Denise Lee is a Dallas cabaret queen, but don’t get confused. She’s not that kind of lady.
“I’ll hashtag “#realdallascabaret.” I don’t say Dallas cabaret because you get things that aren’t what I’m doing,” Lee jokes.
The actress and singer has been bringing real cabaret to Dallas for years, recently in a bi-monthly series at the Women’s Museum at Fair Park. This kind of cabaret is a bit more buttoned-up, but it’s an intimate experience nonetheless. A blend of concert and theater, playful banter with the audience is an essential element of the performance.
This weekend, Lee will host the first-ever Dallas Cabaret Festival at Fair Park as an extension of the current series, “Life is a Cabaret.” The series began two years ago as part of an initiative by the mayor to bring more free entertainment to the underused park.
“I call it a gift. I had been trying to find a really good location to do cabaret… so many venues here, music is the background,” Lee says. “I needed to find a place where people would listen and not have music as the background.”
Despite recent hubbub surrounding the future of Fair Park, Lee and her series plan to stay put.
“I’m hoping it will happen next year.” she says. “I know there’s so much going on with Fair Park right now… I hope it has dispelled a lot of the myths that there’s high crime and it’s dangerous.”
The series has dispelled some myths about cabaret as well.
“I think that people are starting to see it. I know there is definitely an audience for it,” Lee says.
She hopes the festival will bring out that audience and give the Dallas cabaret scene a boost.
From tonight through Saturday, the festival will showcase local talents, as well as New York-based artists Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch.
“Jim had always told me if we did it, he would come open, and that would really help give what I call legitimacy to the Dallas cabaret scene, since this is kind of where his career started,” Lee says.
Caruso and Stritch are staples of the New York cabaret scene, performing with the likes of Liza Minelli.
The two will open the festival with “Cast Party,” which Lee describes as “the ultimate open mic night.” A bevy of local cabaret artists will take the stage Friday night. Lee and Gary Floyd will close the festival on Saturday with a tribute to pianist Buddy Shanahan. Before his death in 2012, Shanahan was a regular at Bill’s Hideaway, a now-defunct cabaret haven in Dallas.
“He’s touched the lives [and] hired so many of us at that little dive. It was dirty, smoky, kind of scary to look at, but it was the best place ever,” Lee says.
In the spirit of giving back, a different charitable organization will be highlighted each evening of the festival.
Lee’s real mission, though, is to return “cabaret” to its original definition.
“So that I can stop saying we perform New York-style cabaret. I’d love to be able to say, ‘Come see us at the cabaret,'” she says.
As founder of the festival, Lee is certainly doing her part to change that.
“I put on my Facebook page, ‘Dear strip clubs, I’d like my name back. Love, Cabaret.’”
“I’ll hashtag “#realdallascabaret.” I don’t say Dallas cabaret because you get things that aren’t what I’m doing,” Lee jokes.
The actress and singer has been bringing real cabaret to Dallas for years, recently in a bi-monthly series at the Women’s Museum at Fair Park. This kind of cabaret is a bit more buttoned-up, but it’s an intimate experience nonetheless. A blend of concert and theater, playful banter with the audience is an essential element of the performance.
This weekend, Lee will host the first-ever Dallas Cabaret Festival at Fair Park as an extension of the current series, “Life is a Cabaret.” The series began two years ago as part of an initiative by the mayor to bring more free entertainment to the underused park.
“I call it a gift. I had been trying to find a really good location to do cabaret… so many venues here, music is the background,” Lee says. “I needed to find a place where people would listen and not have music as the background.”
Despite recent hubbub surrounding the future of Fair Park, Lee and her series plan to stay put.
“I’m hoping it will happen next year.” she says. “I know there’s so much going on with Fair Park right now… I hope it has dispelled a lot of the myths that there’s high crime and it’s dangerous.”
The series has dispelled some myths about cabaret as well.
“I think that people are starting to see it. I know there is definitely an audience for it,” Lee says.
She hopes the festival will bring out that audience and give the Dallas cabaret scene a boost.
From tonight through Saturday, the festival will showcase local talents, as well as New York-based artists Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch.
“Jim had always told me if we did it, he would come open, and that would really help give what I call legitimacy to the Dallas cabaret scene, since this is kind of where his career started,” Lee says.
Caruso and Stritch are staples of the New York cabaret scene, performing with the likes of Liza Minelli.
The two will open the festival with “Cast Party,” which Lee describes as “the ultimate open mic night.” A bevy of local cabaret artists will take the stage Friday night. Lee and Gary Floyd will close the festival on Saturday with a tribute to pianist Buddy Shanahan. Before his death in 2012, Shanahan was a regular at Bill’s Hideaway, a now-defunct cabaret haven in Dallas.
“He’s touched the lives [and] hired so many of us at that little dive. It was dirty, smoky, kind of scary to look at, but it was the best place ever,” Lee says.
In the spirit of giving back, a different charitable organization will be highlighted each evening of the festival.
Lee’s real mission, though, is to return “cabaret” to its original definition.
“So that I can stop saying we perform New York-style cabaret. I’d love to be able to say, ‘Come see us at the cabaret,'” she says.
As founder of the festival, Lee is certainly doing her part to change that.
“I put on my Facebook page, ‘Dear strip clubs, I’d like my name back. Love, Cabaret.’”
