In Formation — More profiles to come!
This exchange (both the conference and the festival) continues the essential conversation on the art of cabaret among performers, teachers and coaches, writers and historians, and fans.
Cette échange poursuit l’essentiel de la conversation sur l’art du cabaret entre interprètes, enseignants et entraîneurs, écrivains et historiens, et fans.
Workshop teachers and principal performers
Michèle began as actress and singer (Comédie Française, Festival d’Avignon, etc) but left everything for the circus in Sweden, Germany and her own company in France. She was discovered in Sweden by the legendary Josephine Baker who engaged her as personal secretary from 1969-1971. After thirty years, Michèle returned to theater, released three song albums, published novels, historical essays, theater and poems, and produced her one-woman-shows evoking the circus world and more recently her upbringing in Algeria. She has created events, often televised, such as the Gala de la Presse and Kréatika, the Festival of Authors-Composers-Performers. She was vice-president of the Alliance Francophone, taking her to many countries, most notably Japan. www.michele-barbier.com
Michèle, a commencé sa carrière comme actrice, chanteuse et auteur (Comédie Française, Festival d’Avignon, etc). Mais elle a tout quitté pour vivre dans le monde du cirque pendant trente ans, voyageant en Scandinavie, en Allemagne, puis dirigeant sa propre compagnie en France. En Suède, elle est découverte par la légendaire Joséphine Baker qui l’engage comme secrétaire personnelle de 1968 à 1971. Revenant au théâtre, à l’écriture et à la chanson, elle a sorti quatre albums, publié douze livres (romans, essais historiques, pièces de théâtre et poèmes) et produit et joué dans cinq pièces de théâtre, dont un one-woman-show inspiré du monde du cirque. Son dernier livre, Josephine Baker, les dernières années – La renaissance d’une étoile est paru aux Editions Riveneuve au début de l’année 2022. Originaire d’Algérie, elle a publié plusieurs ouvrages sur son pays natal . N’ayant jamais oublié la Guerre d’Algérie, elle présente en mars 2022 une nouvelle pièce de théâtre et publie un nouveau livre, consacrés à cette période qui l’a beaucoup marquée.
Elle a produit des événements télévisés, tels que le Gala de la Presse et Kréatika, le Festival des auteurs-compositeurs-interprètes. Elle est vice-présidente de l’Alliance Francophone pour laquelle elle s’est produite et a voyagé dans de nombreux pays, dont le Japon. www.michele-barbier.com
A fervent francophile and music lover, Dr. Susan Boldrey is honored to serve as translator/interpreter for the 2023 Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion in Paris. Susan lived in France three years. She teaches French and Spanish as well as English to immigrant and refugee women. Susan teaches a creative way to learn French in “Chansons Francophones” via Zoom. Her PhD in French from Northwestern University involved interviews with 30+ singers, composers and poets of Québec and analysis of Québécois songs as a cultural reflection of Québec from the 1960s to the 1980s. She has been a translator/interpreter with the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion since 2018.
In addition to these roles, Susan is a French and Spanish tour guide. She loves to present photo travelogues to cultural groups. She has traveled to Israel, Japan, Morocco, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Canada, Europe and Mexico. Again, we thank you for sharing our celebration of Cabaret Music and Culture in the “City of Light.” Merci beaucoup!
Tirzah Joy is an accomplished and passionate singer with a lifelong interest in music. She studied classical music. This led to a love for art songs and opera. She plays guitar and ukulele, and has written countless songs, releasing her first recording, Anyway, in 2021. She began exploring the realm of jazz in 2017. She arranges and sings with”The Swingin’ Sisters.”
Singer songwriter Anne Burnell performs at jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals including the Sarasota Jazz festival, Taste Of Chicago, Plymouth Jazz Festival, and Food & Music Festival in Panama. She released three duo albums with her husband pianist/vocalist Mark Burnell, LITTLE THINGS WE DO TOGETHER, TWO FOR THE ROAD, and THIS COULD BE THE START OF SOMETHING BIG (2024). Her solo albums are BLUES IN THE NIGHT, a Harold Arlen tribute, arranged by Count Basie Band veteran Bob Ojeda, and SUMMER DAYS & DREAMY NIGHTS, produced and arranged by renowned guitarist Henry Johnson, features many of her originals including San Juan (which earned her one of two Billboard Magazine Certificate of Achievement in Songwriting Awards). She served as President of Chicago Cabaret Professionals from 2019-2023 and received the 2024 Excellence in Cabaret Service Award. She is an Individual Artist Grant recipient from Chicago DCASE, and Anne & Mark Burnell were awarded the 2024 Gold Coast Award by Chicago Cabaret Professionals.
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “silky smooth and highly polished”, Mark Burnell has worked with Dave Frishberg, Richie Cole, Louie Bellson, Connie Francis, Howie Mandel, Ward Swingle, Laurel Masse, Laura San Giacomo, Rob Marshall, Blair Underwood and Seth Meyers. Mark’s overseas tours have taken him to Paris, Amsterdam, Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, Freiburg, St. Croix and Panama. In 2009 and 2010, he was an instructor at the International Cabaret Conference at Yale. Mark taught jazz at Northwestern and Roosevelt Universities, and trained vocalists for 10 years at Carnegie Mellon University, where he received his MFA and BFA, and also directed the CMU Jazz Choir. One of Chicago’s most in demand pianists/music directors, he leads a jazz trio on Saturdays at the Tortoise Supper Club. In addition to the recordings BLUES IN THE NIGHT, SUMMER DAYS & DREAMY NIGHTS, TWO FOR THE ROAD and LITTLE THINGS WE DO TOGETHER with his wife Anne Burnell, Mark has four solo recordings: CHRISTMAS PIANO, a fresh instrumental jazz treatment of holiday music, GOSPEL PIANO from his 25 years at Gorham United Methodist Church, AQUACADENCE, and RIPPLE RHYTHM.www.burnellmusic.com
Jeanie reveled in the experience of participating in the St Louis Cabaret Conference twice and in the Chicago-Paris Cabaret Connexion four times, so far! She studied in Aix-en-Provence, France, worked for Club Méditerranée, and lived and worked in Paris for several years, singing at Jazz Clubs in Montparnasse and at The Hollywood Savoy. Jeanie hails from Sedona, Arizona, and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has had a fabulous career collaborating in shows and gigs including the Sentimental Journey Big Band, Jazz and American Songbook combos, and was the director of Red Rockappella, a Sweet Adelines barbershop small chorus. She is also a K8 Music Educator and writes reviews for CabaretScenes.Org. Oh là là!
Marielle will be unable to join us in Chicago but look for her in Paris 2025.
Marielle de Rocca-Serra is a violinist, vocalist and actor born in France. After completing her classical education in conservatory programs in Nice, Paris and Rotterdam, she joined the hot jazz community in Paris where she learned the specific genre, enriched by her classical-infused sound and technique. In 2006 she moved to Chicago, where she became founding member of the gypsy jazz band “le Percolateur” alongside Sam Random and Stacy McMichael. She also performed with Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan, Paul Marinaro, Paris La Nuit at mythical clubs like the Green Mill, Katerina’s, and the Jazz Showcase. She also regularly performed in NYC with Spiros Exaras, the Carte Blanche ensemble and the Avalon Jazz Band. As an actor, she stars in films American Slice by Boris Wexler and Viva La Libertà by Roberto Ando, and performed the part of Alice Liddle with the Chicago Opera Vanguard in the American premiere of Boojum: Truth, Lies and Lewis Carroll. Back in Paris in 2013, she founded “The Swing Factory”, a vintage Hot Jazz band alongside Romain Constant, and leads the Trip Hop Band “The Felt Mountains”.
Angelique’s passion began with dance, evolved into singing, spread to the theater (classical repertory to one-woman shows), broke into musicals, tested itself on the street, exposed itself to the camera, then returned to classrooms to entertain kids.
Her ambition is to share a line, a note, an image, a laugh, an emotion.
“Passion drives my boat and the encounters that make it glide along.”
Ma passion a commencé avec la danse, s’est glissée dans le chant, s’est répandue au théâtre -du répertoire classique au one woman show-, a déferlé en spectacle musical, va se tester à la rue, s’expose à la caméra, ou revient sur les bancs de l’école pour amuser les plus petits…
Elle envahit et n’a de cesse et c’est riche de cet ensemble…
…que j’aimerais partager aujourd’hui avec vous…un vers, une note, une image, un rire, une émotion….
C’est la passion qui mène ma barque et les rencontres qui la font glisser sur l’eau…
Tél : 06 83 19 32 54
Mail : angelique.dessaint@gmail.com
Site : Site Angélique Dessaint
Face Book : Face Book Angélique Dessaint
The magnet for many years at Chicago’s famed Pump Room, singer-pianist-composer ELIZABETH DOYLE has created, performed in, and often music directed an array of shows at Chicago’s major cabaret rooms and theatres. A featured guest on Marian McPartland’s NPR program Piano Jazz, Doyle’s compositions have been featured in New York ASCAP programs, at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, and at Disney/ASCAP in California.
Her musicals include Sleepy Hollow, Fat Tuesday, Alice In Analysis, Burnham’s Dream, Treasure Island, and Duo. She has two CDs: Elizabeth Doyle and Time Flies.”Elizabeth Doyle is one of Chicago’s most captivating performers.”—NPR Piano Jazz Elizabeth will headline with David Edelfelt their show, Cole Porter in Paris . She will music direct several performances and accompany workshops. www.elizabethdoylemusic.com.
David is “a consummate song interpreter [who] probably sounds great singing the weather forecast” “one of Chicago’s best” [Chicago Tribune]. His one-man cabaret shows have garnered standing ovations from appreciative audiences, and have been called “superlative from start to finish, hilarious, deliciously engaging and simply brilliant.” After singing roles from Mozart to Kander and Ebb, David has found a home in cabaret at Davenport’s, Victory Gardens, The Park West, Skokie Theater, Claudia Cassidy Theater, Maxim’s, the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention, Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre and for three consecutive years at the Elkhart Jazz Festival. In September of 2019, he and musical partner, Elizabeth Doyle, were enthusiastically received as they presented their Cole Porter tribute “DeLovely” at Paris’ oldest cabaret, Au Lapin Agile, in 2021 at the Cole Porter Festival in Peru, Indiana, and this year at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City. David is not only one of Chicago’s top-tier cabaret performers, but also voice teacher, vocal coach, accompanist and arranger to some of Chicago’s most talented and in-demand cabaret, musical theater and classical singers. In his part-time work, he is also a respected choral conductor.
See davidedelfelt.com for his nationally acclaimed CDs: Love is Born at Christmas and the inspiring Better.
Jeanne Franks is a jazz vocalist and long-time on-air radio host at WDCB 90.9 FM, Chicagoland’s premier jazz station. She performs for corporate and private events. A Chicago native, she started piano lessons at age five after hearing jazz her father’s trio rehearsing in the living room and asking for a piano so she too could play! Jeanne played flute in school bands and later studied piano and voice at Elmhurst College and Benedictine University. For two decades, she was a soprano and soloist in the Wooten Choral Ensemble singing hymns, spirituals, traditional and contemporary gospel music. A graduate of Knox College, she earned an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Jeanne fills in the spaces between singing and her radio show as a self-employed marketing, business development and interior design professional in the architecture and construction industry.
Singer-actor Anne Fromm trained at the Stage school of music, dance and drama in Hamburg. Since 1998, she has lived in France, exploring polyphony, world singing, sacred singing and also body practices such as shiatsu, inspired by the teachings of Frank Kane, vibration and Georgian. She has studied Jean-Luc Bosc (theater, improvisation), Arnaud Didierjean (North Indian dhrupad singing) as well as Borys Cholevka (world singing, sacred singing).
Since her arrival in Lyon, she has been teaching vocal technique, interpretation and the therapeutic aspect of singing. She loves to share the pleasure of singing, to set up artistic projects, to coach and stage all kinds of vocal groups and artists.
Chanteuse et comédienne, j’ai été formée à la ‘Stage school of music, dance and drama’ à Hambourg. Ensuite j’ai eu le plaisir de jouer, chanter et danser dans de nombreuses productions de comédies musicales en Allemagne. Depuis 24 ans en France, je parcours d’autres sentiers comme la polyphonie, les chants du monde, le chant sacré et aussi des pratiques corporelles comme le shiatsu. Je continue à suivre les enseignements de personnes qui me sont très chères comme Frank Kane (travail sur la vibration et le chant géorgien), Jean-Luc Bosc (théâtre, improvisation), Arnaud Didierjean (chant dhrupad de l’Inde du Nord) ainsi que Borys Cholevka (chant du monde, chant sacré) qui nous a malheureusement quitté en 2017.
Depuis mon arrivée à Lyon, j’enseigne la technique vocale, l’interprétation et aussi tout l’aspect thérapeutique à travers le chant. J’aime partager le plaisir de chanter, monter des projets artistiques, mettre en scène, coacher des groupes vocaux et artistes de tout horizon.
Singer, author, songwriter, actress and tap-dancer, Isabelle Georges has created a world of
her own, at the crossroads of musical comedy, French chanson and the classical, jazz and
Yiddish repertoires. Ten albums testify to her abundant inspiration, the sensitivity and poetry
with which she infuses her shows, whether in duets or with a full orchestra. Whether at the
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Philharmonie in Paris, the Musikverein in Vienna, the
Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, or at the Festival Radio France, the Avignon Festival or the 54
Below in New York, Isabelle Georges makes each of her shows an hymn to life.
Her first major roles include Isabelle in Michel Legrand’s Le Passe-muraille and Kathy Selden
in Singin’in the Rain, both awarded the Molière for best musical, as well as Mrs Barnum in
Barnum, Madeline de Saint Maur in Nymph Errant, Kate Mc Gowan in Titanic the Musical and
La Perichole in Jérôme Savary’s version.
Isabelle puts her creativity to work in shows she imagines: Judy and Me, La French Touche,
Padam Padam, Broadway en chanté, Du Shtetl à New York, Amour Amor, Happy End,
Dorothée a Bikhele lider and Oh Là Là de Paris à Broadway! Her creations with symphony
orchestras include Broadway Symphonique, Yiddish Rhapsody, C’est si bon and Eve & Adam.
Endowed with an unconditional faith in others, Isabelle enhances her encounters with Jean
Salamero, who helps her find her voice, Frederik Steenbrink, singer and musical director of
her shows, composer Maury Yeston, jazz man René Urtreger, the Sirba Octet, concert pianists
Jeff Cohen and Bruno Fontaine, accordionist Roland Romanelli, the Trio Zadig.
Isabelle played Isadora Ducan in the musical Isadora, femme danseuse et libre,
Mademoiselle Hennebique in Daniel Colas’ l’ornithorynque and Mrs C in the world premiere
adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s short story 24 Hours in a Woman’s Life. She is Mrs Fabian for the
American series We Were the Lucky Ones, produced by 20th Century Fox Television.
Recordings: Une étoile et moi (2003), December Songs & Something to Live For (2006), Du
Shtetl à New York (2008), Yiddish Rhapsody (2009), Padam Padam (2011), Broadway en
chanté (2014), Vienne-Paris-Hollywood (2017), Oh là là (2019), Hâte-toi lentement &
Dorothée, a bikhele lider (2021), Isabelle Georges chante Bécaud (2022), Bûchere et l’arbre
magique (2024) and 24 heures de la vie d’une femme, to be released in 2025.
Singer/songwriter producer, director, Carla Gordon was cited by the Chicago Tribune among, “Chicago’s most accomplished cabaret performers … a major player in cabaret.” Cabaret Scenes called her “Honey-voiced wise cracker!” Chicago venues include Drury Lane Water Tower, Park West Theater, Preston Bradley Hall and Davenport’s. She has entertained at St. Louis’s Sheldon Theater, Manhattan’s Metropolitan Room, and Michigan’s Acorn Theater. Gordon’s songs have aired on WFMT’s Midnight Special. The Miracle We Need (written with Wayne Richards) was selected for the Chicago Humanities Festival. Other songwriting collaborators include Shelly Markham, Michelle Brouerman, Beckie Menzie, Elizabeth Doyle and Bob Moreen. Upcoming projects include Blacklisted at the Milwaukee Jewish Museum. She can be reached via carlacabaret@aol.com. (photo by Euphoria)
Jeff has won multiple MAC, Bistro and BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards and The Noel Coward Foundation Cabaret Award. His Carnegie Hall appearances include both the Cole Porter and Noel Coward Centennial Galas. Jeff’s televised PBS concerts include “The 1959 Broadway Songbook” with Music
Director Alex Rybeck, “American Songbook: Stephen Sondheim” co-starring KT Sullivan, and Michael Feinstein’s “Live from NJPAC.” Jeff toured with Shauna Hicks in their Symphony Pops Concert “I Got Rhythm: Mickey & Judy’s Hollywood.” Jeff’s fifth solo album, I KNOW THINGS NOW (My Life in SONDHEIM’S Words), was released in 2022 by PS Classics and features a 20-piece orchestra conducted by jazz virtuoso Jon Weber. Jeff is also a BroadwayWorld, MAC and Bistro Award winning Director. He has directed critically-acclaimed shows for Tovah Feldshuh, Rita Gardner and award-winning shows for Celia Berk, Dawn Derow, Josephine Sanges and Margo Brown. He is a much requested coach for The St. Louis Cabaret Conference. www.jeffharnar.com
Born in Paris, raised in Detroit, and seasoned in New York City, Claudia moved to Chicago to “do the work”. Actor-singer, teacher, cabaret promoter, her recordings and concerts of Paris/Paree, Paris in the Jazz Age, Romance Language: French Songs for Lovers, and the two Jazz Fauré Project albums are a reflection of her Paris-centric repertoire. www.cabaret-paree.com
In 1997 she initiated Chicago Cabaret Professionals. She has been on faculty for the Community Music Division of DePaul University School of Music since 2003, teaching SongShop, a workshop in song interpretation. Executive director of Working In Concert, Claudia supports the work of its classroom, opera and cabaret initiatives, directs the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion and produces SongShop workshops and concerts.
Elisabeth is the author of the Teacher’s Vocal Power Method Toolkit for CCM and the Singer’s Vocal Power Method Toolkit for CCM. She is recognized by National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) as a pioneer in the field of teaching Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) and featured featured in the NATS publication, So You Want to Sing Contemporary Commercial Music, as well as Training Contemporary Commercial Singers, published by Compton.
Elisabeth is a graduate of the Julliard School with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in voice and founder of the Vocal Power Academy in Los Angeles. She has presented Vocal Power Method Workshops for National Voice Teachers Conferences in eleven countries and has certified Vocal Power Trainers throughout the US, France, Italy and Brazil.
Clients include Paige O’Hara, the voice of Belle in the film, Beauty and the Beast, Lionel Richie, The Police, Priscilla Presley and was the warm-up coach for Sting at the Grammys. She has had clients on Broadway, National tours, American Idol, ten winners on Star Search and was a vocal coach on America’s Got Talent. Her Cabaret act, Op’ra to Pop’ra was performed in New York and Los Angeles clubs and was touted by Los Angeles Music Connection Magazine as “a talent to be reckoned with.” Elisabeth has performed leads in 25 musicals and operas. She won the national title, “Ms Senior America, 2012.” www.vocalpoweracademy.com
LYNNE JORDAN (Chicago). Film critic Roger Ebert declared her his “favorite diva.” Backed by her sizzling band The Shivers, Lynne is a Chicago institution, playing jazz and blues clubs, The Chicago Bluesfest, touring internationally. A noted storyteller, she is included beside Taj Mahal and Etta James on Blues Down Deep a tribute to Janis Joplin;performed in Isabelle Olivier’s Jazz Operas in Europe; performed her one woman show: A Great Big Diva, served as Artist in Residence at the Raue Center for the Arts in Illinois 2021-22. She is a founder of the Cabaret Connexion.
Stefan is a versatile performer and vocalist as a solo artist or with a band. He hails from Detroit. He has a diverse repertoire including Jazz, Pop, blues, R&B to Motown, and Classical, not to mention Funk, ethnic music (Ladino, Latino salsa and folkloric, Arabic, Jewish, French, Albanian, Igbo, Yiddish, Polish, Black Gospel) straight improvisation, New Age & songwriting. He has toured as a pianist and Musical Director for different national acts.
He plays acoustic piano, Hammond B3 style, synthesizers, guitar, percussion, harmonica, and drum kit as needed. He has created custom sound design and programming for the Detroit Symphony. Back in the late 70s he accompanied Temptations singer David Ruffin on the road for a year. His jingles have been performed on TV and radio, and he has produced children’s music with clients such as Sesame Street and The Learning Channel.
As a bandleader, Stefan instinctively knows how to work the crowd and keep the party going! “Let’s Build International Goodwill and Inclusion through Music.”
MYLÈNE LAUNAY is a French actor, dancer, street and cabaret singer. She trained in classical dance, modern-jazz, tap, flamenco (at AID), Argentine tango (in Buenos Aires) and musical comedy (AICOM). She co-hosts a weekly street ball at rue Mouffetard with accordionist Christian Bassoul. Mylène wrote her first musical, In Vitro, in 2015. She and Claudia Hommel organized the first Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion exchange in France in 2017. She continues to coordinate and recruit for the Association Cabaret Connexion in France.
Ava is an award-winning singer-actor from Washington, D.C. Dr. Logan is a veterinarian by day and a jazz singer at night. She is a classically-trained jazz recording artist and has performed jazz, pop, and rhythm and blues nationally and internationally, in jazz clubs, festivals, hotels and more with duos to 18-piece big bands. She has portrayed her idols Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson in professional theater performances in Chicago. Her first major CD, So Many Stars, produced by guitarist Henry Johnson, was met with critical acclaim. www.avalogan.com
Actor, singer, dancer, Lexa Maxa started her career in solo shows, cabaret, and as a show opener singer-songwriter. In New York, she has performed at the Metropolitan Room, Triad Theatre, The Bitter End, and the Schimmel Center opening for JoJo and Jesse McCartney. In the Midwest, Lexa has been part of the Broadway World Regional Award-winning production of Disenchanted! (Nicely Theatre); on stage as Selene in the moving drama Night Blooming at Detroit Repertory Theatre, and Elvira in the award-winning Blithe Spirit at Act Two Theatre in St. Peters, MO.
In addition to choreography, film acting, commercials and print campaigns, she enjoys playing the piano, songwriting, and traveling. Her first love will always be entertaining and performing—be it plays, musicals, solo music shows, dance, or film—aiming always to communicate and inspire through creative expression what words alone cannot express. www.lexamaxa.com
TÁSSIA is unable to join us this year because she was offered a key project in Rio de Janeiros that she could not turn down. She plans to join us in 2026! Best wishes to her career.
TÁSSIA MINUZZO studied piano in her teens at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2008, she began projects with Cena Gaúcha, focusing on French music, and soon after won first place in the II Festival da Canção Francesa, promoted by the Alliance Française de Porto Alegre. With her soft and expressive voice, she has performed several shows in cities and beaches throughout Southeast
Brazil, including “Vida” which features Brazilian Popular Music,
Jazz, Bossa Nova and French Song. In 2019, she formed the “Tássia Minuzzo Quartet” to perform these genres, Manouche, and her own compositions. Over the
last five years, Tássia has carried out projects with the participation of Gelson Oliveira, Nelson Coelho de Castro and Toneco da Costa; Piaf e L’amour, a tribute to French singer Édith Piaf, with pianist Rafael Vernet; the musical
stage show Le Grand Café (songs from Cabaret) and the show Mar Azul with pianist Michel Dorfman.
For twenty-five years, Steve Normandin has been singing on stages big and small around the world with his accordion as his companion. In addition to his work as a songwriter and performer, he has lent his accompanying talents to prominent figures in Quebecois music and theater, including Clémence Des Rochers, Marie Michèle Desrosiers, Raymond Lévesque, and Robert Lepage.
Together with Hungarian collector László Pusztai, the singer-musician published a book titled “Édith Piaf: The Unknown Icon. Catalog of Works 1935-2023” featuring forgotten or lesser-known songs by Édith Piaf.
Since 2021, Steve Normandin has been in charge of programming for the Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordéon (Montmagny). He has also contributed to the establishment of the new exhibition at the Musée de l’accordéon « De La Bolduc aux Cowboys fringants : l’accordéon dans la chanson québécoise » ( “From La Bolduc to Les Cowboys Fringants: The Accordion in Quebecois Song”).
Depuis vingt-cinq ans, Steve Normandin chante sur les petites et les grandes scènes du monde avec son accordéon pour compagnon de route.
En plus de son travail d’auteur-compositeur et d’interprète, il a mis ses talents d’accompagnateur au service de grands artistes de la chanson québécoise, de la musique et du théâtre : Clémence Des Rochers, Marie Michèle Desrosiers, Raymond Lévesque, Isabelle Boulay, Paule-Andrée Cassidy, Suzie LeBlanc, Natalie Choquette et Robert Lepage.
En compagnie du collectionneur hongrois László Pusztai, le chanteur-musicien publie en juin 2023 un livre intitulé Édith Piaf : l’icône méconnue. Catalogue de l’œuvre 1935-2023, de même que la création d’un nouveau spectacle autour des chansons oubliées ou méconnues d’Édith Piaf.
Pianist Jean-Claude is an organizer of the Cabaret Connexion and serves as pianist in master classes and concerts. He has participated in many international events and piano concerts. Jean-Claude comes from a family of musicians. For many years he has played regularly in Paris at venues such as Le George V, le Plaza-Athénée et le Bristol. He appears frequently at the oldest Parisian artistic cabaret, Au Lapin Agile. He accompanied Claudia Hommel’s master class at the École Professionnel de Comédie Musicale in 2016 and joined Elizabeth Doyle as pianist for Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion in Paris (2017) and Chicago (2018). He returned to Chicago to perform with Christine Steyer, taking their concert Sweet Spot between Our Worlds to Montréal (2019). He performs as a solo pianist, as part of small jazz groups and also leads Parisian Big Band “BB15”. He has composed and performed for film.
www.jean-claudeorfali.com
Martin Pénet est un journaliste et historien né à Paris le 17 mars 1968, spécialisé dans la chanson d’expression française des XIXᵉ et XXᵉ siècles. Producteur sur France Musique et France Culture, Martin a publié de nombreux articles et ouvrages de référence sur la chanson, dirigé de nombreuses rééditions patrimoniales en CD.
Martin Pénet, journalist and historian born in Paris in March 1968, specializes in French chanson of the XIXᵉ and XXᵉ centuries. A producer for France Musique, Martin has published numerous articles and reference works on chanson, and directed numerous legacy reissues on CD.
Born in Houston, Texas to a Spanish mother and a Cajun father, Angelina is a woman of multiple talents: opera singer, chanteuse, singing-actress, director, producer, dramatist, scenographer, costumer and pedagogue. She commands a repertoire from Strauss to Sondheim and has performed in major venues in the U.S. and Europe.
Best known for works of Kurt Weill and Leonard Bernstein, Angelina began her career in New York as the Beggar Woman in the first national tour of Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury. She was soon engaged by dozens of prominent venues from Houston Grand Opera to Vienna Staatsoper, Glimmerglass Opera to the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops and Boston Symphony, BBC Symphony, to Caramoor, Ravinia, and Innsbruck Festivals. Leonard Bernstein hand-picked Angelina to sing the role of Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème, and its Grammy-nominated recording by Deutsche Grammophon. She has performed his Jeremiah Symphony around the world, brought a Bernstein Liederabend to the New York Historical Society, premiered five of his posthumous songs, created There Is a Garden: A Celebration of Leonard Bernstein for the Chicago Opera Theatre, Bernstein Tonight! in Italy and at the Chautauqua Institute, and recorded songs for Bernstein: A Jewish Legacy.
While at Northwestern University, Angelina performed Kurt Weill’s Berlin to Broadway. Her one-woman Kurt Weill show, Stranger Here Myself, directed by Christopher Alden for the New York Shakespeare Festival, continues to be performed throughout the U.S. She made her début at the New York Philharmonic singing Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, performed Weill’s Marie Galante and Johnny Johnson, also for BBC television. She has brought her Weill cabaret Dancing on a Volcano: Ein Berliner Kabarett to regional theatres, concert halls, clubs and cabarets throughout the U.S. At the Santa Fe Opera she starred as the False Angele in Weill’s Der Tsar lässt sich Fotografieren. She played Jenny Diver in The Threepenny Opera at The Skylight Theatre, and Polly Peachum at the Chautauqua Institute. She has directed and designed productions in Tuscany (Italy), Santa Barbara and Sacramento. She has also served as judicator for the prestigious Lenya Competition on several occasions and her recording of Weill’s Street Scene as Rose Maurrant can be heard on the Decca/London label. Angelina was featured in Side by Side by Sondheim at North Coast Rep, and has appeared with some of America’s finest repertory theatres from Yale to Santa Barbara; and in concert and cabaret at Café Sabarsky, the Algonquin, the American Express Concert Series, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Recital Hall and many more. Angelina lives in San Diego, California with her husband, baritone Michael Sokol and their dog and cats.
Lou Ella Rose is the lead singer and founder of Filipino folk-fusion band, SamaSama Project.
A musical theater actress for Repertory Philippines and Tanghalang Pilipino in Manila and Theaterworks in Singapore, she dabbled in Philippine Television acting in soap operas, the Knowledge Channel, and ABS-CBN’s Wansapantaym. If you lived in Manila in the early 2000s, you’ll recognize her from the popular Selecta Sundae “Jolex” and Lucky Me Spicy Hot Mami TV commercials.
Lou is a newscaster for Chicago Philippine Reports on Cable TV throughout Chicago and writes for Via Times News Magazine on happenings, celebrity features, Filipino culture, food, and travel. By day, she is an established IT Manager for Data Analytics at BCBS-IL
As an active community leader, Lou is an alumni and President Elect of Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). She is passionate about sharing Filipino culture in the modern world and supports all outstanding Filipinos around the globe.
Clotilde is an international interdisciplinary creator, artistic director, vocalist, flutist, producer, and facilitator who employs a range of art forms to generate new poetic languages. She combines music, song, dance, and the visual arts to make singular performance pieces, concerts, and films. Her music and body in motion art movie XXY [ɛks/ɛks/wʌɪ] (2018) has been screened in over thirty festivals around the world and received several prizes and nominations. Her most recent album, A Woman’s Journey (2016) received sixteen awards, six of which were for the best album (in France and the USA). Clotilde’s second album, In Extremis (2008), was ranked among the top five albums of 2011 by The Sunday Times (UK) and 2013 by the NPR Annual Jazz Critics Poll (USA). Her international career has led her to perform at venues and festivals in Australia, Burkina-Faso, China, Germany, Korea, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and the United States. http://www.clotilde.artlderullaud.com
Spider has been heard around the world as the host/star of the syndicated public radio series Words and Music, and thousands have enjoyed her jazz stylings through live performances. Spider was featured at Ravinia Music Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival and New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Chicago-based jazz vocalist has won accolades around the world for her introspective approach to the genre, most profoundly through her one-woman tribute to George Gershwin, The Memory of All That, conceived with the blessing of the Gershwin estate and headlining the Gershwin Centennial in St. Petersburg, Russia. Other international concerts include Poznan, Poland; Florence, Italy; and London.
Performing with orchestra or intimate jazz group, Spider has also composed concert tributes to Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim and partners with Dee Alexander and Frieda Lee as 3 Ellas Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald . As composer, playwright and actress, Spider wrote a one-woman musical, The Roar of the Butterfly that has toured from Chicago, to Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia. Her original jazz/R&B song, When You See Me, a jazz/R&B tune can be seen on YouTube. Her weekly podcast Spider’s Web is on iTunes and at www.spiderjazz.com.
With a crooner’s voice and a lifelong love of theater and music, Frederik Steenbrink has invented, between Paris and New York, the crossroads of songwriting, musical theater and musical comedy. Performances include Inaccessibles Amours (1996, directed by Abbès Zahmani), Noces et Banquet (1996, Théâtre de l’Unité), Irma la douce (2000, Jérôme Savary), Titanic (2000, Jean-Louis Grinda). He performed his own compositions in Le Passager and Comme si, which led him to open for Annie Girardot’s Madame Marguerite (L’Olympia) and Annie Cordy’s Que du bonheur (Casino de Paris).
He won several song competitions in France and his native Netherlands. Along with film work and headlining his own shows, Mon cœur fait boum (2003) and Chopin, chanson de Daniel (2005), he worked with artists such as Herman van Veen, Ivo Niehe, Caroline Nin and the Sirba Octet. His encounter with singer Isabelle Georges and the creation of their company Encore Music opened up even wider horizons, without hierarchy: Brahms, Rachmaninov or Bach, but also Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Rodgers and Hart; or the operatic universe of Verdi, Puccini and Wagner…to create more than nine unique shows. Together, they directed and wrote the symphonic programs Broadway symphonique , C’est si bon , and Que du bonheur and performed Eve & Adam .
Barb is the winner of the 2018 Skokie Idol Contest. She has sung in shows at Davenport’s, Epiphany, Drew’s on Halsted, Rosa’s Lounge, Chief O’Neill’s, Borelli’s and the Cliff Dwellers Club. She sings jazz, blues, folk musicand cabaret. Barb started her career as a folk singer: playing guitar and singing at coffee houses and in hootenannies. She is an active volunteer organizer of the Cabaret Connexion and serves as Vice President of Working In Concert.
Graduated in Paris in classical and jazz accordion, Wilfried Touati participates in all types of projects across musical borders, from solo to symphony orchestra, as musician, arranger and composer. In 2018, he formed the Wilfried Touati Quartet to play his compositions in a jazz aesthetic. Its first album Voyage was released in November 2021 by the label Jazz Family. This experience led him to create duets with oboist Guillaume Retail and Christelle Raquillet on flute and vocals.
As soon as she could speak, MERI ZIEV began singing standards along with the 8-tracks in her father’s Buick Riviera. With a brother who played in a rock & roll band, and season tickets to the symphony while in high school, Ziev went on to a career as a speech-language pathologist, promoting human connections through speech and language. Ziev glides through the worlds of cabaret, jazz gigs, and performing with the Pops Orchestra of Palm Beach County, singing everything from Pop to Country. She has performed in NYC (Don’t Tell Mama, The Laurie Beachman, Pangea, Birdland), Chicago (Davenports), St. Louis (Kranzberg Arts Center & Jazz at the Bistro), Sterling Events Center in Austin, TX, and various venues in FL including The Arts Garage in Delray Beach. Meri is the co-founder of the newly organized South FLorida Cabaret Singers community.
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Susan Arjmand is a family medicine physician with academic appointments at Rush Medical College and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. She has specialty training in the medical problems of musicians and dancers. She has published and lectured nationally and internationally on the topic of primary care and performing ats medicine and on vocal health for singers. In addition to her medical career, Susan is a professional classical singer, having performed with various music organizations including Light Opera Works, Bowen Park Opera Company, the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, L’Opera Piccola, Chamber Opera Chicago, and several professional choral groups. She organizes a monthly salon series in Chicago, Opera Inter Alia, in which local professional opera singers offer performances of opera and musical theater.
The Chicago-Paris Cabaret Connexion is the perfect organization for Sue. A Chicago native who has lived in Montreal and Las Vegas before relocating to metro Detroit in 1999, her consistent passions are music and all things French. As a child, she learned the complete scores of Broadway musicals by singing to the cast recordings, and feels a special connection to comedic “story” songs. A regular participant in karaoke venues in Detroit and Open Mics when in Chicago or Paris, Sue has also entertained at assisted living venues with show tunes, country, pop/contemporary, and French language songs. A natural performer, she loves to connect with her audience. Sue is a life-long “shower singer,” and credits Claudia Hommel’s SongShop for getting her on to the stage. In 2015, Sue joined the Singers Jazz Workshop in Paris, and has attended all of the Cabaret Connexion conferences thus far.
Carolyn Broquet spent many dedicated years working in television. She started singing, as a hobby, in 2000 at Old Town School of Folk Music of Chicago. There she took classes, sang in shows and piano bars and was in two bands. Currently she sings with the trio The Swingin’ Sisters. She recently joined the Chicago Cabaret Professionals, which opened a whole new world of singing.
Vanessa is an aspiring artist venturing into the world of voice performance and cabaret. She sings in three languages: Haitian Creole, French, and English. She enjoys combining her interests and background in movement and dance in her performances. She studied West African Dance as part of her undergraduate college experience, having traveled and learned from artists in South America, the Caribbean, and West African regions of the world.
T. Patrick Davis is a Chicago-born vocalist known to belt and croon blues, soul, pop, jazz, and rock genres in his resonant voice. With his trademark fedoras, he can excite an audience to dance or have them swoon at his rich vocal style. T. Patrick has performed in Chicago Cabaret Professional’s Musical Mondays, Merry Measures, and Strut Your Stuff, in Working In Concert’s SongShop Live and Black Voices in Cabaret concerts, Three Minutes in the Spotlight, Opportunity Knocks, Harris House of Music, and Old Town School of Folk Music Blues Band Live Ensembles. T. Patrick’s show sold out Drew & Patrick Sing All Time Favorites at Davenport’s in 2022 and Epiphany Center of the Arts in 2023. He performs every season with his blues & soul band l’ensemble at Rosa’s Lounge. T. Patrick plans a solo blues jazz show for late 2025.
SUSAN DENNIS has been singing Musical Theatre, jazz and classical songs for 20 years professionally. Her repertoire includes Kurt Weill, Sondheim, Bernstein, Mozart, Strauss, Gilbert & Sullivan, Villa -Lobos. She most recently played the role of Heidi Schiller in the Harper College production of Follies. Susan holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University. By day she teaches Vocal Techniques at Elmhurst College, Harper College, is choir director at Lord of Life Lutheran church, and Artistic Director of Bravissimo Vocal Ensemble.
Chicago-based actor, comedian, vocalist, and writer, Sheri Flanders performs improv, stand-up, musical comedy and more as a solo act, or in the comedy duo FLANDERS. A member of the Playground Chicago Theater Company, she has performed in NYC at the Black Women in Comedy Laff Fest, in the feature film B.A.D.D, and was a performer in the WTTW documentary Inventing Improv. Her writing has been featured in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader, and she is the author of TV Pilots, screenplays and musicals. She enjoys traveling the world petting international stray cats of mystery, and is represented by NV Talent. sheriflanders.com/
Melissa Flavia is a singer, songwriter, and youth music educator. She enjoys singing Jazz and playing with her voice. She is inspired by Edith Piaf, Josephine Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald.
By day, Ruth is a practicing psychotherapist. By night, for the last 12 years, she has dispensed her wisdom on the cabaret stage, appearing in many group shows, among which were “ Life is…” and “Thank You For the Music”, both co-created and performed with Carol Weston and Arlene Armstrong; several CCP Holiday Cabarets; several Rotary Club Benefit Cabarets countless other group shows; and most recently 4 solo shows including “Wake Up and Dream”, “The Carousel of Time”, and “You’ve Gotta Be Kidding; A Cabaret Act of Resistance”, “Stories, Standards, and Shtick; Making it Through Crazy Times”. Ruth is currently working on a new solo show called “Quirky”; Quirky Songs Written by Quirky Songwriters and Sung by a Quirky Singer”
A linguist, a world language teacher and a singer, Deborah has enjoyed singing in French and Spanish while traveling the world—including performances in Spain, Chile, Mexico, and France. Locally she has performed at Davenports Steppenwolf’s Merle Reskin Theater, DePaul Recital Hall, the Lake House, and the Lake Theater. Enjoying all types of music including classical repertoire, Deborah has performed Handel’s Messiah as a choir member at Carnegie Hall. A lover of the cabaret style of singing, this is Deborah’s sixth season participating in the Cabaret Connexion
Known as the “Southern Belle-ter” because of her powerful belting voice, was raised in North Carolina and lives in Los Angeles. With a B.A. in Theatre and Communications from Wake Forest University, she has graced the stage as Guenevere, Adelaide, Hodel, Rosie, and Iolanthe. She also performs with bands at The Whiskey, The Roxy, and Catalina Jazz Club. A member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, she coaches contemporary music clients, using the Vocal Power Method created by Elisabeth Howard. Suzanna also studied with the Broadway legend, Betty Buckley. Suzanna is also a member of SAG/AFTRA and ASCAP. Suzanna is the creator, producer, and headliner for special events benefiting Healing Arts Reaching Kids (HARK), to provide music and art therapy classes to critically ill children.
Caitlyn Glennon is a Chicago-based vocalist and performer. A graduate with music and performance degrees from Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon University, some of her previous credits include 42nd Street (Peggy Sawyer), The Marriage of Figaro (Susanna), Oklahoma! (Laurey), and Singing in the Rain (Lina Lamont). For the past ten years she has loved learning music from the Great American Songbook, singing twelve shows a week with the SONGS BY HEART FOUNDATION, which aims to connect people with memory loss to the language and joy of music. She recently produced her one-woman cabaret at Davenport’s and is looking forward to expanding her cabaret chops further through the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion. Instagram: @caitlynzvoice
According to Beth Halevy, a retired attorney, retirement has given her the freedom to turn back the clock and return to doing what she has always loved the most – connecting with people through performing. She studied voice and acting in New York; performed in regional theatres in Alabama, Chicago, and New York, including leading roles in The Boyfriend, Company, Oklahoma, Once upon a Mattress, and There’s a Girl in My Soup. Beth took a break from theatre to pursue a career in law, and now returns to her first love, performing. When not singing, Beth teaches English as a Foreign Language, spends time with friends and family, and explores foreign places.
Alison is thrilled to be attending her first Cabaret Connexion Conference. She once flew through the air as Peter Pan at the Sumter Community Theatre (SC). A recent transplant to Chicago from the Orlando area, she has played Mother Superior in Sister Act, Aunt March in Little Women, the Musical and performed in the Orlando Fringe Festival. She rekindled her theatre chops in Sweeney Todd with Central Florida Community Arts, where she was also a member of their Community Choir and Legacy Singers. By day, she is a psychotherapist and workshop presenter, dealing with serious illness, grief issues, managing stress and enhancing wellbeing. Here in Chicago, she has performed at the Oil Lamp Theatre and enjoys open mics at Davenport’s Piano Bar regularly.
Daniel Johnson is a cabaret professional with a background in acting and directing. He is conservatory trained and worked regionally in the plays of Pinter, Brecht and Checkov before specializing in the works of Shakespeare (Falsta#, Jaques, Polonius). He worked commercially in musical theatre playing such roles as King Charles in Pippin, Ben Franklin in 1776 and Marcellus in The Music Man. His cabaret shows included Santa Songs: a Christmas Cabaret and Wild and Woolley: Cole Porter’s Inner Circle. He is developing a new cabaret on Cole Porter’s Americana. He continues to contribute to Chicago Cabaret Magazine which he formerly edited
Mary Noel Joyce has sung in choirs and as a soloist since childhood, Mary was a member of the political parody singers the Capitol Steps in the 1980s. She has sung at numerous piano bars, in weddings and, most recently, in SongShop Live concerts. She also had a solo show honoring Burt Bacharach in 2022 at Davenport’s night club and has also had a few group shows at Davenports. She was a participant in the Cabaret Connexion 2017 and 2018 and 2019.
Staci Kelley, actress, director, and singer, Staci has performed in several musical and non-musical productions, and performs cabaret in the Chicagoland area.
Gaye Klopack has been a singer and a teacher of singing in Chicago for most of her life. She has performed with Grant Park Symphony Chorus, She has taught choral music, vocal jazz and private in Chicago Public Schools and In 2009 she was honored as a “Distinguished Teacher” by President Obama for mentoring a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She has been a featured lecturer for the Chicago Institute of Jazz and In 2010, was featured on the front cover of Choral Director Magazine. She has performed with Ars Musica, Cantate Choir, the Chicago Choral Artists and Vox Venti Choir. In 2013 she released a CD of jazz standards, Small Day Tomorrow and another in 2019 of jazz standards for children, Come Out ’n Play with John Paluch and Pat Mallinger. She’s performed with Oscar Brown Jr., Clark Terry, Erwin Helfer and Johnny Frigo. She has performed the solo show, Oh! Susannah and ….but Is it Really Cabaret? at Davenport’s
Lauren grew up performing and producing musicals at home with her older brother and singing in the University of Northern Iowa choir. She has a deep passion for singing and loves to offer a helping hand wherever needed. Recently moved from Georgia, she is pursuing a future in music.
Lealiza is a singer-songwriter with NYC roots and Detroit branches who creates vocally driven folk-fusion in several languages. Re-imagining covers and traditional songs as well, she has performed intimate house concerts, at festivals, and at Carnegie Hall. Lealiza’s album, Thorns and Petals, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, is out on all platforms. Lealiza explores the world from country to flamenco, with more originals coming in 2025.
Cristina Marinescu joined Chicago’s cabaret and piano bar community a few years ago. However, music has always been an important part of her life. When she is not teaching Computer Science, Cristina dedicates herself to singing with joy and passion. Over the years, she has performed along some great Chicago pianists in open mics, group shows, or solo, and as a featured vocalist at several live music venues. Currently, Cristina is working on a new solo project entitled Lucky Me!
A native Texan and Baylor graduate of vocal performance, Shelley taught private voice lessons in several colleges in Ft Worth, Houston and Austin. Ms. Schneider has also music directed and conducted several musicals. In 2010, Ms. Schneider studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Her performing career is diverse and includes Shakespeare plays, musicals, operas and cabaret shows. She has performed across Texas with Houston Grand Opera’s educational outreach program. While in the Houston Grand Opera chorus, she performed with opera giants Jaime Barton, Renee Fleming, and Joyce DiDonato. Some favorite performances include Amy in Company, and Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti. Recently she performed with a chorus accompanying Andrea Bocelli at Bridgestone Arena. She is on the board and performs with Franklin Light Opera. Ms. Schneider is a professor in the voice department at Lipscomb University.
Soprano, recipient of the 2018 American Prize Chicago Oratorio Award and 2011 Johnny Mercer Award, Steyer is acclaimed for her portrayals of the title role in Madama Butterfly and Violetta in La Traviata. Since 2000, she was a chorister and sang several small roles in 40 productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her recitals feature Russian, Spanish and American music. She collaborated with poets and composers to create Six Songs for Soprano and is currently working with pianist Jean-Claude Orfali on a book of original cabaret songs. Steyer is President of the new arts alliance Working in Concert and Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera, including realization of The Transcendence Triptych (three new operas exploring our shared humanity) and “Opera in the Classroom” that has brought music to over 23,000 students in under-served areas. Upcoming engagements include concerts with Orfali, UK Tour of the musical Persuasion, the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion Tour de France and Schubert Festival in Oak Park. Steyer teaches voice privately and is an adjunct faculty member at Concordia University in River Forest.
David first discovered Magic tricks at age 9. By age 12 he was performing professionally for shows and parties around NJ and NY. At age 25 he attended “clown school” and became one of the region’s best known professional African American clowns. He moved to Chicagoland in 2014 and started singing, influenced by his spouse Dan Johnson. He first participated in the Chicago-Paris Cabaret Connexion in 2018. In March 2019 he premiered his first solo show The Times of My Life with Musical Director Mark Burnell at Davenport’s which incorporated both music and magic. He also served as co-director (with Dan) and host for the 100 Years of Cabaret show Black Voices and the French Connection at the Haven Entertainment Complex in Chicago and performed in CCP’s Broadway Soul at the Black Ensemble Theater. His current show Soulful 70’s Sounds, with Music Director Beckie Menzie, premiered at Davenport’s in June 2024. He has also participated in the Spoon River Cabaret in Hyde Park in 2024.
Lydia’s background is primarily in musical theater, although she also enjoys singing folk music, Tin Pan Alley songs and American standards, in additional to show tunes. Her favorite musical roles include Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret, Grandma Tzeitl in Fiddler on the Roof, Mr. Twimble/Wally Womper in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and Dot, a Goose, in Honk! This is her fifth Cabaret Connexion, so she is not a newcomer to cabaret anymore, but still a novice. Lydia also plays a major volunteer role managing design and communication tasks for Working In Concert.
A Chicago area vocalist for over 20 years. Michele has been in performances and open mics at many venues including De Paul University, Petterino’s, Davenport’s, Drew’s, Serbian Village, Fuller’s Pub, The Atlantic Pub, Fritzi’s, The Hidden Cove, and the Cabaret Connexion. This year she curated and co-starred in two two person shows. The first with Meiya Fitzhugh, another Chicago area vocalist. The other one was with Cliff Edwards, a Chicago area singer and guitarist. Michele has been co-curating Ladies Nite Production shows with Sami Scot Internationally known, singer,song writer, pianist and curator for over two years. These quarterly shows feature a rotating cast of women exploring a theme thru storytelling, prose, poetry and song. To learn more visit her YouTube Channel Happy Girl Michele or her website rennaisancewomanmichele.com