaret singer Linda Mironti will kick off the “WOW…It’s Cabaret” series on April 28 at the Westfield Senior Center. (photo submitted)
Linda Mironti spent ten years performing on Italian television and on musical stages from Milan to Sicily, singing blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and original pop material she wrote for herself and other artists. She recorded and co-wrote the soundtrack for an Italian major motion picture, “18 in a Week” and recorded two albums still sold throughout Europe. Linda has been performing her one-woman shows all across the United States to much acclaim.
According to Mironti, “Songs from the Heart” includes songs that “burrow deep into the heart and if they are not sung, the heart will burst.” This is her third appearance in Westfield, having performed at an earlier cabaret series at Piccolo’s Restaurant in downtown Westfield, and for a successful fundraiser to build the Amelia Park Children’s Museum.
“Many people in our town do know of Linda,” said Bob Plasse, past president of WOW. He said the show will feature jazz, popular, and rhythm and blues, along with Mironti’s witty and entertaining banter.
Mironti’s arranger and accompanist, Bobby Peaco has graced the club and cabaret circuit of New York City for more than three decades with nine MAC awards and six Backstage Bistro Awards to his credit. As composer, writer and featured performer, he has appeared in two critically acclaimed cabaret pieces, “Erik and the Snow Maidens” and “Indigo Rat.” This will be his fourteenth summer entertaining at Montparnasse Piano Bar in Mykonos, Greece.
Upcoming performances in the WOW!… It’s Cabaret series will include Singer/comedienne Carol O’Shaughnessy, Boston’s “Cabaret Entertainer of the Year,” on Friday, June 2 with “Up Close and Unpredictable”, a show that mixes O’Shaughnessy’s distinctive musical stylings with her comic reflections of the times, spot-on impressions and a roster of zany characters, including “Mama Scugliachi.”
Carol O’Shaughnessy will be accompanied by pianist/arranger Tom LaMark a respected musician in the Boston area, who has accompanied such notables as Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer and the Smothers Brothers and has played with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie , Phil Woods and Buddy Rich.
The final performance on Friday, July 7 was originally scheduled for March 31, but postponed due to the unexpected late spring snow storm. “Canoe: the Musical,” traces the course of a “one-of-a-kind” marriage through dialogue and songs from Broadway, Hollywood and the American Songbook. The “cabaret musical” was conceived by headliners Mary Brown Bonacci, Bob Plasse, and James Homan, area residents whose musical careers have taken them from New York to Europe, and composer/pianist Michael Rheault, whose resume includes his Off-Broadway musical “Fabulous: The Queen of Musical Comedies,” which had an extended run in 2014 at the Times Square Arts Center.
Originally produced for the Buffalo Canoe Club on Lake Erie, the show received rave reviews for its funny, yet moving storyline and its unique use of slide projections, which provide information on the songs sung and graceful transitions from scene to scene.
In producing the series, WOW hopes to introduce audiences to the concept of cabaret.
“Many remember the highly successful cabaret series held at Piccolo’s Restaurant some years back, but for those who did not attend, we hope that they will discover and enjoy this unique form of entertainment,” says Amy Tosi, WOW programming chair.
“Cabaret performances offer audiences the chance to experience musical artists in intimate settings with shows that can be scripted and directed as a theater piece or with a program of music that specifically reflects the thoughts and feelings of the artist and/or directly relates to a specific theme,” she continued.
Tickets for the “WOW… It’s Cabaret” series are $25 per show with a series subscription package at $65. Reservations may be made by calling 413-579-5967, or by visiting WOW’s community space at 105 Elm Street during regular hours. Reservations may also be made online at www.westfieldonweekends.com. Doors will open at 7:15 pm. Wine, champagne and desserts will be available for sale at intermission. Proceeds will benefit Westfield on Weekend’s programming.
Funding for the series has been provided in part with a grant from the Westfield Cultural Council, a program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and with in-kind assistance from the Westfield Council on Aging, who Plasse called “great hosts.”
Westfield on Weekends is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that supports the revitalization of downtown Westfield, sustains arts and cultural activities, and provides resources for groups with like-minded missions in branding Westfield as a dynamic community.
