The University of California, San Francisco, a sprawling graduate school and medical center, has several programs in place for presenting music performances for its students, faculty, and staff. One of the best of these is the Music in the Library Series, which takes place during the noon hour in a penthouse reading room of the Medical Center Library. To keep noise level down, the performances are completely acoustic with no amplification. Microphones are placed in front of the performers for a live-streaming video feed, which is simulcast to 4 other UCSF campuses in the City, so that those venues get the amplified vocals, etc. Past performers I have seen at this location include Blame Sally, True Margrit, Judea Eden, and Shelley Doty. This day I was able to catch a rare acoustic performance by Katie Colpitts and Emily Palen of the Led Zeppelin-esque hard rock band Dolorata.

Katie is the songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist for Dolorata. 

Their debut CD, Believer (2008), was available in the back of the room.  For this acoustic set,  Katie and violinist Emily performed as The Royals.  Here, they open the set with a song from Believer called "The Keys." (remember, the mics are NOT active for the room, they were used for the remote simulcast feed)
The Royals "The Keys"

To hear more of Emily's violin chops in the hard rock environment, check out the songs "Undertow" and "In The Epic Throes of Sadness" on Dolorata's MySpace player. 

The Royals also introduced several new songs, as well as a couple of covers. Here they collaborate on the song "Fallen" with a lovely instrumental at the end.
The Royals "Fallen"

While Emily's violin stylings are an integral part of the Dolorata soundscape, she  has her own solo and collaborative project called The Love Police, and also performs with alternative cellist Bonfire Madigan (they have a show at the Cafe du Nord in San Francisco 3/29).

Emily performed three of her own compositions during the set, which I would describe as "experimental alternative classical" and were beautiful and fascinating. Here she plays an as-yet untitled piece.
Emily Palen

The Royals were fabulous, and this was actually a return engagement at the library for them due to popular demand.

Since the acoustic sound of The Royals is so different from the head-banging heavy rock of Dolorata, I hope that this duo will be able to release a record of their own soon.  Fantastic stuff.

Meredith Heller has one of the most beautiful and ethereal voices that I have ever heard. To be at one of her live shows is like having an out-of-body experience, where she invites you to dance with her soul.  She is so incredibly spiritual - and not in the closed-minded organized religion kind of way - that I could swear that she is the true incarnation of Siddhartha,  hidden in the body of this remarkable woman.

Meredith is an incredible songwriter with a substantial catalog of songs, but for now only makes them available on CDs burned from professional studio recordings.  These are available on her myspace page. 

Below, Meredith performs one of her earlier songs, "Mermaid," which can also be heard on her MySpace player, and is one of my favorites. Feel the spirituality...


I had first seen Rebecca Cross perform at a  KC Turner house concert back in January (a photo album from that show can be seen in my PICS section) and really liked her style, so I was thrilled to find out that she would be performing on the bill with Meredith.  Rebecca has been working the San Francisco venues for a while but really loved the small-town ambiance of  The BookBeat.

Rebecca has at least one CD out, but I could not find it for sale on CD Baby, so it appears to be only available at shows for now.  Below, she performs a song called, I think, "I Woke Up in the Night." 

Although Rebecca was the final performer in the show and played guitar in her set, she also actually opened the show  with three lovely songs on a ukulele.


Mary Elizabeth Beckman also performed a set at this show, but this wonderful singer-songwriter did not wish to be filmed.  Please go to her page to listen to her music there.

Having spent the first 20 years of my life in the small hamlet called Larkspur, nestled in between two hills and the majestic Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California, I was familiar with the Art Deco landmark there known as the Lark Theater.  It started out as a cinema, then closed down for many years, then was recently restored as a multi-use theater and auditorium.  It is beautiful inside, and has seating for 299 people in the form of comfortable padded reserved seats that you can lay back in.  This is the first time I had been back to the Lark since the early 1970's.  I was glad that I reserved my seat three weeks in advance, because it was completely sold out for the bands I was there to see.

Opening the show was the five-member all-female band The Stairwell Sisters, who are not actual sisters.  Their specialty is Old Time Music, a derivative of folk,  Bluegrass, and Irish/German folk which retains some characteristics of all of these genres.  These same five gals have performed together for ten years. They are all songwriters, most are multi-instrumentalists, and they all sing.  They have three CDs out:  The Stairwell Sisters (2003), Feet All Over The Floor (2005), and their just-released Get Off Your Money (2008).

They started off the show with dancer/banjo player Evie Ladin performing a dance that was very remniscent  of the Irish step-dance, but with its origins in the Southern Appalachians, called buck dancing or flatfoot clogging (she has an instructive DVD on this technique).  The other members are Lisa Berman on banjo, Stephanie Prausnitz on fiddle, Martha Hawthorne on upright bass, and Sue Sandlin on guitar.

Evie's dance routine was amazing and quite a workout for her.  This was the only time she danced.  She then  moved over to play the banjo (and she's a virtuoso),  while Lisa moved to guitar and Sue played harmonica.

Next, Martha brought her bass up to the forefront to sing lead vocals with Stephanie singing backup, and Sue playing her third instrument of the night. I have no idea what it's called, but it looked and sounded like a ukulele but with ten strings!

With Sue still on the monster uke, it was Stephanie's turn to shine on vocals.

Sue then went back to her guitar while singing one of her songs, as Lisa demonstrated her prowess on slide guitar and backing vocals.

Lastly, it was Evie's turn to shine on vocals and banjo with Lisa backing, as Sue, guitar strapped to her back, waits to play yet another instrument, a jews harp!


These Stairwell Sisters are amazing to watch and listen to as a live band.  I'm not really a fan of Old Time music, I'm much more receptive to Bluegrass if I'm listening to it on a CD, but I would definitely go see them in performance again!

Next up was the headliner, Country singer/songwriter Corinne West.  Yes, this is the first Country singer I have ever gone to see willingly without being dragged to the show kicking and screaming.  And, it was fantastic.  Corinne has the whole Country package, attitude, "down home" style of speaking, and a wardrobe which consists of full, frilly girly dresses matched with shit-stompin' cowboy boots, and yet she is a fourth-generation Californian.  Maybe that's why she didn't have the big hair, thank gawd.  She has two CDs out, Bound For The Living (2004), and Second Sight (2007).  A third CD is in production.

Corinne tours around the world constantly (as of this writing she is in Ontario, Canada), and so has a different configuration of her band, or posse, depending on where she is and who is available.  Tonight, she started the show with one of the best finger-pickin' guitarists I have ever heard, James Nash of the Waybacks.  He is also an amazing mandolin player.  The Apple notebook, I assume, had the set list on it.

Then more members of the Posse came on stage. I didn't catch the name of the man at left, but Corinne said that he was a new member, from, I think, the Czech Republic. He was an amazing multi-instrumentalist. I'll call him Al until I find out what his name is. The man on the upright bass was Joshua Zucker, who also provided beautiful backing vocals to Corinne's songs. He is also a member of the Jerry Hannan band.

Then the final Posse member came out,  flute and sax player Aaron Phillips.

Corinne was incredibly active on stage, dancing and stomping and strumming her nylon-string guitar with incredible fierceness, then coming up to the mic and putting out with her clear, sweet voice.

Corinne and Aaron had a most lovely duet together with Aaron on alto sax. Okay, I think this qualifies as alternative Country/folk/jazz fusion. Not pure country. I'm safe.

And finally, all the way in alternative territory, there was Al playing a didjeridoo (he had to hold it up to the microphone for it to be heard), fusing it into this Country/folk/Bluegrass music. It was mindblowing, and beautiful!

Corinne was amazing. I'm totally a new fan. After the show I went to the lobby to purchase Second Sight from a gal selling her merchandise (I also tried to buy a Stairwell Sisters T-shirt from Evie who was manning the merch table, but they were already taken away for the night) who told me that Corinne would be out soon to sign my CD if I would like. I said okay and hung around for about three minutes, turned around and suddenly there was Corinne, right up in my face, sharpie in hand, asking if I wanted that CD signed. I was kind of scared of her because on stage, she has this game face on like a scowl, looking like she would kick the crap out of anyone who crossed her. She was also tall (I had to look up at her).  But then she flashed a most brilliant smile and was sweet and disarming.  It turned out to be a wonderful experience all around! 

I recommend to all my friends to go see Corinne live and check out her "California Country." She is fabulous and will be touring in a town near YOU!

I had heard a lot of good things about Amy Obenski, and finally, after almost two years of trying, I finally was able to catch a live performance at one of my favorite venues, the Bazaar Cafe.  Amy emerged in the early part of the millennium and has become a prolific and successful songwriter, with three CDs under her belt - What We Tell (2003), Kite (2006), and the just-released atmospheric piece From the Deep (2008).

I had thought that Amy was primarily a guitarist, but she started out on the Bazaar's piano and spent most of her hour-long set there.

Although it's a policy for the Bazaar to not allow amplified music of any kind,  Amy somehow got permission to use a mic and small amp (which she brought herself) at the piano as she was afraid her voice would be drowned out.  It worked well.  She is an excellent pianist and created some some lovely, moody ambiance with her songs.

She then moved away from the piano (and the microphone) and stood to sing and play guitar for the rest of her set.

Amy has a great fingerpicking style, making for a beautiful accompaniment to her sweet vocals.

Since the audience was so close to her, Amy frequently engaged them with stories about the origins of her songs, and also took a request or two.


I had first seen singer-songwriter Kenny Schick play a double bill with Adrianne at a house concert last summer, and not only was I blown away by his substantial guitar fingerpicking prowess and songwriting skill, but quite taken by his personal story, a fairy tale come true. It started with a chance meeting with Sabine Heusler on MySpace.  Online conversations ignited a spark between them, culminating with Kenny traveling to Melbourne, Australia where Sabine lived and ultimately staying there for almost a year.  Kenny, a multi-instumentalist who is also skilled in many aspects of record producing, became her mentor, bringing out Sabine's own substantial talents as a singer-songwriter.  They formed the duo Artemesia Black, which features the songs written by Sabine, and started recording tracks and performing.  Kenny and Sabine are back in the States for now, and have been performing in local shows after an extended U.S. vacation/tour. They have released a debut CD, Alternative Gothic Swamp Lullabies (2008), which for now is only available at shows and through the Artemesia Black myspace page (maintained by Sabine).  This CD is amazing.
 Sabine posesses one of the most hauntingly beautiful voices I ever heard.  Kenny's soft tenor blends in perfectly on backing vocals, and his supporting instrumentation (Sabine plays guitar) is impeccable. The songs are perfectly mastered.  All but two of the ten songs are written by Sabine, the other selections by Gillian Welch and PJ Harvey.

Unfortunately, I only got a taste of their live music, as Amy played a long but lovely set and I had to leave not long after. Still, I managed to accomplish what I most desired - getting my hands on that CD, and most important of all, getting to meet Sabine!  I was also able to stay for one song, which practically had me swooning with its beauty.

I am counting the days when I can be at entire show featuring Artemesia Black.  I would love to hang out with Kenny and Sabine as well.  Until then,  I'll be listening to this wonderful CD as I do my work.

This was a lot of firsts for me - the first time to review a new artist at the request of the artist herself, New Yorker and now Portland, Oregon - based Mya Elaine.  Mya first wrote me a message on MySpace asking me to review her new CD. I told her that I only review live shows (I have done a few CD reviews, but only for a very select few, because professionals can do it so much better and I'm never going to be convinced that people give a rat's ass about my opinion of a CD anyway  ) and if she came down to the Bay Area I would try and make it to a show.  This was in June 2008.  Then in January, I got another message.  Mya had actually remembered my offer of six months earlier and was going on tour through California with fellow singer-songwriter Brooke Brown Saracino.  One of their stops was at a house concert in Sausalito, the town right next to mine!  This was my first time attending the Alpha house concert series, and also the first time I attended a house concert on a "floating home" aka houseboat, one of many of those charming abodes dotting San Francisco Bay.

The living room inside of this place was amazing, filled with old arcade games from the 40's and 50's, a 50's juke box full of 45's, a full-sized working movie popcorn machine, and a big wooden phone booth with a working telephone inside and padded stool.  Foot-high alphabet letters from an old movie marquie were hung from the ceiling in three rows, spelling "MYA ELAINE," "BROOKE BROWN," and "SARACINO." Great ambience for a house concert.

I was able to chat with Mya and Brooke before the show. I was very surprised to learn that Brooke had been living in San Francisco, in the Russian Hill area, for the last year and a half!  I'm usually aware when someone of Brooke's caliber is in town, but in this case I had absolutely no idea! I thought that she was from the Northwest, like Mya, who was experiencing San Francisco for the first time.  They had spent the day sightseeing, and the night before had gone to a show featuring their friends Katie Sawicki and Ashleigh Flynn at the Dolores Park Cafe.  They were both sweet and engaging.

Brooke did her set first, playing songs from her two CDs, 2005's Treading Water and the just-released Stranger's Song (2008).

The room was quite dark except for a spotlight trained on the performer's midsection (and I suppose it would be quite bothersome to have the light in one's face) so very hard for flashless photography, but nice for atmosphere.  Except for the small area for the stage, it was stuffed with people, I'm sure far more than the 35-person capacity, which was good for the aritists!  Here, Brooke plays "Smokeless Bar" from Stranger's Story (there was a problem with their sound system and Brooke's guitar).  This song can also be heard on her myspace player.



Brooke then switched to an unamped baritone ukulele to play the rest of her songs.  She was worried that no one could hear the uke, but the place was very small so everyone heard it fine, and in fact it was much better, as there was no feedback, as with her guitar.

She had also brought a xylophone along on her tour, and recruited Mya to accompany her on a couple of tunes towards the end of her set.

After a short break, Mya then took over the "stage" (old jukebox on her right):

Mya has two CD's out, the studio-produced About the Tide (2006), and the newly-released CD which she proudly self-produced on her Mac using the Garage Band program, Before I Get Gone (2008).  Although Mya is quite accomplished on the banjo and features it on her new CD, she had just her guitar with her this night.

Her guitar style was really lovely, and there was no evidence of feedback from it's hookup. Mya is a passionate performer.  Her exemplary storytelling is apparent from the song "Outrun You" from  About The Tide (she also has a video of this song posted on her myspace page featuring her full band).  The lyrics are beautiful, unfortunately very hard to interpret with the sound quality of the video:

I loved the difference in the styles of these two fabulous artists.  It was really great that they each got together at the end of their sets to play their songs together.  Here, Brooke lent her lovely vocals on the last couple of songs in Mya's set.

It was a lovely night of music, and a most wonderful way to support two fantastic independent artists.  Please lend your own support by visiting their MySpace pages, seeing them when they come to a town near you, and buy their CDs, especially at their shows!

Prior to her appearance at an Acoustic Vortex house concert, I had never even heard of the songwriting genius that is Cosy Sheridan.  Even after listening to the selection of songs on her myspace player, I did not know what to expect when she took the stage with her partner in music and in life, TR Ritchie.


Cosy and TR are based in Moab, Utah, but are very active participants in the folk music community in spite of living in such an isolated area.  Cosy not only teaches numerous songwriting seminars and workshops, but she is also an incredibly prolific songwriter, having released eight CDs through her independent music label CMS Records, along with Waterbug Records.  TR is a major contributor on her latest release, EROS (2008).


Cosy's songs are personal insights into pieces of a woman's soul.  Her style is pure folk, her delivery is almost Janis Ian-like in it's timbre and reflective irony.  Here she plays "Do You Love The Life You Made" from EROS:



Most of Cosy's songs were prefaced by long explanations about the inspirations for those songs, many of which are based on stories from Greek mythology.  Using these myths as metaphors, she weaves her own interpretations into the songs.  For the song "Anthymn" (from her CD Live at Cedar House (2006),  Cosy segwayed into it with a story about Psyche, Eros, Aphrodite, and ants. Listen closely:



One of the best albums I have ever listened to is the female issues-themed The Pomegranate Seed - An Exploration of Appetite, Body Image, and Myth in Modern Culture (2004).  This 16 - song masterpiece is the soundtrack to her one-woman staged "musicalogue" of the same name.  Here is a link to her performance of the title song, following a lengthy modern retelling of the myth of Persephone and Hades.


While The Pomegranate Seed contains some depressing, horrifying, and morbid subject matter, touching on subjects usually kept well in the closet, Cosy is also an immensely talented and hilarious satirist. Her ditties on female vanities and body image issues had the audience crying with laughter.  Here is her performance of the title song from her satirical album Botox Tango (2003):



She also sang an homage to nose piercings from the same album, which had us all rolling on the floor, LOAO!

This was Cosy's tour to promote EROS, but she did let her husband TR, an established singer-songwriter himself with several CDs of his own out, take the stage to perform several of his songs in his deep, lovely voice, while Cosy accompanied him either on her guitar or on TR's bass.


TR doesn't have a myspace page, so it's a bit harder to hear samples of his music.  Cosy does not visit her own myspace page much, nor does she update it with performance dates, but at least it is a place where one can be introduced to her amazing music.  If you like this music and don't know which of the eight CDs to get first, I would give my highest recommendation to The Pomegranate Seed, then go from there.  I am so lucky to have been in the presence of this most remarkable woman.  Catch her when you can!

One of my favorite places to see live music is the warm, cozy, and intimate little venue known as the Bazaar Cafe in a quiet neighborhood of San Francisco.  It is here where the folk music purists come to perform in the tradition of the traveling troubadour. On this night I was lucky enough to catch the amazing music of the incredibly talented and wonderful Lindsey Yung.


Lindsey is a classically-trained pianist who also possesses the most breath-takingly beautiful voice. Her sound is lyrical pop with some Chinese and Hawaiian influences. She has two CDs out, the just-released Opal Essence (2008), and Fusion (2005).  Although Opal Essence is a beautifully-produced album with lovely supporting instrumentation, hearing those songs in the raw was just so special.  The piano never sounded better even though Lindsey is actually much more comfortable performing with a keyboard than a real piano.


The intimacy of the place makes one feel that the performance is in a living room, eating good food and drinking wine while listening to that gorgeous voice.


Lindsey also plays the ukulele, in homage to her Hawaiian roots, and so the second half of her set was spent on her uke songs, including "It Doesn't Get Better Than This" and "Like Them" from Opal Essence. 


At one point, Lindsey's friend and fellow musician Jane Lui, who recently moved to San Francisco from Lindsey's home base of San Diego, joined her for some vocal harmonizing. It was pretty awesome.


This was probably a surreal experience for Lindsey, who had only the night before played before a packed house at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. She said that she felt a little more nervous here because her audience was sitting only a few feet from her and at her level, whereas in Las Vegas, she was, on stage, relatively far from her audience and couldn't see them, and so felt somewhat detatched. I found this sharing of insight extremely fascinating.


If you are in town, check out the Bazaar Cafe. They have the most wonderful live music every night. If you are anywhere where Lindsey is performing, SEE HER! And support her music by buying her CDs, especially at the performances, where the artists get the most out of the sale.

These are my very first videos! It was shot in HD, but didn't transfer very well over to YouTube. I still have a lot of studying to do to get it right. Also, yeah, there's a lot of camera shake, gotta work on that. Still, this performance by Susan Z  on her own grand piano was so beautiful that I had to post it! This song, "Rain," has not been recorded yet but will be on her next CD.

Photos of this concert are posted in an album in my PICS section, please have a look.



ETA: There were at least two more videos made by someone else of Susan playing guitar at this concert. Here she plays "Fantasy Girl" from her CD Cautionary Tales (2004)- here. Below is a photo of that performance. Susan was joined by Lil' Rev on harmonica and Liz Pisco on backing vocals!



Jane Lui has been a pianist since age 4. Her pieces are beautiful and her vocals are sensitive and sensual. Here she plays "Phaedon" from her first CD Teargirl (2005):




With her latest CD, Barkentine (2007), Jane has branched out to include fabulous songs for guitar and voice. Here, she plays "Firefly", one of my favorite songs from this terrific album (video not made by me), borrowing Rebecca's guitar!



THIS is what house concerts are about! Attend one soon!

I went to my local favorite music venue, Sweetwater Station, the other night to check out a power pop-rock supergroup formed by some of my favorite Bay Area singer-songwriters: Amy Meyers, Tamra Engle, Jeni Day, and Judea Eden.  Judea couldn't make it this night, but I was still eagerly anticipating the set by the remaining power trio.

Opening the night was a singer-songwriter from San Jose, Lisa Dewey.  I hadn't heard of her before this performance so I checked out her bio. Turns out she has been quite busy. She is the owner of independent record label Kitchen Whore Records.  Under this label she has released four full-length albums and two EPs. Her punk-pop sound is heavily influenced by the music of the Cocteau Twins, and in fact  Cocteau Twin's member Simon Raymonde helped produce and performed on Lisa's latest CDs, Weather Changer Girl (2000) and Busk (2004).  She has also written a book of prose, poetry, etc. called "spank" published by Fifth Planet Press (Atlanta, GA), which is available at amazon.com, and has had small acting roles in two feature films.

Lisa started the evening by playing her first two songs solo, accompanying herself on 12-string guitar. It was hard to describe the style, certainly alternative, maybe futuristic goth/folk/pop?


Lisa then brought up her friend Jess, who with her 12-string electric guitar and distortion box, added some incredible ethereal effects to Lisa's songs and rounded out her amazing sound.


The distortion module was awesome, and the marriage of the acoustic 12-string and the electric 12-string melded into an erie, spacey, trance-inducing sound which contrasted beautifully with Lisa's sharp, angsty vocals.


Then, for their last song, they both switched to 6-string guitars - Lisa to an acoustic and Jess to an electric. It made me wonder if the 12-strings had different tunings than the 6-strings, or something.


I was so impressed by their performance (not to mention that I absolutely LOVE this genre of music) that I bought copies of Weather Changer Girl and Busk from Lisa after the show! They are wonderful!

Next came the power trio of Engle, Meyers, and Day. Pop-rock songbird Tamra Engle started the show with one of her songs, playing her 12-string acoustic, backed by Amy Meyers ..boards and Jeni Day on electric guitar, with both also contributing backing vocals.


Tamra is not only a singer-songwriter, but also a businesswoman who specializes in writing songs for placement in films and TV, conducting songwriting workshops, and promotion of independent music through GuitarTam Music, and also promotes music-making for kids through I'm With The Band.  She has also released a CD, The Blonde Flame Sessions (2007), which was placed on the GRAMMY nomination ballot.  Tamra was featured in a previous photoblog with Edo Castro.

Next, Amy took up her guitar to sing a selection from her newest CD, Lucky (2008), one of her 6 releases, while  Tamra moved to percussion.


Amy is amazing on stage. She is so kinetic, moving and dancing and in constant motion. While wildly entertaining to watch, it's very hard to photograph.


She spent quality time performing some amazing freestyle instrumental rock guitar riffs with Jeni.


Jeni also performed a repetoire of her own songs.  I had previously seen her play in the hard rock band Clair (nee Chula) as lead guitarist and also backing up Amy on guitar only at a yard concert last summer, in the first incarnation of the current group. I had no idea that she was also a singer, and has a CD of her own out, Three Cheers And A Tiger (2000).


This was the first time that I actually heard Jeni sing, and was blown away by her bluesy, expressive vocals which brought to mind Janis Joplin, Cathy Richardson, and Robin Kirby.


The three gals gelled beautifully together, enhancing each other's music.


For a couple of songs, Tamra used her Ovation electric-acoustic, which worked well with Jeni's electric lead.


Tamra relished her chance to rock the house.


ETA: Video of Tamra performing "American Dream" at this show:



On the final song, Amy and Jeni partook in a guitar dual on one of Amy's tunes.


...which became so intense that it ended with Amy on the floor on her knees, with Jeni the apparent "victor." It was an awesome finale to a great night of music.


I can't wait to be able to see them perform again!  After the show, I got to talk to Lisa, who was so sweet that I spent all my money on her CDs and didn't have any left to buy Jeni's disk! Next time, Jeni, I promise!

Act II of  the Breast of Broadway revue was kicked off by Sharon Boucher, who put her all into an outstanding performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy.


This was followed by yet another marvelous performance by Alexis Papedo, this time wrapping herself in a feather boa for her rendition of "Roxie" from Chicago. Because of the low lights for this number, it was impossible to get a non-blurry shot, which was most unfortunate.


My camera problems didn't end there as the next act was a trio performing a fast-moving song-and-dance number. Actors Karey Gauthier, Peter Sorensen, and Bobbie Chapman tripped the light fantastic as they performed "Sara Lee" from And The World Goes 'Round.


Next, Annalisa Bastiani, with Debra Chambliss on piano, performed a very atmospheric and bluesy version of "Everything Happens To Me" from Patti Lupone Live.


Up next, actors Kele Gasparini, Pamela Whipp, and Chaz Simonds performed a lively "I Wish I Could Go Back To College" from Avenue Q.


Wine Women and Song founder Susan Z then demonstrated her substantial piano chops with a solo vocal performance of "Once Upon A Dream" from Jekyll And Hyde. Unfortunately, I was wedged in a bad spot for a photo, unable to move because of the tightly-packed audience crowd.


After her performance, Susan then said a few words about the meaning of this benefit and how every single person involved, as well as many businesses, donated their time, products, etc. to this event. She went on to dedicate this show to her mother, currently fighting a recurrence of breast cancer, and to the several breast cancer survivors in the audience who stood up to an enthusiastic round of audience applause. It was quite an emotional moment for Susan and for the rest of us.  To lighten the mood, actor and breast cancer survivor Anne Ripley then took to the stage to perform a special version of "Thank Heaven For Mammograms" with special lyrics she wrote to the tune of "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" from Gigi. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of her performance, I don't know what came over me.

Next, singer-songwriter Christie McCarthy performed an ethereal and somber version of "Dulcinea" from Man Of La Mancha.


She was accompanied by the fabulous guitarist Paul Geller on electric guitar. Paul also played some beautiful solo guitar during the reception before the show.


The next performance was an amazing demostration of dance by the high school-age members of the Donna Cerio Broadway Dance Company of Mill Valley. The beautifully choreographed dance sequences, performed to a recording of "I Still Believe" from Miss Saigon against a backdrop of projected images of Vietnam landscapes, the moon, and the New York City skyline, featured two groups of 4 girls. The first sequence featured the eight dancers in shadow.


Next, the first four dancers jumped into the light of the moon, showing off their brilliant Vietnamese-styled costumes.


Then they danced along the backdrop of a sunrise.


Then the first four stepped into the background as the second group of dancers came forward in their brown costumes against the backdrop of the New York skyline. This was a fantastic performance and the best of Act II.


Next, singer-songwriter Shelley Doty took the stage to deliver a great bluesy version of  "On Broadway" from All That Jazz with Annalisa Bastiani, Liz Pisco, and Susan Z providing backup vocals and rhythmic finger-snapping.


And then, it was already time for the show finale. Susan Z led the cast ensemble with a powerful and emotionally-charged rendition of "Once Upon A Time" from Brooklyn The Musical.  It was a wonderful close to a fabulous evening of music and togetherness.


Oh, and Anne Ripley is the second person to Susan's right. Cheers!