One by one, the bleary-eyed musicians saunter into the rehearsal space on a Saturday afternoon in late January. The floor of the dingy New South band room is adorned with an empty pizza box, a ratty old rug and a plastic water bottle filled with an unidentifiable, yellow fluid. As some of the Cabaret band members set up their equipment, a small debate ensues over whether the mystery liquid is tequila or urine. No one volunteers to find out.
Everyone looks tired, hung over or both. Another hour passes by, and it becomes clear that the singer who was scheduled to rehearse with the band at 1:00 pm isn’t going to show up. The annual pair of Cabaret benefit concerts that they are supposed to be rehearsing for is less than a month away. But strangely, they don’t seem worried.
Finally, the singer arrives at 2:15, and the rehearsal begins. The tiny room’s bare walls do nothing to absorb the sonic boom that permeates from the ten-piece band. But once the ears have time to adjust, it becomes clear why they aren’t concerned with their apparent lack of organization.
“They’re incredible,” Genisha Saverimuthu (SFS ‘05), one of the ten Cabaret singers, said. “Everyone in the band has so much talent.”
Cabaret will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary this year when the two benefit concerts for D.C. Schools take place on Feb. 24 and 26 at the Kilis Kafe, on 8th Street. Many current Georgetown students know nothing about the event, but it wasn’t always like that.
“In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Cabaret was without question the highlight of the second semester Hoya social calendar,” Father Ryan Maher (CAS ‘82) said.
In those days, Cabaret ran for three nights at the Hall of Nations, which is now the Walsh Black Box. Tickets were hard to come by, even though they cost $40, and the event was a much more formal affair than it is today. The shows used to have a much more open format and featured standup comics, a tuxedoed MC and a house band. Now the annual concerts are held off-campus.
“The show has moved around to a bunch of different locations, but this is the place we were at last year, and it’s very good for us,” co-producer and bassist Justin Shuster (CAS ‘05) said. “It has a big stage.”
The shows are performed and run by students, but that personnel rule was broken over the years by Father Pat Conroy, S.J., who got his start in Cabaret in 1991 when he performed “Pretty Woman” with Father Bill Watson, S.J.
“The producers of the show balked when we proposed to them that we would like to be a part of Cabaret but soon learned that we did have some talent, and the future was secure.” Father Conroy wrote in an email from Portland, Oregon, where he is working in his new position as superior of the Jesuit High School. “Cabaret is one of the things I miss most about Georgetown. I do think, along with the Copley Crypt, that Cabaret is one of GU’s best that many students do not even know about.”
The group is not affiliated with the University, so the performers are on their own to pay for practice space and to make production arrangements for the shows. The concerts usually raise about $4,000 for D.C. Schools, but the exact number depends on what they make on ticket sales. Money left over from the previous year’s show is kept in a bank account so that it can be used to finance the following year’s production.
This year, singers were selected at the end of November when over 60 vocalists tried out for only five vacant positions, two for females and three for males. Singers who were returning from last year’s performance were guaranteed the remaining five slots. While vocalists were evaluated based on several criteria, including talent, stage presence and seniority, according to Shuster, there was one surefire way to narrow the field.
“About 50 percent of them chose Ashlee Simpson songs to sing,” he said. “None of those people made it.”
For almost two months, Cabaret was the solitary focus of these otherwise busy Georgetown students. They worked through scheduling conflicts and technical problems to put together the 22 songs that they will perform during the two-set concerts, and they did it all without the help of a musical director. But that’s nothing compared to what the Cabaret band of 2003 had to deal with.
According to guitarist Aaron Shneyer (CAS ‘05), on the day of the first show that year, there was snow in the forecast, and the drummer suddenly announced that he thought the concert should be cancelled. He felt that the snow would jeopardize the safety of the band and audience. The rest of the band members were dumbfounded and speculated that the reason for the drummer’s reluctance to play was not the snow, but rather a fear of playing in front of a large crowd. In the end, the band could not convince him to play the show, and they ended up making a desperate call at 2:00 p.m. to the previous year’s drummer, who was living in New York City to ask him if he could sit in. He agreed, got on the next train to Washington and made it to the show at 6:00 p.m., with enough time to practice for an hour before the band took the stage.
“It was better than if the [other] guy was there,” Shneyer said.
According to the band, the most daunting task they faced this year was physical, not musical.
“[There is] lots and lots of carrying equipment-big, heavy equipment. So the band’s pretty ripped and pretty in shape; you’ll notice when you see us playing shirtless at the show,” the 6’2,” 150-pound Shuster said.
The most remarkable aspect of the band’s rehearsals are what they lack. A quick scan of the practice room reveals that there is no sheet music to be found. Instead, the band learns each song by listening to the original version on one of six iPods that they keep handy.
At one point during a rehearsal, the band spends 15 minutes working to perfect a line from a song that lasts less than three seconds. A few tired voices are raised in annoyance (there are still four hours of rehearsal time left in the day), but the exchange is far from heated. In the end, the band finally gets it right, and judging from the elated expressions plastered on the faces of everyone in the room, the attention to detail was worth it.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect between the musicians,” Shuster said. “For instance, a lot of the horn players have very good ears and are very talented musicians and they’ll say if they think something sounds wrong … everyone’s working to get the song sounding as best as it can.”
Shuster is not the only one who is complimentary toward his bandmates. Without exception, the band members and singers speak glowingly of each other’s talents.
“It’s amazing to play with the older kids because they have so much experience,” saxophonist Brittany Sonnichsen (CAS ‘08), the only female and the only first-year in the band, said.
At one point during rehearsal, Sonnichsen and the other brass players leave the room to hammer out a particularly challenging section of a song. Instead of taking what might seem to be a well-deserved break, the rest of the band instead runs through an impromptu medley of Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, none of which are on the bill for Cabaret. Guitarist James Viano’s (CAS ‘06) face turns beet red as he belts out the lyrics to “Sir Psycho Sexy,” the veins in his neck desperately trying to push their way out of his skin. Then he puts down his guitar and sits down at the piano, where he promptly begins playing the Rolling Stones’ “Loving Cup” (another song that’s not going to be performed at Cabaret). The rest of the band adds their own parts to the tune, which they’ve never before played together. It’s almost like they physically can’t stop playing as long as their instruments are within reach.
While musical integrity comes first, the band also places a high value on stage presence. Drummer Greg Capone (MSB ‘06) has been working on perfecting a stage routine in which he spins one of his drumsticks in his hand, while maintaining the beat with the other one. He’s still working on coming up with a name for his move-”The Apache Helicopter” and “The Tornado” are currently two of the top contenders for the honor.
The singers also work together to develop their own choreography. While they each only have to attend formal rehearsal for one hour every weekend, they have to spend much more time perfecting their songs on their own time. Additionally, they often get together to work out background vocals for each other’s songs.
“It’s the best singers in the school,” Shneyer said. “Not just the best singers, but the best performers.”
The vocalists come from a variety of musical backgrounds. Joe Almeida (CAS ‘05) has been singing since he was four years old and recently made it to the fourth round of American Idol. In his spare time, he dabbles in the flute, piccolo and saxophone and is currently learning piano. He hopes to showcase his penchant for old school R&B soul in his rendition of an Earth, Wind and Fire classic.
Will Strumolo (CAS ‘05), who heads the a capella group The Phantoms, is performing in his second Cabaret. Last year, he filled the stage with dancers for his interpretation of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”
The group makes a concerted effort to incorporate different kinds of music that they wouldn’t normally play. The band, whose members sport scruffy beards, ratty clothes and even a ponytail, looks like a typical college-friendly rock group. Capone counts the drummers from The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Who among his primary musical influences, but for Cabaret, he’s most excited about playing a decidedly twenty-first century pop standard.
“If it wasn’t by Britney Spears, everybody would think Toxic was a great song,” he said.
The band’s remarkably accurate reproduction of this electronic hit may go down as their most remarkable achievement of this year’s show. Co-producer Aaron Shneyer denies singer Alyssa Morrissey’s (CAS ‘06) claim that he was the staunchest advocate for playing Toxic but admits that he was the first to suggest the song to her.
“You would think that I forced them to do the song, but it was totally the other way around,” Morrissey said.
Cabaret tickets are on sale in Red square for $12 in advance of the two shows and cost $15 at the door. Thursday night is senior night, when members of the class of 2005 will be able to purchase tickets at the discounted rate of $10 in advance or $12 at the door. The goal for this year is to sell at least 1,000 tickets for each night. According to the concert organizers, the Thursday night performance is usually the rowdier of the two, as seniors wielding ID’s along with their discounted tickets tend to come in large numbers.
“We cater to what people will enjoy,” Shneyer said. “It’s a great party.”
At their last regular practice before a final Tuesday night dress rehearsal, the Cabaret band is going through their program in Bulldog Alley, when a few Marriott employees begin to gather outside the music room to listen. One of them eventually makes his way inside the room and begins to applaud, as drummer Capone smiles back at him.
“It may be grueling, but it’s worth it in the long run,” Capone said.
