Georgetown singers and musicians got a chance to strut their stuff in front of a packed crowd at the 31st annual Cabaret concert, held at LuLu’s Mardi Gras Club last Thursday and Friday, to benefit the D.C Schools Project.
Cabaret started 31 years ago as a shirt and tie affair held in Walsh black box. In the old days, a tuxedoed emcee entertained a small, champagne-sipping crowd. Nowadays, the emcee invites the crowd to buy him drinks between rock and pop sets, tosses madi gras beads and ends the night stumbling drunk. This is our generation’s Cabaret. It was during the ‘80s that students took over the event and turned it into the musical bash it is now.
This year’s move to Lulu’s was aided by Fritz Brogan (COL ‘07) and his company D.C.’s Hottest Parties. Lulu’s supplemented the fun festivities with some decent drink specials. Greg Capone (MSB ‘06), the show’s drummer and producer, took advantage of the two-dollar drafts, knocking back Miller Lights between sets and still somehow managing to play coherently.
The band started things off with The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and the night rolled on from there. Cabaret featured a wide variety of selections, from classic rock to ‘70s soul. Katherine Boyle (COL’06) played the part of Aretha Franklin singing “Rescue me.” Justin Douds (SFS ‘07) got the crowd’s hands in the air, beat-boxing the intro to Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” Genisha Saverimuthu (COL ‘06) resurrected Left Eye, polish under the eye and all, as the band played TLC’s “Waterfalls,” with Saverimuthu rapping the final verse. Patrick McKegney (MSB ‘06) contributed an impassioned performance of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down.”
In one of the most memorable performances of the night, the king of pop got some play as the band did a rendition of “Billy Jean” with Jeff Carlson (COL ‘08) singing Michael Jackson’s vocals.
“Each year when I hear the songs the singers have chosen to sing, I’m blown away,” Capone said. “I didn’t think anyone out there could actually pull off Kelly Clarkson or Axel Rose vocals, but our singers are amazing.”
This was much more than a Georgetown karaoke night. The high quality of singers and the addition of a horn section added a flavor to Cabaret you don’t see in most rock bands. From nine to midnight, talented performers played their hearts out for their fellow Hoyas.
After taking a bow, the band and performers returned, answering the crowd’s cheers for an encore and finally ending the night with Bruce Springsteen’s “Roulette.” It was a fitting send off for senior cabaret performers like four-year cabaret member Eleanor Gillespie (COL ‘06).
“The crowd is just so energetic and pumped that it gets the whole band psyched,” Capone said. “I probably have a big dumb grin on my face the whole show.”
