WERS 88.9 fm - Artist Interview: Carol OShaughnessy
December 06, 2008
Carol O'Shaughnessy fondly recalls a theater reviewer who once called her a "one-woman variety show." It's a fair testament to her crowd-pleasing talents as a singer, actress, and comic. She's not afraid to admit that she's happy to have a stage to herself, but at WERS this afternoon, O'Shaughnessy sang alongside fellow cabaret performer Dane Vannatter. Both artists together make up half of the upcoming cabaret show, Act IV: An Evening of Music and Musings, scheduled for December 10th at Sculler's Jazz Club. They both seem more than happy to be sharing the spotlight for the night.
They've been sharing it on a larger scale too. When she sat down for a brief interview, O'Shaughnessy was sure to make enthusiastic mention of her "very excellent" co-performers Piero Bonamico and Lynda D'Amour, absent from the WERS studio today. All of these Act IV vocalists claim membership to the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists (BACA), an organization that works to promote and enliven Boston's jazz and cabaret scene. It is a bit unexpected, perhaps, that such a unified community has emerged among such decidedly self-reliant performers. But a bit of time spent with O'Shaughnessy and Vannatter makes that seem all but inevitable.
"He has the voice of an angel," O'Shaughnessy says about her long-time friend, "I love his voice and I love working with him." In fact, O'Shaughnessy helped mentor Vannatter as a young vocalist. "I grew up by my grandmother's side at the piano," he recalls, but "didn't know how to translate that into a career." With O'Shaughnessy's help, he's done just that.
O'Shaughnessy began today's live mix with a song-and-dance number punctuated by spirited whoops and vocal interjections on her part. And, yes, "song and dance" is correct, although this was a radio-only performance. It must be her unchecked zeal that's made her two different one-woman shows and three CDs so successful among cabaret-going Bostonians. Critics and fans alike have been clapping for O'Shaughnessy for nearly two decades, yet she explains her success modestly. "I'm not a great singer, I'm not a great comic, and I'm not a great actress," she says. It's her ability to do all three that she believes makes her suited to cabaret performance.
Comfortable as she is with being front and center, O'Shaughnessy happily sat down and let Vannatter take the mic for the second song of the set - a lounge number with a playful sense of humor called "I Love My Bed." Their live session ended seasonally and sweetly, with a duet of Tony Bennett's "The Christmas Song."
Singing together is something that O'Shaughnessy and Vannatter say they rarely get to do. O'Shaughnessy even jokes about her mentoring role with Vannatter: "You don't need me. You've got it, honey. You've got it going on." In a way, she's right; either artist alone has no problem carrying a tune and a half. But in other circumstances, the opposite is true. Be it organizing in order to promote their craft, or harmonizing warmly on a favorite Christmastime melody - sometimes singers like these are simply better together.
http://www.ocarolo.com/index.html
-LE Correia
See Also
- July 24, 2010 - A.R.T.
- July 21, 2010 - nate wilson group
- July 15, 2010 - Sarah Blacker
- July 13, 2010 - Delta Spirit
- July 13, 2010 - Nina Music
