Toi Cabaret 2007
Suave, Sophisticated Student Rat Pack
The hugely successful Toi Cabaret returns this year full of suave sophistication. A showcase for the musical talents of the second year actors from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, this year’s Toi Cabaret brings the 1950s Rat Pack Los Vegas style to life at the fabulously opulent Museum Hotel.
This hotbed of class and urbanity will be brought to life in an all singing and dancing debonair evening of fun, directed by Jane Keller.
| Where: | The Museum Hotel, Cable Street (no parking available) |
| When: | 7pm, Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 October |
| Price: | $12 (no eftpos available) |
| Bookings: | 04 381 9253 (automated line) |
The Rat Pack was a group of entertainers (including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davies Jnr and Dean Martin) in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of them were singers, actors and cabaret stars and they were instrumental in formulating the Los Vegas lounge singer style. Many of the Rat Pack appeared in the original version of Ocean’s 11.
“It’s not well known but Judy Garland was also a member of the Rat Pack and given the voluptuous sensibility of the era we’re hoping to pay tribute to glamorous women of the time like Marilyn Monroe, Rosemary Clooney and Lena Horne,” said Jane.
American born Jane Keller trained at The Ohio State University where she received a Bachelor of Music,a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Vocal Pedagogy. Although a classically trained singer, Jane’s real love is Music Theatre. Her two one woman shows, “Bigger is Better” and “Do I Have to Get Naked” were critically acclaimed in the USA and in New Zealand. Jane is the singing teacher at Toi Whakaari and she has a private singing studio of over 50 pupils.
In a first for Toi Whakaari, a second year costume construction student is attached to the project. Bekky Campbell will be designing and sourcing “fantastic period costumes to make women jealous and men drool,” for the 22 acting students involved in Toi Cabaret.
“This year’s show is mostly comprised of songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Rodgers and Hammerstein because they are so beautifully written and accessible emotionally,” said Jane. “We’re mostly sticking with music written during the 1940s and 1950s, although we may use some songs written earlier than that if they’re in the sophisticated lounge style of the period.”
