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By NANCY STETSON, nrstetson@naplesnews.com
October 14, 2005
Next week, singer Lee Lessack plans
on becoming intimate with 324 people.
Intimacy is the mark of a good
cabaret singer, he says. It's also one of the hallmarks of
his performances.
"Cabaret singing to me really
refers to the intimacy of the presentation," he says,
noting that a cabaret act is usually performed in a venue
with approximately 100 people or less. "It's just a more
personal or intimate approach and delivery of the music, very
lyrically driven.
"I always say that what I
love about working in a cabaret club is that you have to be
honest. The audience will let you know if you're not being
honest. They're so close to you. I have performers who are
big Broadway stars (on my record label). Put them in a 50-,
60-, 70-people room, and you find out how in the moment and
how honest your delivery is.
"I do larger concert venues
as well. I love to come home to playing in a small room. You
can communicate with people on a whole different level, you're
right there. To me, there's nothing like it. You strip away
all the stuff, and then you're just left with being in the
moment. And that to me is the magic of this art form and the
music."
At 324 seats, the Sugden's Blackburn
Theatre may not be as cozy as a small club, but Lessack can
make it feel like one; he has a knack for singing as though
you're the only person in the room.
He'll be joined by singer Brian
Lane Green and pianist/singer/arranger Johnny Rodgers. The
concert is put on by Gulfshore Playhouse, a new venue scheduled
to open in Estero in 2008. Kristen Coury, producing artistic
director of the playhouse, hopes to raise $20 million to build
the facility.
But Tuesday's concert isn't a benefit,
she says.
"This is a straight-up show,"
she declares. "...It's about brand recognition. It's
friend-raising instead of fund-raising. It's strictly a show
put on by Gulfshore Playhouse Productions.
"It's our one night a year
at the Sugden. We can't (book any more shows there) than that,"
she says. (The theater's schedule is so packed it can only
rent to them for one night.)
In a few years, when Gulfshore
Playhouse has its own building, Coury can book as many shows
as she wishes. Plans for the facility include a 500-seat theater
and a 150-seat configurable studio space.
"We have been donated land.
We are delighted to go into southern Lee County," she
says. "There are no arts to speak of there. It's near
(Florida Gulf Coast) University, and the demographics are
growing and changing. We're delighted to service everywhere
from Naples to south Fort Myers. The community of Estero has
embraced us with open arms. They are excited with us as we
are about them."
And by presenting performances
such as Tuesday's upcoming show, Coury hopes to cultivate
an audience for her venue.
Lessack, Green and Rodgers, who've
performed together as "Three Men and a Baby ... Grand"
are calling the show "The Rat Pack Revisited," a
tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.
But don't expect to hear "Candy
Man" or "My Way."
And, Lessack hastens to add, "We're
not impersonators. We do a lot of harmony work, which they
didn't do. They performed together, but each did their own
section of the show. They rarely did group numbers. We take
the material and work it for a trio. There are solos within
the context of the show."
The audience can expect to hear
familiar standards such as: "Everybody Loves Somebody,"
"Strangers in the Night," "Birth of the Blues,"
"The Shadow of Your Smile," "What Kind of Fool
Am I," "The Best is Yet to Come" and "All
the Way."
Lessack recently released "In
Good Company," his fifth CD. On it, he sings 17 pop standards
such as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "The
Look of Love," "Let It Be Me" and "Vincent,"
all performed as duets with a different artists. Singing partners
include Ann Hampton Callaway, Maureen McGovern, Michael Feinstein,
Stephen Schwartz and Susan Werner.
"Doing a duet CD was like
having 17 conversations, each one of them different,"
Lessack says. "It was an interesting challenge. Part
of it is being a good listener. What I discovered in this
process is that I found a space where I could meet each vocalist.
Everybody is so different vocally. So my challenge was how
to create a mood and a flow to the recording — you've
got all these different voices. I found that for me, my job
was to meet them where they live."
IF YOU GO
Rat Pack Revisited What: Lee Lessack, Brian Lane Green and
Johnny Rodgers will perform a tribute to Frank Sinatra, Dean
Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 18 Where:
The Sugden Community Theatre, 701 Fifth Ave. S., Naples Cost:
$40 Information: 263-7990. CD signing What: Lee Lessack, Brian
Lane Green and Johnny Rodgers will sing and sign their CDs
When: 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17 Where: Barnes & Noble Booksellers,
5377 U.S. 41 N., Naples Cost: Free. Information: 598-5200.
The CD includes duets with Rodgers and Green, whom he calls
"a dear friend. We've worked together for years,"
he adds.
Lessack was thrilled to have Werner
sing a duet with him on the CD, saying he's been a fan of
hers for years. He first heard her at a Virgin Records store
in California when she was doing an in-store performance.
He'd just wandered into the store to kill some time before
going to the movies.
"I heard her, bought her album,
became a huge fan," he says. "I loved her songwriting.
Then when I did the 'I Know You By Heart' CD, I recorded one
of her songs on it."
He sent her a copy through her
record label. Eight years later, he finally heard back from
her. She thanked him for recording her song and told him how
much she loved it. Why the delay? Her record label had never
passed along the CD to her, and Dan Stetzel, a Chicago musical
director and arranger, had just recently given her a copy.
Lessack said he was so excited
to hear from her "it could've been Oprah calling me."
He asked her if she'd sing with him on "In Good Company,"
and she readily agreed.
"It was so interesting. I
had a blast, creating this (CD)," he says. "It was
incredible to work with so many talented artists. I wanted
to produce something that you could sit and intently listen
to, and also something you could put on over dinner that wouldn't
pull the focus. I think that this ended up serving both of
those purposes."
One reviewer called it music to
have sex to.
"Hey, that works too,"
Lessack says. "It's a make-out album. I don't know if
we're promoting it as a CD that has sex vibes," he adds,
laughing. "It's very romantic, and it's all love songs.
It is a make-out album. People have told me that. Hey, whatever
works."
The CD was released on Lessack's
own label, LML Music. He started the label 10 years ago when
he made his first CD and was looking for a label to distribute
it. He approached Midder Music Records, an independent label,
but at the time they were focusing on only one artist, Nancy
LaMott. The owner of the label told Lessack he should start
his own label, and so he did.
"I started it for my own recording,"
Lessack says. "I have a very keen business mind and marketing
sense. Immediately, other artists approached me and asked
if I'd produce or distribute their recording."
Each year, he broadened his scope
and added new names to his label; now he has 70 artists on
his roster.
He describes the music as "lyrically
driven vocals. Most are Broadway vocalists, cabaret singers,
singer/songwriters. It's just become a wonderful home for
independent artists. I'm thrilled that it's grown to what
it is today. Who would've thought?"
Lessack was originally interested
in musical theater, but when he moved to Los Angeles (from
Chicago) he went to a temp agency to find work. He wound up
working as a personal assistant to Henry Winkler.
"I didn't have a whole lot
of opportunities to audition, I was always working,"
he says. "So that was a challenge. I started going out
to cabaret clubs. I found I needed a musical outlet, so this
provided that. And as soon as I started doing this, I felt,
'It's home.' I didn't plan it, it just sort of happened.
"I just sort of discovered
it and knew it was my calling. So here I am."
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