About a month ago a friend of mine who I won’t put on blast texted me a photo of an ad poster for a show at Davenport’s Piano Bar with the caption: “Are we gonna be front row, or what?” My reply was likely something along the lines of “Obviously.” The show poster was a moody black design, featuring that reminiscent- of-the-20s font; the one always used for The Great Gatsby and front and center, our former co-worker Lindsey Prerost. We had been waiting for this. We were fans of her everyday (imagined) life, and now she was subtly drawing us in dim light and exposed garters. Hell yes.
Glass Half…”A cabaret of love, loss and light” featured Lindsey as the main vocalist with accompanying pianist Peter Broman. The entire event was a fundraiser for the BBRFoundation. Happy to support a good cause, but I was not there for the charity. I knew it was gonna be a sexy night with some emotional songs and heavy pours with friends.
The show started off with a light bouncy piece that was likely from a musical and it’s probably called “Right Hand Man”. Because it’s never difficult to figure out the names of those songs once you get them stuck in your head and you need to hear it again. It was beautiful. The chemistry was great between her and Peter who sang the male role. It showed off her ability to belt and control her voice at that pace. On the final line “man”, she dipped her voice really low to imitate a male voice. Flawless, funny; landed perfectly.
There were some duets where the chemistry was not there. I believe the show may have also doubled as a portfolio piece, which is pretty standard for entertainment folks who have to promote their acts. For that reason, there was a range of styles and features in the performances. There was a guy with slicked back hair - they weren't really connecting. There was another guy who did the first duet - he was very strong as a vocalist and the chemistry almost worked. She also sang with another woman (“For Good”) and that went better than I’d anticipated. Sorry I don’t know the other vocalists - there was no program. Overall, Lindsey didn’t really need to share the stage with anyone. The other vocalists seemed sort of eclipsed, if not because of weaker vocals, just because of overall stage presence. The two male vocalists smiled uncomfortably during the duets.
The strongest numbers were:
1.Time Heals All” a solo performance deep, lovely, strong. The topic was lost love. Performed beautifully.
2. “Right Hand Man” (that’s what I’m calling it). Fun, Showed nice range.
3. “Guitar Song at the End” Another lighter piece that was very strong. The chemistry really came across with the other woman and the guitarist with the curly hair and blazer. It seemed maybe country in genre.
Interestingly, the pieces that were the best were not deeply romantic and dramatic. They were lighter, which is not what I would have imagined her strength to be based on her look. She’s less Jessica Simpson/Daisy Duke and more high cheek bones, tight lips.
Everyone from Drury Lane came out so that was super fun. Chris Sargent, Matt Crowle, Joe Capstick small swoon, and everyone from backstage. We’re all hoping she goes back to red. Between songs, it wasn't much to keep the crowd entertained. She was hot and she was talking to us, so that was fine. She mentioned a few times how she isn’t great at words so she’ll “just sing” - fine. The night ended with some hugs, longer-term farewells and catching up with friends, then we left! When we started down Milwaukee, we saw some friends outside who ignored us and we realized a few seconds later that their passenger side car window had been smashed out. There was more glass later and we figured out someone had been going down the block doing “smash and grabs”. Ugh. Grabbed one more drink at Sportsman’s club and headed some. Great Night.
-Blithe