Fifteen years after the untimely death of beloved New York cabaret legend Nancy LaMott, her producer David Friedman is releasing, via his Midder Music label, The Don't Tell Mama Shows--a two-DVD set containing four complete live LaMott club acts from the height of her career at the Midtown Manhattan cabaret club Don't Tell Mama from 1986-1988.
The December release is being heralded by a novel widescreen presentation of the four shows of the set on the stage of Don't Tell Mama, split into two acts each on Nov. 2 and 3. Each show costs $100--"a high price for cabaret," Friedman acknowledges--but the ticket includes a complete showing of one of the four DVD performances, a question-and-answer session with well-known guest speakers who were there at the time, a free copy of the DVD weeks ahead of its commercial release, two glasses of wine or beer (or soda), and the chance to buy deeply discounted LaMott DVD and CD titles for Christmas gift-giving.
Tickets to each of the four showings in the intimate club are limited to 60.
"I have all of Nancy's CDs, but seeing her live was so inspiring," says Lucie Arnaz. "Her command of the space and those Chris Marlowe [LaMott's pianist/arranger] arrangements! Anyone who is a serious lover of the great American songbook would appreciate her gifts."
Considered by many to be the greatest singer of American popular standards of her generation, LaMott succumbed to uterine cancer in 1995 at age 43, having suffered also from Crohn's disease and requiring frequent hospitalization. After establishing herself and finding stardom in San Francisco, she came to New York and eventually met composer/conductor Friedman.
"She was a fixture at Don't Tell Mama, where they even had a poster, 'Nancy LaMott--Saturday Nights From Now to Eternity,'" recalls Friedman. "I happened to come to one of the shows, and distinctly remember the moment afterwards when I walked up to her and said, 'My God! 'You're so amazing. You should be recording!' 'Who will do it?' she asked, and I said, 'I will!' These performances on the DVDs caught my attention."
Her recordings increased her following and her career took off: She moved into such prestigious clubs as the Chestnut Room at Tavern on the Green and the Oak Room at the Algonquin. She was discovered by air personality Jonathan Schwartz, bringing national airplay and TV exposure on shows like Live With Regis & Kathie Lee. She sang twice at the Clinton White House.
She seemed on the verge of major stardom when she was diagnosed with cancer in March, 1995, and died in December. But friends like Friedman have loyally kept her legacy alive.
"This is the latest release of Nancy's material," says Friedman, who has reissued all her CDs and released new discs of unreleased recordings and DVDs of live performances and interviews since her death. "It shows the heyday of her small cabaret career before she moved on to bigger things--making albums and doing concerts in larger venues around the country. It has a different flavor, but the thing about seeing Nancy close-up in an intimate cabaret is that you see the seeds of the polished performances that were always there."
He notes the dramatic differences in LaMott's appearance in the period covered in The Don't Tell Mama Shows, brought on by Crohn's disease and associated eating disorders and medication.
"She'd be fat and blond, and the next year she'd be thin with short-cropped brown hair--and all the drugs changed the shape and size of her face," says Friedman. "But the thing about it was her singing and performing, which was always spectacular."
Many people remember those Don't Tell Mama years with "extreme fondness," he notes. "It was a real chance for people with no money, who weren't yet or never would be on Broadway, of having big careers, to feel part of an extremely exciting arena. Nancy was a huge star in cabaret, even with just five people in the audience and making $12 a night!"
The new DVD's, he says, contain four complete performances--"top to bottom including all the patter"--from LaMott's final four runs at the club. The November Don't Tell Mama screenings, he adds, will virtually "recreate" those performances, utilizing widescreen projection across the stage "so people who are nostalgic fans or those who never got to see her feel like they're sitting there and seeing her live. Each show is a different club act, and some with the same material--so it's interesting to see how consistent she was, and her growth in the two-year span."
Friedman expects the screenings to bring numerous LaMott friends and music associates like entertainment lawyer Mark Sendroff, who produced LaMott's first recording, "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby," for his 1986 Mostly Mercer compilation; musical and film lyricist David Zippel; Lucie Arnaz and Kathie Lee Gifford.
"They will be people who were there, some of whom knew her when I didn't and are now prominent and have stories to tell," says Friedman. "It will be a chance for me to meet people and people to meet me, and should be a really special evening."
The luminaries will tell their stories and the meetings among LaMott fans will occur before the screenings, he adds.
"What I most appreciate is the chance to be with people who have supported Nancy," concludes Friedman. "Keeping this 'industry' going has been a great time-consuming and financial thing for me, but I'm happy to do it, and it's wonderful to spend an evening with people who really care about her and keep it going. There are only 240 seats total for the four performances, and I'm trying to get people who really want to come to sign up now to make sure they get in."
Notes Gifford, a singer herself who actively promoted LaMott and personally cared for her during her illnesses: "This is the closest we can get to having Nancy alive with us again doing what she does better than anyone ever did it.”
The Don't Tell Mama Shows will be available online on Dec. 1 and released to retail in mid-January.
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Comments
The level of passion and dedication here is similar to what I saw for Eva Cassidy, maybe greater! I recall Kathie Lee Gifford always championing her, and Jim, I always knew you were a closet cabaret lover! Nice piece!
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