By Sharron Matthews

Wow.

I like to make some serious singer poses when I sing…I am all looking like a jazz singer. Wait. Not ‘THE’ jazz singer…that would just be uncomfortable and also wrong. This picture was taken by the LOVELY Tracey Nolan…the partner of Jim Clayton who accompanied me on my Birthday at Statlers…which this pic is from. It was ALSO Jim Clayton’s Birthday that night…I shit you not my friends…what are the odds, huh? WELL! What a fucking time it has been. George and I were chatting about our lives a couple of years ago and deciding what we wanted to do and where we wanted to do it. That sounded horrible. You know what I mean. We decided we wanted to be somewhere that we could be immersed in our art. I know…I sound all fancy…but when I talked to friends in NY and London and they talk about the plays and the workshops and the cabarets and the TV and Film and how they can cross over… I was jealous… I also wanted to be somewhere like that. And be able to afford living somewhere like that. Well, in the last few months I have seen that we live “somewhere like that”. I am not trying to sound …well, fancy or…superior…just …happy and proud of Toronto. WE can be that place…we are that place. It is very exciting.

I just finished my 3 month series at Statlers…I played every week for three months in a cabaret. When I started cabaret-ing in earnest about 6 years ago…there was NO WAY that could have happened anywhere …not with a cover charge and a drink minumum. And the NOW Magazine recognized it and made it a Critics Pic for the whole time…that made me very happy and hopeful. My great thanks to Jon Kaplan for being such a great supporter! Jenni Burke PACKS…yes…literally packs Statlers EVERY MONDAY night for over a year now…EVERY WEEK.I went to Eighty Eight’s in NY about 15 years ago and saw a room much like Statlers doing that very same thing…and dreamed of a day when it would happen here…well it did… and it does…did I mention EVERY MONDAY?!You can go there and see the up and coming…the older and came…and the people who just like to sing for fun…but you never know what experience you might have!!!But you will ALWAYS get the fabu Jenni Burke…she MAKES that night.www.statlersonchurch.com.

Marcus Nance is doing a fabulous cabaret once a month…his guests have included Measha Brueggergosman and Louise Pitre. He has an entirely different, new and exciting fan base…and he is performing classical, musical theatre and comtemporary rep….and he is easy on the eyes and is one of the BEST singers around. He also PACKS THEM IN! (and he also needs a website)AND I have seen amazing cabaret shows at fabulous and new venues. Up at the Toronto Centre Merle Garbe has a series called Studio 5040 http://www.studio5040cabarets.com/. I have performed there myself and have seen the fabulous duo of Patricia Zentilli and Patti Loach…an amazing cabaret team…doing their thing there, with my handsome husband opening the show….the Patty’s also have a hit cabaret CD that garnered tons of raves in major magazines. http://www.patriciazentilli.com/

This will be the second year of the CANWEST Cabaret Festival at the Young Centre! With fabulous and exciting acts….including the Patty’s….and….um…well….myself. Not that I think I am fabulous…but ….I am gonna be there….WAIT!!! I am fabulous!!! Aren’t we ALL!?!?!?!www.youngcentre.ca

CABARET is everywhere, people.

And….are you tired yet?

And there is this amazing Sondheim in September Series.It is one of the most ambitious projects I have ever seen.3 nights of Sondheim starring the luminaries of Canadian cabaret, jazz and musical theatre. All Mondays…two are over and one is left.I went to the first one and was bowled over…Blythe Wilson, Janna Polzin, my George, Megan Nuttall, Judith Landers…singing the best music ever written…suck it people…that stuff is the BEST!!! And the huge ensemble choir.I had the honour of performing with my husband at the concert last night. I played Mrs. Lovett…how fun was that..hair rocked! Dress rocked! And I did my best not to eff up. But the best part, besides getting the chance to sing with George, was watching all the other diverse performers get up …there was true magic made last night…Paula Wollfson singing ” I’m Still Here” brought down the house… Julie Michels’ Send In The Clowns accompanied by George ….oh eff…what is his last name ….I have googled…I have looked in the program….he isn’t listed…oh that isn’t good…but please someone send it to me (edit: it’s George Koller)…was pure art…and my George belting out the Sweeney as only he can…Andrew Stelmack, Jay Turvey…I cannot even name them all…and the choir again…singing the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”….There is one more show next Monday and you would be drunk to miss it…they line up is HUGE…Thom Allison, Patricia Zentilli, Charlotte Moore, Elicia Mackenzie….you gotta go towww.sondheiminseptember.com

I want to congratulate Warren Kimmel and Peter Huck on the herculean effort they have made…and ALL proceeds go to the Actors Fund…There is so much going on!This is the longest thing ever!And now I take my friend Wayne Gwillim and my Sharron’s Big Broadway Show…which I did in Sunday night at Buddies in Bad Times…that was a night to remember for always…I take the show to two venues out east. I am very excited…and a bit nervous…but mostly excited!

Statlers rock and roll.

Buddies Broadway.

Monday Sondheim.

I am immersed!

Toronto is rocking…and that is just the cabaret stuff people…so much else to be seen and done!

As the Atlantic Fringe Festival winds to a close this weekend, and I begin to set my sights once again to return to my theatrical home base, Toronto, with plenty of enthusiasm and excitement for the year ahead and fueled by the wonderful support that I have encountered in Halifax, my lovely hometown, TWISI gets set to shift cities once again. What better way to make the transition between Halifax and Toronto than letting Toronto know about one of Halifax’s most beloved performers: Patricia Zentilli who will be performing a Cabaret with Patti Loach at the Toronto Centre for the Arts this weekend, September 12th and 13th. Doors open at 7:15pm, show begins at 8:15pm.

Look out, Toronto! Patti with an ‘i’ and Patty with a ‘y’ perform together again, this time in a brand new show about love, life and retail therapy. This is an evening of songs chosen because each one tells a story, beginning with the first song that the two Pattys ever performed together, The Babysitter’s Here, by Dar Williams.
The Shopping Cart of Love is the name of a clever and quirky song by legendary New York singer-songwriter Christine Lavin. Dora-nominated musical-theatre actress Patricia Zentilli sings and acts her way through this song which tells the story of finding a goodbye letter from her fiancé and dealing with his rejection by hitting the grocery store …. finding love in the junk food aisle, ‘midst her despair.
Joining the two Pattys – who are not only musical collaborators but also good friends – will be veteran stage actor George Masswohl who will be singing great arrangements of great songs by Jason Robert Brown, John Bucchino, Frank Loesser, Paul Simon and Cat Stevens.
John Loach will be joining Patricia and George and Patti onstage, playing trumpet.

What: The Shopping Cart of Love
Who: Patricia Zentilli, George Masswohl, voice
Patti Loach, piano
John Loach, trumpet
When: Saturday September 12th, 7:15 p.m. and Sunday September 13th, 7:15 p.m.
Where: The Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street, Toronto.
Tickets: available at Ticketmaster (416-872-1111 or www.ticketmaster.com)
or at www.studio5040cabarets.com.
Price: $25

Here are some of the entries that stood out to me:

Obviously, my interview with Tony Award winning Broadway Star, Idina Menzel, was a definite highlight of TWISI thus far.

I have been to so many cabarets in the last few weeks, Kander and Ebb could have written a song about me. So, when Bryce Kulak, who I saw perform at Hugh’s Room, told me that he was doing a show as part of Statler’s Cabaret series on March 22nd, I was excited to go, but wasn’t sure if I would blog about it- since I already expressed how talented he was once before (and I don’t want to start repeating myself!). However, then Bryce did something astute and put together an all-star evening of music entitled “The Big Idea” with special famous guests Patricia Zentilli, Michael Hughes, Colin Maier and Lily Ling.
It is one thing for everyone to showcase their own individual talents (it is fantastic, no doubt!), but when the talent starts to overlap, and songwriters share their songs, and duets and harmonies burst forth, and collaborations emerge, this beautiful, clear picture of our vibrant, pulsing, community teeming with brilliance, goodness and modest touches of genius, floats above my head like a guiding star. At one point during the show, Bryce said that Statler’s is a gem, a little piece of New York, in Toronto, and that despite the economy, the talent here in Toronto right now is staggering and exhilarating. I couldn’t agree more, and with the “big ticket” shows dominating Broadway right now, it seems like the time is ripe for us to embrace the potential our city offers artists and the potential that Toronto has to someday become a world leader in the creation of beautiful, dynamic, artful, soulful theatrical endeavors. We sure as hell have the talent, and the potential here is so electrifying it continually pulsates excitedly in my veins as I type faster than I can think. The world is ours. We can do anything. I am all faith and pride.
One of my favourite things about Bryce Kulak is that although he writes beautiful, tender, playful, breathtaking songs, and plays the piano and sings like a dream, he also knows how to put on a great show. He tells funny true stories (mostly about strangers in Edmonton who will never know their own infamy), he always has a witty quip, accompanied by a sincere grin, and he’s big with the innuendo. He began the evening with “Tin Can Telephone” (his voice is like homemade chocolate pudding), sang “Letters From Sadie” (watch his hands, if you can, in this one, it’s mesmerizing) “Old Buildings” and “Ballad of the Orphan Sock” before inviting Lily Ling (I keep waiting for one of her bounces to send her afloat into the air) to accompany him while he introduced us all to some songs that I can guarantee no one had ever heard before. The highlight was “The Drum Major,” a song from 1907 that Kulak performed jauntily to hysterical perfection.
One of my other favourite things about Bryce Kulak is his deep affinity with the world around him. He sees things like buildings, and socks, and tin cans, and he knows how to make us empathize so strongly with them. He sees the loveliness and the poetry in things. He will also go out and find music hall songs that no one has heard since 1914- he will find the delight in them and share them with you.
We were then treated to a beautiful interlude of classical music, the gorgeous Rachmaninoff Vocalise, by Lily Ling and Colin Maier (who can play every instrument in the world, and act, and sing, and he’s an acrobat- it’s incredible). The talent in the room at Statler’s was overwhelming by its sheer volume, but even more incredible was the range of it. I was so excited that “The Big Idea” was able to showcase so many different facets of performers and music. At times there was so much going on, I didn’t know where to look or who to applaud for.
The ever-dazzling Patricia Zentilli, clad in OshKosh overalls, b’gosh, debuted Kulak’s new song “Drudgery,” a poignant tale about how soul-sucking working as a barista can be for an artist struggling to support him or herself. She then sang a gorgeous rendition of my favourite of Kulak’s songs “Paper and String,” which I think may be one of the loveliest pieces of music ever written. I know that is a gigantic statement to make- but I think this song absolutely warrants consideration. Go buy his album “Tin Can Telephone” right this moment on ITunes and see for yourself!
As though hearing Patricia Zentilli sing my favourite Bryce Kulak song wasn’t blissful enough, then Michael Hughes and Bryce sang my second favourite song, “You’re My Man,” as a duet, while Colin played an assortment of instruments in succession, including the banjo! Their voices work gorgeously together, the possibilities are endless.
The evening ended with “Pelican”, a song from Kulak’s debut album “Welcome” which is charming with insightful silliness reminiscent of Dr. Seuss or Lewis Carroll and a haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” I strongly urge you to pick up Kulak’s albums and to visit his website for more information, but I must stress that there is nothing like seeing him perform in person. It is also a sheer pleasure, and added bonus, when he is joined by his famous friends. If you missed “The Big Idea”- you’re in luck! “The Big Idea Brunch Cabaret” is happening on Sunday March 29th, 2009 from 1:00-2:00pm at Local 4 Restaurant on 4 Dundonald Street (one block North of Wellesley Subway Station), Toronto. You should go! See ya there!

Come see George Masswohl perform live at: SING OUT, LOUISE!: Monday, March 9th (TOMORROW!!!), 8pm. $25.00. Buddies in Bad Times.
416 975-8555

On a lovely Spring-like Friday in March I headed to Yorkville to interview the flawless duo of Patricia Zentilli and Patti Loach at Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu. Loach and Zentilli have teamed up and created their cabaret Patti with an ‘I’ and Patty with a ‘Y’ which they performed at the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival last June. They recently released their CD Pull Me Through which is a heartfelt mixture of musical theatre and cabaret songs. We sat in Rosemarie’s back room with a camera, and later some dresses. Click below to read!

Amanda Campbell (AC): Patti, when did you start playing the piano?

Patti Loach (PL): I started playing when I was six in these group lessons after school, and we would all have our own little paper keyboard, and one at a time we would go up to the front and play on the piano and then we would sit back down and practice on our paper keyboard. And we had this teacher who was at least 140 years old- and most of the parents thought that if they sent their kids to study piano after school at some point, their kids would learn how to play the piano. But I had a mother who was…. who knew how important it was to study the craft, and the importance of self-discipline and how to teach a child to set challenges for themselves. No one can teach you how to sing, or act, or play the piano except you. Your mom can’t do it for you. So what happened was, that within two months I was the only kid who had been practicing and then I would have to wait for everyone to catch up. So, Mrs. Harriet told my mother after the first year, “Patti is wasting her time here,” and so my mother sent me to private piano lessons with the neighborhood Queen Bee Pianist. It wasn’t always easy. It’s hard. Practicing anything, for hours and hours and hours, that’s hard. You’re by yourself a lot.

*Wayne Umetsu comes in with the most beautiful dresses with photographs of Christine Horne, Sarah Slean and Kate Trotter printed on them. Patricia leaps from her seat.*

Patricia Zentilli (PZ): LET’S MAKE CLOTHES!!

PL: … And I do remember saying to my mom that I wanted to quit, and she said, “all right, but if you want to quit piano, you’ll also have to quit Brownies, if you’re so busy…”

PZ: Oooh! Smart!!

PL: Sometimes there was blackmail involved. But by the time I was in grade nine, I went to the Conservatory two to three times a week and I loved it. It was filled with pianists, and pianos playing and singers. And there were all these characters there… the teachers were characters. I went in and I thought I was in New York. And even to this day, I get this little frisson of awe and excitement as soon as I go inside, because there is so much potential there.

AC: And Patricia, when did you first start to sing?

PZ: Um, I started singing- I was talking about this with Bryce (Kulak) the other night-

AC: Don’t give the same answer! You have to save that for him! I’m not going to steal from Bryce!

PZ: Okay! Okay! Umm, I guess, in elementary school, in the choir. I was always in choir.

PL: Didn’t you have a teacher or something who said, “You have a lovely voice?”

PZ- Um… well… And then in grade six I auditioned for The Wizard of Oz at school and I thought… maybe at best I would be like… a tree or something. So, I had sort of low expectations for myself and I sang “Where is Love” for my audition, from Oliver and then I remember when the cast list was posted having to keep running my finger across from my name… like three times because I couldn’t believe that they had cast me as Dorothy. And I just floated home—for lunch, because we lived really close to the school. And I knew *laughs* something exciting had happened and maybe… maybe I could do this. I wanted to take singing lessons too, but my parents said that I had to pay for the first ten lessons myself to prove that I was serious about it, and then they would pay for the rest. So, I did. But, I was- well, I guess I was still pretty young, I was only like thirteen.

PL: How did you get the money?

PZ: Um, from my allowance, and from doing jobs around the house… I don’t even really remember. I just know I had the money somehow. I don’t think the lessons were very expensive…there is this famous quote from my mother that will someday be in my One-Woman show…. *laughs*, I had been really interested in clown and mime initially, I rode a unicycle… I was a weird kid… and so then I would come home singing these Italian arias, because that’s what my teacher had me sing, and one day I was singing one of them and my mother yells to me, “I liked it better when you were a mime!” … So… it’s a wonder that I’ve made it this far. *laughs* But I always loved singing. My mom would, like, vacuum while I sang, this little fourteen year old singing Italian arias… and then of course I saw Annie at the Oxford Theatre in Halifax like ten times. I was obsessed with Annie.

AC: What were some of your earliest musical influences and inspirations?

PL: When I was in grade six, I went to Scarborough Music Camp and they needed someone to play bass clarinet, and I could, so I was put with the big kids camp. So I was with teenagers who were like sixteen, seventeen and eighteen years old, and a lot of them went on to do music as careers. You know when you have this sort of bulge of talent in schools? Yeah, so I was with this like, amazing band and we all warmed up one on one and we were doing Concert B flat. There were about forty-five people in the room and the conductor lifts his hand and everyone went *intakes breath*- they all breathed together and then they played B flat. And it sounded so organ- well, it sounded like an organ- but it was so organic and I remember thinking, “this is unbelievable!” That’s when I realized that I wanted to make music with people rather than just by myself. It was amazing and it was a testament to how huge music can be, and I don’t just mean volume. I think it was that breath that got me, before we even played a note. It was about the connectedness. That was also where I met (my husband) John (Loach).

AC: Patricia?

PZ: You reminded me, when I was in grade two or three, my family was driving around in this VW van and we stopped in Colorado and we had to go to school. It was Golden, Colorado… close to Boulder, and there was this great Arts Elementary School that I got to go to for about two months. We did pottery and Disco dancing… it was amazing. And one day this orchestra came in and I remember being so in awe watching all these musicians come in. And they asked if anyone wanted to be a conductor. And I didn’t want to be a conductor, but I put up my hand anyway, because I think I just wanted to be a part of whatever this was. And so I was chosen to conduct this orchestra and I remember being so excited in my little nine-year-old soul- how old are you in grade three? Eight? Anyway, it was such an inspiration to me. That and singing along to my parents’ Boney M records in the living room. And ABBA.

AC: Patti, how did you get involved with doing Cabaret shows with Jean Stilwell?

PL: Well, Jean is a classical singer… and we were friends first, and we would sing through Brahms and Schumann, but I had always loved musical theatre, and I loved jazz, but didn’t improvise… so I started to do a little musical theatre with Jean, and we would find songs that would suit her voice and her training. But, I didn’t really do a lot of musical theatre stuff until Patricia.

PZ: Basically, I was snooping around at her house, and I found all this musical theatre music. And that was that.

PL: I had all this musical theatre music, but most of them were horrible arrangements. Patricia introduced me to Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler, and Sondheim, and Jason Robert Brown- the younger, more contemporary… Pasek and Paul, which often had more interesting accompaniment. When the arrangements are interesting enough for me, then it really makes me want to learn them.

AC: Patricia, did you do Cabaret singing before you met Patti?

PZ: I’d sung… I’d done gigs at the Economy Shoe Shop in Halifax, but I would mostly sing pop or folk. And I’d been doing some jazz, at Gate 403. Patti and my Cabaret came about when we’d get together and learn music. And then, all of a sudden we’d learned like twenty songs. It sort of just happened. We did it at her house, and we would sing one or two songs for people there. And then we did our first Cabaret… when was that? I can’t even remember. So, the answer is no, it wasn’t until I met Patti…

PL: Did we sing our songs at the Soirees?

PZ: Yeah, we did.

PL: I think we had been paddling around in the Cabaret pool and then we decided, you know what, let’s just jump into the deep end. Let’s do this for a bigger audience.

PZ: Yeah, and it went really well.

AC: Do you have a certain process for how you pick the songs you do?

PZ: We’ll both have a moment when we’ll hear a song and love it, and then we’ll get the music and we’ll try it and we’ll think, “hmmm… no. That doesn’t really work.” But, I think we’re getting better at being able to know which song is for us. It has to be a song that I feel something about and that I think listeners will feel something about and it has to have a good piano arrangement that works for Patti.

PL: The song has to be rewarding musically and acting-wise. There is usually a story there that rises above what is happening musically. The sure-fire hits are really the Bucchinos. They are just really rich musically and harmonically and the melodies are never trite. They’re difficult; there are irregular time signatures and funny leaps.

PZ: Yeah, John says sometimes Patti will be playing a song without me there singing it, and then I’ll come and he’ll go, “Oh! Now I get that song!” I mean, Bucchino is great, and so I’m sure some of them sound really nice… but there are a few-

PL: Yeah, I tell him, it’s not just piano, there’s supposed to be a singer there too!

AC: Speaking of (John) Bucchino, how did you first get introduced to his music?

PL: Oh, John’s cousin David who’s a doctor at the Princess Margaret Hospital, but who is also a great pianist, he played “Grateful” and it had the most beautiful lyric, harmony and melody. So I asked him who had written the incredible song, and I knew that I just had to learn everything this man had written because it was so clear that a beautiful soul had written it. So “Grateful” was the portal.

PZ: We’ve had a fun time.

PL: He’s got some funny ones, he’s not always sweet. And then of course- he does shows. He’s doing one on Monday Night at Birdland, and so you can talk to him and have coachings with him. I would never go to one of those without being really well prepared. I’d have to know his stuff inside out. You have to make that sort of investment before you ask these people for their time, you know. That’s just respect. He’s not classically trained but you can see a bit of the same musical quality as Brahms or Schumann, there are these inner lines to bring out that are a counterpoint to what the singer is doing. It’s very sophisticated music.

AC: Your CD is the only one I have ever heard where I am continually equally as conscious of the piano as I am of the vocals. Is that something that was done on purpose? Do you know how you have achieved that?

PZ: Maybe it’s the way John mixes it so that you can hear the piano really clearly? And the fact that Patti knows exactly how I’m going to do things and so she plays to support me. We support each other. It is really our CD, and that’s what I love so much about it.

PL: Yeah, it’s not just a singer and an anonymous pianist. I think also part of that is the arrangements of the songs and how compelling they are within themselves. I’m also a sound-junkie so I’m not hiding a line that I think is beautiful. And Patricia’s ego is big enough that she doesn’t feel like she needs to over-dominate the music. She stands in the sonic spotlight and she is so willing to share it.

AC: Cabaret has taken off in Toronto recently, why do you think it’s such an important genre for artists to explore?

PZ: I think it gives performers, especially young performers, a chance to find a voice of their own, and songs that connect to them. They get a chance to learn the patter and to put together an evening of music for an audience. And the audience gets to be exposed to new music and new performers as well. And as a performer, it can be so inspiring to go to watch other performers do a Cabaret.

PL: In these difficult times in the economy, Cabaret is a very financially viable option. It is inexpensive for people to produce. All you need is the singer, a pianist, a good piano and an audience. And it is best produced in a small space. Ideally it’s in an intimate venue, and cabaret has this huge spectrum of possibilities. It is not a limiting genre at all. And for the audience, they get the intimacy of being in the small space and of being close to the performer, and having them ten to twelve feet in front of where the singer is standing. That closeness allows the audience into the performer’s personal space- which can be frightening for singers, when people are so close they can see the spit coming out of your mouth…

PZ: I wish that the audience wasn’t just other performers though…

PL: But that’s sort of the highest praise you can get-

PZ: No, I love it. I love having performers that I respect and admire coming to see my shows and I love going out there and supporting other people, but I found that at the Jazz Festival, it was so great to look out over a sea of complete strangers, and to know that maybe I was introducing them to some artists that they had never heard before, like Jason Robert Brown. It’s really neat to be able to open up the form for someone, someone who, when they think of musical theatre is thinking of something like Hello Dolly or Phantom of the Opera. It’s so interesting, after the Jazz Festival men would come up to me… *laughs* and they would tell me that they didn’t know a lot about musical theatre, but that one of the songs I had sung really moved them.

PL: Also, after a musical theatre performance, you don’t usually get a chance to sit and talk and drink wine with the performers. But most of the time, in Cabaret, the singer comes out after and you can meet them, and audience members will come up to you and tell you the most extraordinarily personal stories about what impact and resonance what you did had on them. It’s intimate.

PZ: We’re all about intimacy here at Loach/Zentilli… Incorporated *laughs*

PL: Also Cabaret isn’t just a singer singing all their favourite songs. While that can be great too, a cabaret has a through-line. There are introductory stories about the songs, or the performer’s personal life. So the songs aren’t just a bunch of stories, but they are connected to each other, and the stories the performer tells are supported by the stories within the song.

AC: Do you have a favourite track of your CD or is that like asking you to pick a favourite child?

PZ: I find it really hard to listen to it. It’s hard to listen to yourself sing. I dunno. (to Patti) Do you have a favourite? I really like “Alfie”…

PL: No, I don’t think I could say that I did. It’s funny, after the show you think, “Okay, this is going to be the crowd favourite.” And then it totally isn’t like that. Everyone’s favourite is always different. When we were doing the Jazz Festival, we had a rehearsal… it was a sound check… before the show and a waiter was setting up the room while we were rehearsing, and after when I went to go get changed for the show, this waiter stopped me and said, “what was that song about not being ready for a relationship?”

PZ: “Just Not Now”

PL: And then he started to cry. It’s so tender.

PZ: Yeah, so I don’t think I have a favourite track. No faves. What’s your favourite?

AC: It changes every day. I think the one I’ve listened to most is “Pull Me Through,” but sometimes I’ll listen to “Alfie” like over and over and over. Patti, what is your favourite thing about Patricia as a performer?

PL: Working together, she puts a lot of work into a song, so we’re both working from the same place. And I love getting a chance to watch what she does with a song while she’s working from a recipe. I’ll play a song five times and she will tell a different story each time she’s singing. And I’ll sometimes yell out things like, “Oh! That’s neat!” and sometimes I get so excited that I’ll completely lose where I am. I don’t get to watch Patricia perform a whole lot; I usually can only see her back. So, it is a revelation to get to watch her, just even in her face, the tilt of a head, the furrow of an eyebrow, it’s all so eloquent.

AC: And what is your favourite thing- one of many, I’m sure- about Patricia in general?

PL: Um, I think her durability. That makes her sound like a washcloth. I remember this time we were singing “Taylor”

PZ: And I burst out crying…

PL: …she got a phone call, and there was a role and it had gone to someone else… or she couldn’t take it because of something else… and there were just waterworks. And then she took a moment and said “Okay” and then shook it off. And then we picked up at bar number 47. And it was a big role. And it was a scheduling conflict, and she wanted to do it, but she had made another commitment…. And John adores her.

AC: Patricia, what is one of your favourite things about Patti as a pianist?

PZ: One of them is she is very patient. And I always feel absolutely safe with her, which is the most important thing because at first when I don’t know a song, I really suck until I get it. And with Patti, I never have to worry for a second that she’s not right there with me. One time I sang a song that Patti and I usually do together with someone else and it was totally different. And I realize that Patti is someone that can never be taken for granted. She is so sensitive and that moves people. And she has a sensitivity of us together.

AC: And what is one of your favourite things about Patti in general?

PL: You can’t say John Loach!

PZ: She is one of the most loyal friends I have. She can be tough on me, but only in a way that a close friend could be. She is an incredibly fantastic friend.

AC: What is a piece of theatre you saw recently that you just loved?

PZ: Michelle Monteith in Ubuntu Project. She was fucking fantastic. Sometimes you see something that raises the bar, and she made me want to be a better actress and a better singer.

PL: I’ll say Blind Date. Because she takes such risks; Rebecca (Northan). And because the audience member she chooses has to take some big risks, well, it’s his choice. You will love it.

AC: If you were in New York right now what would you go see?

PZ: Umm… what just opened?

PL: Something with Jeremy Irons?

PZ: There’s a Buccino Cabaret, I would go to that and say “Hi!” *laughs*

PL: Can I have a coaching? Well, I’m excited about going to see Spring Awakening (in Toronto). I hope I like it. I always read all the reviews, but I always go and decide things for myself.

AC: What is your current favourite musical?

PZ: I should be listening to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels because I’m about to go (to Edmonton to) be in it (at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre). I’ve been listening to Company and Merrily We Roll Along a lot lately. If you checked my iTunes, that’s what you would find.

PL: Sondheim never disappoints.

AC: Except with Bounce. *grins*

PZ: And [I’ve been listening to] A New Brain!

AC: What is upcoming for Patricia Zentilli and Patti Loach?

PZ: We’re still working on a new cabaret, but I don’t know the details of it because I’m going to be in Edmonton for three months. I’m going to be singing with Bryce (Kulak), my new best friend, on Sunday, March 22nd at Statler’s, and he is just incredible.

PL: I’m doing some stuff with Brad Hampton, we’re working on a cabaret about food. I’m learning Nancy White songs with a few singers. Nancy White, who is a goddess.

PZ: Patti and I are working on a new Bucchino song that we sang not long ago at Curtains Down. And we’re going to be at Sing Out, Louise! (The Buddies In Bad Times Benefit. Monday, March 9th, 2009).

PL: I’m so excited about Sing Out, Louise! because I’m doing a song with George (Masswohl). It’s a song that George sings for (his wife) Sharron (Matthews) about having the courage to not miss anything. And he sings it so beautifully. I’m also doing Carmen, Unzipped in August with Jean (Stilwell) and very slowly, I’m working on a project to do an all Bucchino CD using all musical theatre singers from Canada, such as George (Masswohl), Patricia, Jean, and Thom Allison

PZ: To name a few.

AC: Where do you get the pretty dresses that you always wear to your cabarets?

PZ: Rosemarie!

PL: Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu.

PZ: 96 Avenue Road!

PL: She has a piano in her studio, which is one of the reasons we find her so appealing. She used to be a pianist, and there came a point when she had to decide whether to be a concert pianist or a fashion designer. She has that sensibility, that musical sensibility, and I think that’s why many singers and artists come to her for their clothes. You should ask her some questions.

*Fashion Designer Rosemarie Umetsu comes upstairs and joins us*

PZ: What should you tell her? Tell her all the famous people who wear your clothes…

RU: Okay, well, should I just give you a list?

AC: Yeah, sure! That’d be great.

RU: Well, I have dressed Martha Burns, Kate Trotter, Susan Coyne, Teresa Pavlinek, Deb McGrath, Patricia and all her friends… Seanna Mckenna, Fiona Reid, Jackie Richardson, Deepa Mehta, Veronica Tennant, Christine Horne, Jean Stilwell, Measha Brueggergosman, Emilie-Claire Barlow… Sarah Slean…

AC: That is so impressive. So basically everyone.

Pull Me Through is available at Theatre Books (11 St Thomas St), L’Atelier Grigorian (70 Yorkville Road), Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu (96 Avenue Road) and Song and Script (2 Bloor Street W) it is also available on CD Baby and iTunes. I strongly urge you to pick up a copy as soon as it is humanly possible.

Patricia and Patti will perform live as part of the Buddies In Bad Times fundraising event Sing Out Louise with fifteen more of Canada’s most treasured and most brilliant performers. Monday, March 9th, 2009. 8pm. $25.00. 12 Alexander Street or call 416 975-8555

I have known Patricia Zentilli for 5 years. During those 5 years I have learnt the following facts about her.

The chief export of Patricia Zentilli is awesomness.
Patricia can sneeze with her eyes open.
Unlike most people, Patricia can eat just one Lay’s potato chip
There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Patricia allows to live. Which is plenty cause she’s a vegan.
Patricia Zentilli can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
If you spell Patricia Zentilli in Scrabble, you win. Forever.
In the Bible, Jesus turned water into wine. But then Patricia turned that wine into a cosmopolitan with a garnish of pineapple.
Time waits for no woman. Unless that woman is Patricia Zentilli.
When Patricia falls in water, Patricia doesn’t get wet. Water gets Patricia.
Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee. Except Patricia Zentilli.
It takes Patricia Zentilli 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
Also she sings really good.

Come see Patricia Zentilli perform live at: SING OUT, LOUISE!: Monday, March 9th, 8pm. $25.00. Buddies in Bad Times.

In the early 1990s American musical theatre composer William Finn (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos, Elegies: a Song Cycle) was hospitalized and diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation in the brain, which led to a near death experience resulting in brain surgery. It is clear that his 1998 musical A New Brain, now playing at the Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs (produced by Acting Up Stage Theatre Company), is strongly autobiographical and I think, highly subjective. The result is a very quirky, often catchy, and at times strikingly poignant, trip inside the mind of protagonist Gordon Schwinn.
While watching this show, I wondered how much had been conceived while Finn was sitting in a hospital bed, sick, scared and drugged up on codeine. Just as Kander and Ebb turned the 1920s criminal justice system into a nightclub for Chicago, Finn also seems to be making the argument that “all the world’s a stage” and that it’s “all show business, kid… the whole world, show business.” The rhythms of the hospital mix with Gordon’s hallucinations and fantasies and become production numbers. There are echoes of “We Both Reached for the Gun” and “The Tango Maureen,” which seem like just the sort of images that would haunt a Broadway aficionado’s subconscious. When thrown together, along with the images of Mr. Bungee, Gordon’s hateful boss, dressed as a giant frog, it becomes absurdist, but firmly rooted in heart and humanity. And oddly enough, it seems plausible because Gordon’s brain is supposed to be running wild, and we’re being taken along for the ride.
Steven Gallagher plays Gordon, a composer grudgingly writing songs for frogs on Mr. Bungee’s Children’s TV show, who uses music and art to propel himself through his harrowing near-death experience. Gallagher plays Gordon with a remarkable balance of impatience, snarkiness, vulnerability, humanity and likeability. He has a beautifully gripping moment where he confronts his mortality in “In the Middle of the Room,” and he sells the odd (yet visually and musically fantastic) production numbers like “Gordo’s Law of Genetics” with his energy and the sense that he is conducting this show happening in his brain. There is a lovely moment at the end of the show where Gordon muses about how he is entirely different, and yet exactly the same, a contradiction of humanity that Gallagher nails perfectly.
I get the sense that the characters in A New Brain are constructed from Gordon’s perspective, which means that they tend towards the general and vague. Gordon’s boyfriend, Roger, for example, is the pinnacle paragon of perfection, while his mother’s idea of Heaven is a date with Mr. Clean. But in the hands of this phenomenal cast, moments of eloquence keep shining through. Thom Allison has a show stopping moment with “Sailing,” which shows off his gorgeous voice magnificently, and he and Paula Wolfson have a heart-wrenching duet “A Really Lousy Day in the Universe.” Wolfson also stops the show with her rendition of “Change.” Barbara Barsky shines particularly bright while singing “The Music Still Plays On.” Patricia Zentilli gives such humanity to Rhoda, a character that is only really seen in snippets, and her rendition of the extremely peculiar “Whenever I Dream,” confirms my hunch that she can do anything. Steve Ross is most endearing as Richard “the nice nurse” and has a star turn in the fantastic “Eating Myself Up Alive,” which is one of the highlights of the show.
The direction by Daryl Cloran is particularly smooth and clear. He is able to give the audience a clearer picture of what is happening in real life, and what is the product of Gordon’s imagination/hallucination. The entire show seems to run simply and cleanly and the choreography by Marc Kimelman is lively, bright, charming and fun. I did feel that Juan Chioran as Mr. Bungee had found truly clever, funny moments that may have been overshadowed by his costume, and perhaps he would have been even funnier if his clothes had been more suggestive of a frog, rather than being so literal.
A New Brain may leave your mind spinning, the songs will undoubtedly stick in your brain (“yes, yes, yes, is a good word. Yes, yes, yes is a very special word.), but at the end of the day, the image that stuck with me was one of joy, of hope, and of life. In his Programme Notes, Artistic Producer Mitchell Marcus quoted William Finn saying, “at the piano, there was just all this gratitude that I was alive, and all this life spewing out of me,” and this cast, especially Steven Gallagher, have this infectious, honest, joy about being on that stage and in this moment that is so palpable. I think it would be impossible for you to leave the Berkeley without your heart feeling a little lighter.

A New Brain plays until March 1st at the Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs (26 Berkeley Street). For more information and to book your tickets visit http://www.anewbrain.ca.

Zentilli has teamed up with powerfully talented pianist Patti Loach to create a beautiful compilation album of musical theatre and cabaret songs entitled Pull Me Through. She infuses each song with her unmatchable sincerity and sweet, gentle subtly, making this the perfect album to play as you snuggle into your warmest blanket with a cup of something warm to relax after a stressful day.
Pull Me Through is a journey in poignant- yet ultimately heartwarming- song through the experiences of love, loss, and the perspective we gain as we grow. It is also an album rooted in the faith that even if we’re “covered with scars [we] did nothing to earn,” there will always be someone there to “pull [us] through.”
I have been listening to this album steadily since November and it is one I am certain I’ll never tire of. It is impossible for me to pick a favourite track because each time I listen, the songs seem to resonate differently, and the poetry of the words and the music and Zentilli’s gorgeous voice continue to strike different, personal chords deep in my heart. “The Babysitter’s Here” sparkles with all the innocence and goodness of youth. “Love Quiz” is a perfect match for Zentilli’s nuanced voice, and it is a marvel how well she can convey every contradictory, overlapping emotion simply in her voice. Her rendition of Jonathan Monro’s “Who I Am” will leave you awestruck, and the title track “Pull Me Through” is a paragon of beauty that may leave you with tears in your eyes.
All the elements are perfectly balanced here- the beauty of Zentilli’s voice, the dynamic elegance of Loach’s piano playing, and the poignancy of the lyrics of each song. The album is available at CD Baby http://cdbaby.com/cd/zentilliloach as well as at these fine stores located in Toronto: Theatre Books (11 Saint Thomas Street), Song and Script (2 Bloor Street West), r.u. studios- Rosemarie Umetsu’s gorgeous fashions- (96 Avenue Road), and L’Atelier Grigorian (70 Yorkville Avenue). The album design itself is absolutely breathtaking; it is hands down the most visually gorgeous CD that I own.
I’m not the only one talking about the brilliance of this album and the magnificence that is Patricia Zentilli. According to the Manhattan Users Guide, which also has nice things to say about Barbara Cook and Patti LuPone, Zentilli “aces every one of the great cuts on her… album.” Check it out!
http://manhattanusersguide.com/article.php?id=1535
Patricia Zentilli is a Canadian theatrical treasure. Hurry up and get “pulled through”!! For even more information, visit her website http://www.patriciazentilli.com/ and then visit Patti Loach’s website as well: http://www.pattiloach.com/.

As a society there is little doubt these days we are over-stimulated. With cell phones and laptops and BlackBerrys and Facebook, we are never far from the demands the world has placed on us. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy. Canadian musical theatre actor/musical director/composer (seriously! He’s a triple threat!) Jonathan Monro’s new song cycle Variations on a Nervous Breakdown explores how stress, pressure and the postmodern experience manifests itself, often subtly, in different people’s lives. It is currently receiving its world premiere at Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie, Ontario.
On its own, Monro’s show is comparable to the song cycles of New York composers Jason Robert Brown and William Finn. His rhyming talents are sheer brilliance; he proves his ability to write in various styles and genres of music, the songs are funny, and fun, poignant, and beautiful, insightful and smart. Most of all, Variations on a Nervous Breakdown is about stories and character. The songs all exist in the same world, encouraging the audience to make connections and appreciate how the stories compliment and contrast with one another. Most impressive, is that most of the stories Monro tells are variations on themes that you thought you knew. Each character seems entirely unique, the situations are quirky, and yet there is a sense of familiarity blanketing it all because, if we’re being perfectly honest, everyone is a little bit crazy and we all fight nervous habits and self-destructive thoughts. Every song, and each moment in the song, is an honest reflection on the character’s experience, nothing is filler or passed off as genuine simply because it was a cheap laugh or happened to fit the music.
The four actors in this production are extraordinary. Cory O’Brien has a fantastic voice and sings a particularly charming song about the woes of being a penny. Chilina Kennedy is a glorious dancer and beautiful singer and shines especially bright in “I Wish I’d Grown Up in the Twenties.” Patricia Zentilli is utterly hysterical throughout, and demonstrates clearly her talent for knowing how to strike the balance in taking comedy as far as she can to elicit the right response, but never crossing the line and losing the profound sincerity that makes her performances so rich and beautiful to watch. Her gorgeous voice is always the vehicle through which her nuance characters are created in earnest. Jonathan Monro, with his voice like butter that would melt in your mouth, is equally genuine in his performances while demonstrating perfect comedic timing and an amazing array of accents. His performance of “Who I Am” is the production’s amazing showstopper, and “Rumba Raylene” will you have you crying in hysterical laughter. Also particularly noteworthy is Sam Strasfeld’s fantastic choreography in “Ashtanga Conga” and the amazing Reza Jacobs’ inspired and spirited piano playing.
In all, this show is more than worthy of a run in Toronto- if not New York- but it is significant that it is being given its world premiere at Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie. Arkady Spivak, the Artistic Producer of Talk is Free, has shown that he is dedicated to the development of new Canadian works, especially Canadian musicals. He uses his artistic position to foster and encourage and promote Canadian artists, artists like Jonathan Monro, who no doubt will go on to bring Canadian musical theatre to the world stage. Spivak is also dedicated to fostering a theatre community in the township of Barrie, and has recently acquired the lovely New Barrie Performing Arts Centre. It is inspiring to see how passion and dedication can bring dreams to fruition and help indigenous theatre in this country to continue to grow and thrive.
I hope you will support this continued venture and this brilliant show. In a celebration of breaking down, you’ll jump up and cheer.

Variations on a Nervous Breakdown plays until December 6th, 2008 at the New Barrie Performing Arts Centre, 1 Dunlop Street West, Barrie, Ontario. There are shows at 8pm Wednesday to Saturday, 11am matinees on Wednesday and Thursday and a 2pm matinee on Saturday. For tickets call the Box Office at 705-792-1949 or visit the website at http://www.tift.ca/. Buses run to Barrie frequently and cheaply from Toronto via Greyhound (http://www.greyhound.ca/) and drop you off at a station within walking distance to the theatre. It may be snowy there, but you’ll be glad you went.

Two and half weeks ago in Edmonton I took two young girls to see Little Shop of Horrors at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. The show boasted brilliant direction by Marianne Copithorne, the likes of which I’m sure you’d be hard pressed to find in many regional theatres across the country, let alone at a dinner theatre. Farren Timoteo plays Seymour, a sweet, genuine, nerdy little botanist trying his best to nurture a finicky, carnivorous plant and the heart of an insecure girl named Audrey. Timoteo is absolutely loveable as Seymour, the plant, Audrey II, is brought to life with style and flair by Andrew MacDonald-Smith (puppeteer) and Orville Charles Cameron (voice), Sean Hauk is hilariously dark as Orin- the pain-inflicting dentist, Natasha Napoleao rocks out with her huge voice as the urchin Crystal, and Patricia Zentilli touches and breaks your heart as Audrey the flower shop girl.
Today, Patricia Zentilli and I sat down at our computers and constructed this interview for you via everyone’s favourite Facebook. Originally from Nova Scotia, Zentilli recently played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Canadian Stage Company in Toronto for which she was nominated for a 2008 Dora Mavor Moore Award. She also played Little Becky in Urinetown also at the Canadian Stage Company, and was seen as Cathy in The Last Five Years at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, won a Robert Merritt Award for her portrayal of Brooke/Vicki in The Atlantic Theatre Festival’s production of Noises Off, performed in Hamlet, Member of the Wedding, Grease and others at Neptune Theatre in Halifax and recently played Susan on Global TV’s sitcom The Jane Show. Patricia sings regularly in the Cabaret scene in Toronto and recently recorded a CD with pianist Patti Loach entitled “Pull Me Through.” For more information on Patricia, you can visit her website: http://www.patriciazentilli.com/
And without further ado- please sit back, have some tea, and read our little interview!

Amanda Campbell: So, at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre, guests start arriving as early as five o’clock and they are treated to a great buffet; folks have supper, they talk, they order drinks… and the show doesn’t start until 7:30. What’s going on for the actors while the audience is having dinner? What about during those brunch matinee shows?!

Patricia Zentilli: Well.. I usually head down to the dressing rooms (I live in the hotel) around an hour and a half before the curtain.. I am just like that.. I like to be in the theatre really early..I feel anxious when I am not. Nobody is there yet except maybe Pat, the costume designer and head of wardrobe. I make a tea, put my hair in pincurls, warm up my voice… Most people show up around 45 minutes before the show starts and get into costume.. chit chat in the green room, warm up… talk… hang out. It’s a very happy cast. We get along great, which is so nice.

AC: So. You were directed by THE Marianne Copithorne. She did such an amazing job. What was it like working with her?! She played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors herself; did she have any unique direction for you? You played Audrey opposite Ron Pederson at Canstage last November/December, and Marianne also played Audrey opposite Ron Pederson- was that weird? Was that cool? Did Marianne have any fun stories you can share?

PZ: Marianne is a goddess and such a great director. We had lots of laughs in rehearsal and she really urged us to keep the honesty in the show. She kind of left me alone to do my own thing. It was strange to be playing the part again. I wanted to remain open to any new ideas that may come up with my new Seymour. It was never wierd at all. She is just the lovliest and I hope I get to work with her again.

AC: You obviously have a great dynamic with Farren Timoteo, who plays Seymour in this production; does your portrayal of Audrey change from the way you played her last year because the dynamic of the cast is different? If yes, how so?

PZ: Yes I think it changed a little bit. Farren makes such a lovely Seymour. He has this innate goodness about him that shines through. I feel like in this production the Audrey/Seymour relationship is more playful, and my costumes are a lot trashier which changed things for me too… as far as how i move around.

AC: When you were cast in Little Shop last year you were quoted as saying that it was a dream role for you. What was your first experience with seeing the show? What makes Audrey that dream role for you?

PZ: Audrey is a dream role I suppose because I just felt I could connect with her..and I love her. She is just so good and kind and so damaged in a way. Plus the songs are just fantastic to sing. I am still not sick of singing them!! The first time I saw the stage show was at Neptune Theatre (not sure the year) and I just LOVED it.

AC: Little Shop of Horrors is sort of a strange musical. Its two protagonists meet a dark and bloody end; there is no happily ever after, it probably doesn’t fill its audience with warm fuzzies… what do you think the biggest appeal of the show is for an audience?

PZ: People seem to love the combination of the darkness and absurdity of the talking, singing carniverous plant, and then the little love story between Audrey and Seymour. The ending is a bit confusing. It’s a strange way to end a musical, but people don’t seem to mind!!

AC: What’s the most appealing thing for you about Audrey? What do you think Seymour loves most about her?

PZ: I think what I love most about Audrey is her vulnerability and her big heart. I think Seymour loves the same things in her.

AC: What do you think appeals to Audrey most about Seymour?

PZ: I think Audrey thinks he is sweet and considerate and loyal, the kind of guy she doesn’t think she deserves.

AC: Where did you come up with the way your Audrey says “doc-tah”?

PZ: Oh I think I must have stolen from Ellen Green and mixed in a bit of Zentilli.

AC: What’s Patricia Zentilli’s favourite thing about Edmonton?

PZ: The people.

AC: What’s the thing you miss most about fall in Toronto?

PZ: I miss my friends SO much.

AC: It’s 3pm on your day off from Little Shop- where are you and what have you gotten up to?

PZ: Probably on Whyte Avenue spending money I shouldn’t be spending!!!

Little Shop of Horrors runs at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta until November 2nd, 2008. If you are in Edmonton, you should absolutely check this one out! 16615 – 109 Avenue, (780) 483-4051, 1-877-529-7829 or http://www.mayfieldtheatre.ca/.