- OTHER MEDIA
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- Lady of the 'Loin cabaret in the Tenderloin
- SF Examiner April 12, 2010 (Albert Goodwyn)
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- "The lady is a loony," lyricist and host Sean Owens says
about the Lady of the 'Loin, and as Shannon Day sings his songs about life
in the San Francisco Tenderloin district, it becomes clear that the Lady
they are talking about is the district itself, a place of pimps and hookers,
building jumpers and jazz. Sean speaks lovingly and sympathetically of
her, with brutal objectivity. Backed by piano, upright bass and drums,
Shannon sings in a dozen different styles at EXIT Theatre's DIVAfest.
- "This dame is a streetwalker," he says, setting up the scene
for the first song, "It's Always A Dame." The slender blonde
enters in a shiny gold sleeveless top. She is effervescent and takes the
downstage center area with no hesitation. Her stage presence is almost
too big for the space. Her plain soprano voice is competent and versatile
with a pleasant, underplayed vibrato in the highs and good middle-range
resonances. She has excellent pitch control. The styles range from jazz
to a slow torch and a plaintive lament. She makes many costume and character
changes as Sean sets up scenes.
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- Each scene presents a sharply focused aspect of the 'Loin, from prostitutes
prowling like panthers ("The Strut On The Street") to a tourist
asking a bum "Where is Neiman-Marcus?" Sean's inter-song patter
is remarkably poetic. With clever word choices and well-turned phrases
he tenderly describes the life of the Lady.
- "The cop with the steak is the cop on the take," he says
when he defines the word tenderloin. Then she enters as a cop. He quotes
from Guido of the historic hot jazz Blackhawk Nightclub: "I have worked
and slaved to keep this place a sewer," then they move into a jazz
number. He makes reference to SRO hotels, hoping the landlady will look
the other way. For "Drink At Joe's," the burned out restaurant,
he sentimentalizes a gone, venerable institution by saying, "When
you find your Joe."
- His personal fondness for the Lady permeates the show. He calls her
"this tarnished penny," but notes that "Only daylight turns
it tragic." "Don't be so eager to condemn," he warns. He
portrays her as a struggling beleaguered victim. This is a lively, perceptive
hour of late-night cabaret.
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