News notes from Claudia

Memorial Day weekend 2010

Our concert at Ravinia on May 7 was a grand success. By 6 PM, the facilities crew was bringing in rows and rows of more chairs. Cabaret tables, red curtains and flood lights were judiciously placed to create the ambiance. I was putting on Michelle Coughlin's new gown. The buzz was palpable as Ravinia regulars mingled with my tried-and-true fans. By the end of the evening the artistic manager was texting the Ravinia director, "We have to find other ways to have Claudia perform here again." And the post-show testimonials and Pioneer Press review concurred.

The very next day I was driving with Amanda Hartley to South Haven, Michigan, to meet with our playwriting collaborators Arnie Johnston and Debby Percy. Forty-eight hours later, we had the first solid draft of our new musical The Luncheon of the Boating Party, based on the music of the Jazz Fauré Project and characters inspired by the Renoir painting of the same name. A few weeks later, the first gathering of our directors and arranger, Lara Filip, Elizabeth Doyle and Bobby Schiff was throwing us even more ideas including the radical decision to ditch some of the most delicious elements of the Jazz Fauré repertoire in favor of keeping the music all by Fauré (no more Cole Porter and Jacques Prévert).

The creative process can be wrenching and inexorable; the results, awe-inspiring. And our characters definitely have a mind of their own. Lydia the seamstress is huggable (and Johnny will certainly take advantage of that!); René, the artist is finding a love that's more than lovely; there may even be a redeeming song for our industrialist Mr. X.

Come meet all 13 of our characters, Monday and Tuesday, August 2 and 3. Meanwhile, visit the jazzfaure website to learn more.

March 2010

Coming up next: I am a Rising Star at Ravinia and May 7 is the magic night. For the first time ever, Ravinia is creating—in their new "Private Dining Room"—a cabaret venue to feature a Chicago cabaret “star”. For the occasion, I’m introducing an English-language version of Yvette Guilbert’s Madame Arthur. “Madame Arthur is quite the dame, of whom they talk and talk and talk and talk!” And let me tell you about her je ne sais quoi.

Claudia at Ravinia

Our Vernon Hills High School performance of Souvenirs of Paris 1950 and the dialogue with French III students was a rousing success. I especially loved the question from a young woman, "How do you make the emotions in a song true when you haven't yet had the experience that's told in the song?" And later, in a one-on-one, she asked further how to bring that level of emotion to her violin playing. Now there's a subject I would love to explore with her and others more deeply. We face the challenge to keep music and arts-in-education alive in our schools. School engagements are being cut not only for lack of funds but for the crazy idea that this activity is not "basic" to their education. And what becomes of the passion for living and creating?

Cabaret at the Little Bucharest Bistro is getting rave reviews from our fans—for the music, the warm welcome, and the food. Repeat customers aplenty! So come on over Wednesday nights to catch the great Jeannie Tanner's jazz-pop-blues cabaret and Friday nights for a variety of wonderful cabaret evenings. First Fridays are French.

BucharestFridays (164K)

February 2010

The new year took us by storm, and not just the snowy kind. I'm catching my breath after a flurry of Valentines. What wonderful audiences we've had: seniors at Autumn Green, a packed house for Espresso's Valentine Brew in Palos Park, rendez-vous with so many Barrington fans whom we'd not seen since July, and a new entourage of fans led by the Dean of North Park University is already planning our return next year with the Travel Abroad Quintet.

NorthPark Homepage

Cabaret nights at The Little Bucharest Bistro each Friday night are a delightful surprise. Folks have been grabbing floor space to dance while my singer friends like Tecora, Andrea, Carla grab the microphone.

We'll slow down enough to catch our breath and get ready for the tour of "Women of Paris" from Oak Lawn to Ravinia (not on the lawn) and on to Ohio! Mary Horton continues to help me with publicity and Kristina Buhlinger is my new booking assistant. She's successfully pursuing museum-exhibit related tours for 2010-2011.

And take a look at our new Jazz Fauré website as we prepare to launch the musical version of the Project with staged readings this summer. Amanda Hartley and Arnie Johnston are steadfast and great writers with whom I'm collaborating.

November 2009

The party season is upon us and I haven't even had time to update my Private Affair calendar. Didier Durand grabbed us for New Year's Eve so come on down to Cyrano's for the 2009 grand finale. And there's still time to book us for a few more events before the year is over .


Elizabeth Doyle and I celebrated the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau at Cliff Bell's Nightclub in Detroit. The wine was pouring thanks to Jean Jacques Fertal of Eagle Eye Imports. The songs were soaring thanks to our new collaborators Jordan Schug on bass and Carl Cafagna on drums, clarinet and alto. Very HOT! A smooth-moving fellow (who was that man?) whirled me around the stage and local tenor Jimmy Rico sat in for a tune. Friends old and new packed the place from 9:30 to past 1 AM. We're looking forward to a return in 2010, for sure!


Oct09Newsletter (516K)

March 2009

Getting ready for a very busy April—9 shows, 4 cities, and more. April starts with a rare treat, bringing the Jazz Fauré Project to the Evanston Space, a new venue with a growing reputation. The Project goes on the road to perform at the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh two weeks later. Then, Bob Moreen and I will be performing in Detroit at another recently revitalized venue, Cliff Bell's. Our first appearance there is also my first collaboration with world-class jazz accordionist Julien Labro. Check out his website and you'll see why I look so forward to singing with him.

We'll grab a moment on April 20 to join the Chicago Cabaret Professionals' production of "April Love" at the Drury Lane Water Tower . I'm not the one singing "April in Paris" but I'll be there with bells on, some wonderful songs and a fabulous lineup of Chicago singers. The following week I'll be with Elizabeth Doyle and Sean Harris to perform and work with audiences from age 5 to 85 during a four-day residency in Jacksonville, Illinois. One more quick stop (on May Day) at Cyrano's bistrot to welcome you and a group of Greenville, Michigan, students in a reprise of the rarely-public Souvenirs of Paris, 1950. Shortly thereafter, to Paris!

February 2009

Photographer and sales wizard Mary Horton has joined me part-time in the office to help with promotion. Day 1 she landed us her first gig and April dates are filling in with her help. As the French would say, "Elle est super!"

January 12, 2009

I'm in the glow of two shows yesterday, one at the Glenview Library and the other at Cyrano's cabaret room with participants of my weekly "Songshop" song workshop. I am especially proud of the Songshop Cabaret performance. The audience gave a great round of applause—sometimes right in the middle of a song, and cheered the entire ensemble. As several spectators were heard to say, there was "magic in the air". Congratulations to all who sang and played (Sue Keller, Adrienne Minnes, Carmen Bodino, Carol Weston, Jo Rainey, Michelle Greenberg, Mike Ward, and Sue Susman). It does our heart good.

On Sunday, October 26, 2008, we had a fabulous evening with Eric Vincent and a World of Friends, at the newly opened Morse Theatrein Chicago. It truly was an international event, with audience members from the Ivory Coast to the Philippines, from Ukraine to Haiti. We opened with Greta Pope, Bob Moreen and myself offering up some Parisian classics. My friend French Consul Jean-Baptiste Main de Boissière earnestly sang and played guitar. And then, with energy gathered from four corners of the world, Eric Vincent bounded on stage for the second act. By the end of the show, the whole audience was singing and all the performers and the Haitian Consul Lesly Condé were on stage clapping and dancing through yet another encore of Haiti Kimbé Fò.

The Morse Theatre's directors caught the fever and assure us there will be more opportunities to perform on their stage. We love the uncrowded intimacy, heavenly acoustics, and great staff.

We thank our many recent sponsors.