The Liberace Museum offers a chance to come to the cabaret
Thanks to the nonprofit Liberace Foundation and Museum and volunteer support from members of the Broadway Las Vegas theater community, life is a cabaret in Las Vegas – at least every Sunday and various days of the week.
Locals and tourists can come hear the music play in the 86-seat The Cabaret Showroom at the Liberace Museum in what is being defined as a cabaret entertainment expansion at the venue. Philip Fortenberry, conductor for “Jersey Boys” at the Palazzo, performs “Liberace and Me” every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at 1 p.m.; singer-actress Ali Spuck performs her show “Here I Am” every Sunday at 2:30 p.m., and “Vs a Rock Cabaret” is presented monthly. Other artists do special performances in the venue as well.
“As the theatre community of Las Vegas grows, many performers find themselves longing for the nurturing artistic environment of the cabaret rooms of New York and Los Angeles, so they’ve begun to discover the cabaret at the Liberace Museum as a jewel of a performance venue just moments from the Strip,” said Fortenberry, an accomplished composer and concert pianist. “The Liberace cabaret provides such a uniquely intimate and alternative venue for performers who find themselves in Las Vegas, wanting to spread their artistic wings and share their gifts and talents with the public.”
Fortenberry ‘s “Liberace and Me” acoustic cabaret-style piano performance takes place at Liberace's nine-foot Concert Grand Baldwin inside The Cabaret Showroom. His personal journey, which has taken him from rural Mississippi to Broadway, to recitals and talent shows, to command performances for royals and dignitaries, is the focus of the music and the show.
Spuck, a Los Angeles Ovation-nominated singer and actress, presents her new “Ali Spuck: HERE I AM,” featuring music and comedy inspired by her career experiences, family and friends. Song selections include classic Broadway, new contemporary cabaret hits, and romantic Gershwin songs.
“Vs. a Rock Cabaret,” which debuted in May, was co-created by Spuck. Together with singer Keely Vasquez of “Ultimate Manilow,” Barry Manilow's show at the Las Vegas Hilton, she co-hosts the monthly cabaret concept, which showcases top talent from some of the biggest shows in Las Vegas, including “Jersey Boys,” “The Lion King,” and “Phantom-The Las Vegas Spectacular.” The Las Vegas-based a cappella group Mosaic, winner of MTV’s “Top Pop Group” and who appeared on NBC-TV’s “America’s Got Talent” this year, also performs. .
“We are also inviting and encouraging Nevada public and private schools to consider the Cabaret Showroom as a free performance venue and a showcase opportunity for school-aged students who are aspiring musicians and artists,” said Jack A. Rappaport, Chair of the Board of Directors, Liberace Foundation for the Performing Arts.
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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