New York City has the famed 54 Below and Don’t Tell Mama. But for cabaret venues closer to home, the pickings are slim. Oakbrook Terrace’s Drury Lane Theatre hopes to change that with the launch of an intimate venue designed to showcase Chicago’s A-List musical theater stars.
Usually, second city divas E. Faye Butler, Meghan Murphy and Heidi Kettenring can be found at musical theater venues that seat 800 – 1,000. But with the debut of “Leading Ladies of Chicago Theatre,” they’ll be performing in a 100-seat space inspired in part by jazz clubs of the 1950s and a desire to give audiences a whole new perspective on the city’s musical theater stars.
The new venture is slated to debut with two performances in Drury Lane’s refurbished “English Room,” a banquet space reimagined as a night club where the performers are essentially within arms length of the audience. Butler, Kettenring and Roberta Duchak take the stage on Aug. 12. Murphy, Christine Mild and Leryn Turlington will perform on Aug. 14,.
Butler — a veteran performer who has starred at Drury Lane in “Hello Dolly!”, “Sophisticated Ladies” and “Hot Mikado” — says cabaret gives performers that chance to get personal.
“People who see me in musicals know E. Faye Butler. With cabaret, it’s just Faye,” Butler said. “It’s a very vulnerable art form, but it’s also one that I love.”
Murphy, last seen at Drury Lane in “Hazel The Musical,” Is no stranger to cabaret. When she’s not performing in musicals (her additional credits include “Tommy” and “Rent” at Aurora’s Paramount Theatre and “City of Angels” at Lincolnshire’s Marriott) she performs under the name Big Red, regularly bringing the proverbial house down with renditions of everything from Motown’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” to Cy Coleman’s show-stopping anthem to bad choices, “You Can Always Count on Me.” The alto created Big Red as an outlet for a voice that breaks the rules.
“I never fit into the ingenue mold, but I’m not old enough to do the ‘broad’ roles — the Mama Roses, the Dollys, the Mames. Songs like ‘Rose’s Turn’ from ‘Gypsy,'” Murphy said. “With cabaret, if I want to sing ‘Rose’s Turn’ or ‘I’m Still Here,’ I don’t have to wait 20 years. I created Big Red because I wasn’t willing to wait around until someone gave me permission to sing what I wanted to sing.”
Duchak, who also serves as music director for “Leading Ladies,” hopes the August performances lead to a regular schedule of cabaret performances and foresees programs of leading men, new music from local composers, and a space that will draw audience members ranging from 20-something club kids to musical theater nerds to the Drury Lane-devotees who comprise much of the theater’s subscriber base. As one of Chicago’s preeminent vocal instructors, Duchak has a vast talent pool at her finger tips.
“Everybody has their smart phones, and the ability to live-stream any kind of entertainment you could think of,” Duchak said. “But I think there’s a need for real intimacy, for a performance venue that truly gets you close to a live, living, breathing, singing person. There is so much talent out there to showcase.”
‘Leading Ladies of Chicago Theatre’
When: 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12; 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14
More Top Picks Best Under Counter Fridges
Where: Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace
Tickets: $25-$45
Contact: (630) 530-0111; www.drurylanetheatre.com