'Seasons of Love': Main Street Cabaret brings love songs to Pheasant Run
When Main Street Cabaret takes the Main Stage at Pheasant Run Theatre to present "Seasons of Love," a revue of Broadway love songs, it will not only be a fun night of Broadway show tunes, it will be quite a change of pace for the three members of the group.
"Our version of cabaret is more bringing music theater into a more intimate setting," said Robin Rotela, director of Main Street Cabaret, a branch of Main Street Opera.
The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 24, at Pheasant Run theater in St. Charles. Tickets are $15.
"Most of our shows are in restaurants, libraries and senior centers," Rotela said. "It's up and close, personal feeling rather than being in a giant theater. Pheasant Run is a much larger venue."
Working intimately with an audience can be a struggle when performers are used to the larger theaters of Broadway-style musicals, according to Rotela.
"The thing with cabaret is, it's a little more intimate setting; you have to be comfortable singing about 10 feet away from people. Some people really struggle with that. They want to be on a stage where you can't really see your audience, because it's dark," Rotela said.
Group members Oana Odean of Chicago and Danielle Scampini-Linn of Chesterton, Indiana. are used to those larger venues as they had been primarily working in local musical theater prior to being hired by Rotela to perform in the Main Street Cabaret.
"I've sung in musicals all over the Chicago area," said Odean. "My first time with cabaret was with this group in 2014.
"Coming from musical theater and opera, where there's that fourth wall and you are acting and in a character and acting with other characters, this was quite different to me because I had to engage with the audience," Odean continued. "It was nerve wracking for the first couple of performances. Now I'm used to it and kind of know the drill."
Scampini-Linn found that the bustle that can accompany cabaret was a little intimidating when she first performed with the group in a restaurant in 2013, but she discovered a hidden benefit.
"It helps you as a performer, that way you can roll with it if there's other distractions going on, you can be really in tune with what you're singing and what you're doing. It helps you with focus," she said.
Rotela had been a cabaret performer in Chicago before returning to Arlington Heights, her hometown.
"I started performing four years before I started Main Street Cabaret," she said. "I had some friends in the organization called the Chicago Cabaret Professionals and I sent someone a demo and they said go for it," she said.
When Rotela decided to build a performing group, she knew exactly what she was looking for.
"A great singer, that's really important," she said. "I look for personality and being able to act out a song, not just stand there and sing it. I love that it's a team effort, so that's really important to me. I get a vibe really quick of how helpful they're going to be. I love go-getters."
A love of all things Broadway was a necessity as well and she found that quality in both Odean and Scampini-Linn.
"It's one of my favorite genres," Odean said. "I like that some songs and story lines get down to the heart of the matter and can really penetrate into people's souls. I like that you can forget about your day-to-day life and tune into the songs and the story and let go for a while."
"For as long as I can remember it's been my absolute favorite type of music," agreed Scampini-Linn. "I remember getting tickets to see 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' for Christmas when I was a kid. Everyone was so excited and crying. It was such a big part of my childhood."
The members of Main Street Cabaret are set to share their love of musical theater when they perform songs from various musicals, accompanied by pianist Ken McMullen and presented by Vero Voce, a theater company in St. Charles where Rotela teaches voice.
"There's a really nice variety; everything from old classics like 'Show Boat' or newer ones from 'Into The Woods.' We have a really good variety of songs," Rotela said.
"We have such a great show for everyone," said Scampini-Linn. "We have a very wide variety of great songs from different types of musicals. If you like the classics, you're going to hear classics. We're going to have contemporary songs as well. There's something for everyone."
If you go
What: Vero Voce presents Main Street Cabaret's "Seasons of Love"
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 24
Where: Pheasant Run Main stage Theater, 4051 East Main Street, St. Charles
Tickets: $15
Details: <a href="http://verovoce.com/">verovoce.com</a>/