Calling all Stagesiders, welcome back to another installment of StageSide Stories. This time around we are talking to David Rhodes, who created and is performing in Soir Noir. We talk all things cabaret, performance, Soir Noir and LGBTQ+ art. Settle in, and lets learn more about Soir Noir, performing and how to create a cabaret style show.
Can you introduce yourself, the show you are in, and your role in the show?
Hello Jonathan! I’m David Rhodes. I’m a New York based Actor/Cabaret Artist and Playwright and I am coming to London’s Crazy Coqs April 16th with my latest Cabaret offering SOIR NOIR: A Nightclub Confidential.
SOIR NOIR: A Nightclub Confidential marks its European debut at The Crazy Coqs this spring – how would you describe the show to someone unfamiliar with it?
SOIR NOIR is a modern take, or better put a reimagining of the type of show you might see in a swanky nightclub in New York or Paris in the 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s. It’s a celebration of what is referred to as The Golden Era of Nightclubs, when artists like Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Rosemary Cluny and Lena Horne performed in formal dinner jackets and evening gowns for the cosmopolitan elite.
What inspired you to create SOIR NOIR, and how does it reflect your experiences in New York’s nightlife scene?
SOIR NOIR was commissioned in June 2024 for Provincetown Cabaretfest. If your readers aren’t familiar with Provincetown, as I say in the show “Provincetown is a quaint little New England fishing village, where everyone is welcome, and people can be whoever they want to be without judgement or shame.” According to the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce, Provincetown is America’s oldest continuous art colony and an LGBTQ+ capital, as well as an entertainment hub like no other in the world. I’ve had the privilege of being invited to teach master classes and present a new show in P-town for the past four years during the first week of June for Provincetown’s Cabaretfest. Cabaretfest is basically a cabaret camp for grownups. People come from all over to spend a week working with professional cabaret artists. At the end of the week the students get to perform in their own show. Throughout the week the professionals also debut new shows. Each summer there is a theme, Hooray for Hollywood, Broadway at the Beach, Sondheim by the Sea, and last summer the theme was The Golden Era of Nightclubs. When the producer approached me, I was definitely a little hesitant. My work tends to be more edgy and often has an LGBTQ+ theme. I’m not Michael Buble and I thought there were other artists more suited to the genre. So, I told her, I’ll come and lead a workshop and teach but I’m not sure I’ll debut a new show. And she said, “YOU’RE COMING AND YOU’RE GONNA DO A SHOW”! Patricia Fitzpatrick, who produces the festival, is an 80-year-old chain smoking diva who use be a headlining chanteuse at the Playboy Clubs in New York, and when Patricia says you are putting on a show you do it! So I started researching songs from the period, some of which I knew and many of which I’d never heard before with the intention of creating a show that would have the same feeling and energy, as if you were to go see a show at the Copacabana or the El Morocco Club in the 50’s, but not be a museum piece. I wanted it to feel like the show was relevant and happening now in real time. And since I would be debuting the show in my favorite gay resort town, I centered SOIR NOIR around Provincetown and turned it into a celebration of inclusivity.
As far as New York nightlife goes, I’d say it has changed significantly since The Golden Era of Nightclubs. With a few exceptions, most of the venues that featured these kinds of shows are gone. Today’s New York Cabaret scene is divided between the uptown Cabaret venues like 54below, Green Room 42 and Don’t Tell Mama’s. They offer a glimmer of the old guard, showcasing a more traditional fair, but it’s still not the same as the Golden Era, when A-list performers crooned and swooned to elegantly dressed patrons sipping martinis and expensive champagne. Today’s downtown Cabaret scene is much more contemporary and edgy. Clubs like Joe’s Pub, Club Cummings and the Slipper Room feature younger and bolder artists who are pushing boundaries and bringing a fresh, younger more hipster vibe to the genre. I work in both arenas. My next show DADDY ISSUES is debuting Pride Weekend in New York in a club called REDEYE which happens to be midtown, neither up nor down, which I guess seems somewhat fitting giving my mercurial artistic leanings. DADDY ISSUES is definitely more on the edgy downtown side. It’s a fusion of spoken words, contemporary music and a little touch of burlesque. So, I will be changing gears and wardrobe dramatically when I get back to town.
The show promises energy and excitement—what kind of atmosphere do you hope to create for the audience, and how do you do this?
The songs from The Golden Era of Nightclubs are romantic and optimistic. It was a simpler time when connections were made at dinner parties and on moonlit walks, not chat rooms and dating apps. I’d like to create a respite, a kind of nostalgic oasis for the audience. The world is very complicated and scary right now. There is so much information and misinformation being hurled at us constantly. My hope is that the audience can decompress and give all that a rest for an hour and experience the joy, optimism and whimsy that this music has to offer. How I achieve that is by finding those feelings within myself, doing my part to embody them and then letting them wash over the audience for them to bask in and absorb. It’s a kind of creative hypno-osmosis at its best.
How does the London cabaret and nightclub scene compare to New York’s? Have you had any surprising discoveries while preparing for this debut?
I think in many ways the London Cabaret scene is more vital than the New York scene. For one thing it’s not as fragmented. Crazy Coqs hosts a diverse roster of artists, that includes the edgier offerings, jazz, burlesque and the standard Broadway and West End fair. In New York, there are jazz clubs, performance art venues and conventional supper clubs, but you don’t find all of it in one place. There also seems to be an appetite and appreciation in London for the Cabaret format and a refreshing take on the material. I love going out in London and hearing British artists interpret The American Songbook and make the songs their own. I’m also surprised by how big an audience there is in London for this era of music. Perhaps in America we’ve heard these tunes for so long, sung by so many artists that we’ve become a bit jaded. My experience working on this material has been the opposite. For me these songs are a refreshing departure and I’m finding a new artistic niche I never expected was there.
Are there particular elements of NYC nightlife that you’re excited to introduce to a UK audience, and how do you think they may react?
Well, I don’t want to put out any spoilers but there are definitely some unexpected song choices and vocal interpretations in SOIR NOIR; not to mention wardrobe choices that I am excited to share with the London audiences. I encourage folks to come to the show and experience those elements themselves without predetermined expectations.
The Crazy Coqs has an intimate setting—how does this venue influence the way you perform SOIR NOIR?
Crazy Coqs has a timeless ambiance. The vibe there is definitely already reminiscent of the Golden Era of Nightclubs. There is no fourth wall in Cabaret. You are in direct contact with the audience and they are in contact with you. The audience becomes your scene partners. Crazy Coqs is so cozy. When I am onstage there it feels like I am having a musical conversation with friends in my living room. The room is very conducive to making real connections with the audience and supports the spontaneous flow of energy back and forth. It’s immediate and electric. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it.
You’re performing alongside your partner, Jake Oswell—what’s the creative dynamic like between you both?
Jake and I truly have each other’s backs, on and offstage. We are also both a little mischievous and competitive and like to get a rise out of each other. We’re extremely creative and take our work very seriously and respect each other’s points of view even when they are not entirely aligned, There is a lot of trust and just a little bit of needling which keeps things fresh and fun and also keeps us both on our toes and at the top of our game. Performing and sharing my life with Jake is a lot of fun, never dull and still full of surprises after nearly ten years.
Do you each bring different strengths to the show, or do you find your artistic styles naturally align?
Jake and I are different in our approach to everything! We come from completely different generations and backgrounds. I grew up on Manhattan’s upper east side and Jake was reared in rural Virginia. We have a thirty four year age difference between us. I’m the senior but Jake is definitely the grown up in the relationship. While Jake’s parents have always been unconditionally supportive of him and his sexual identity, my parents were Freudian psychoanalyst who were trained to view homosexuality as a mental illness and sent me to therapy in third grade. I didn’t come out until I was forty and Jake was never ‘in’. Our performance styles are equally divergent. Jake has a Bachelors degree is Musical Theatre with an emphasis on vocal performance. I am graduate of the LAMDA three year acting course with an emphasis on classical theatre and Shakespeare. I approach a song as a monologue set to music. Jake is vocal technician. He approaches a song as a musician first and the vocal experience feeds his emotional connection. Both approaches are valid and when we get in our respective zones we compliment each other and are both truly excellent. Can I say that?
Have there been any unexpected challenges (or joys!) in working together on stage?
When we first started dating Jake was recently out of college. I was a well established full time artist. Like most young artists Jake had to depend on a survival job. I was immersed in my creative projects while Jake had to spend forty hours a week doing something he wasn’t passionate about. It was challenging for Jake to listen to me go on and on about my projects. I was exploding with creative energy and he was feeling envious and discouraged. While I could be empathic to a point, I needed him to be a supportive soundboard for my passion projects and he didn’t want to hear about them because it made him sad. That was the challenge. Now the joy! That dynamic in our relationship has turned around completely. Jake is thriving. He’s a soloist with the New York Gay Men’s Chorus and has performed on The Tonight Show and Carnegie Hall. He is sought after for gigs all the time and we are constantly exchanging ideas, coaching each other and collaborating. I’m directing him in his Provincetown solo headliner debut after we leave London. We jokingly say I’m Helen Lawson and he’s Neely O’Hara from Valley of the Dolls. The difference is in the movie/novel, the established Broadway star Helen and the up and coming Neely are rivals. In our movie we are sisters.
What drew you to this multidisciplinary approach to creating a performance?
No matter how successful you are, having to depend on others to offer you work, and not having creative control over your career can be tiresome and disheartening. I love collaborating and being an actor for hire, especially when the work offered is challenging and well written. I also love being my own creative engine for original projects and creating work for myself and others. I started writing plays and doing solo shows to find my own voice and spread my creative wings. Now I can soar on my own in between the film, television and theatre gigs generated by other artists and producers. It’s the best of both worlds.
What have been some of the defining moments in your journey as a performer?
Between my freshman and sophomore years of college I was cast in the first regional production of Equus in the tri-state area playing the lead role of Alan Strang. When fall came around I had to decide whether to take advantage of other professional offers or return to college. It was a very difficult choice. I opted to go back to college and pursue my bachelors degree. It became clear to me within a few weeks that despite the academic excellence of the university, liberal arts college was not the right place for me now that I had tasted the elation of being a full time actor. I still wanted my bachelors degree but did not want to stay in Connecticut at Wesleyan University. I made an appointment with the dean and asked her if she would consider allowing me to graduate from Wesleyan by proxy if I could secure a place in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art or the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and still graduate from Wesleyan with bachelors degree, even though I would only be spending two years on campus. My premise was that I would be graduating from Wesleyan with BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts degree) in theatre, with more sophisticated theatre credentials than any liberal arts college could provide. She agreed on the condition that I was accepted and attended either of those top British drama schools. I auditioned and was offered a place at both. My years at LAMDA were the most powerful and defining period of my life. Thanks to Dean Broderick I was also able to fulfill my academic goal of graduating (albeit in absentia) with a degree from a top American university. Fast forward forty five years; my closest friendships and my most profound life lessons were formed during those years in London. My artistry and my soul were nurtured there. I am the actor and the man I am today because of the exceptional training, and the time I spent as a young actor in London. Now I get to return here on a regular basis. I have friends, mentors and collaborators, many of whom will be at the show on April 16th, I consider London a second home, personally, professionally and artistically.
Are there any personal or artistic influences that have shaped SOIR NOIR in particular?
There is no question that SOIR NOIR would not exist, and I would not be a successful Cabaret artist without Patricia Fitzpatrick. Four years ago I showed up in Provincetown on my own. I was a well established stage actor but a complete unknown in the Cabaret community. Patricia and I had a conversation and she invited me to perform in her variety show that Friday night. I sang one song and a profound, life changing connection was made. Patricia understood me and I felt an instant affinity with her as well. She recognized the value I could bring to Cabaret audiences and her students and I found a new career path. The next year Patricia invited me to teach an acting based Master in Class to her Cabaretfest students as well as debut my own show as part of the festival. Patricia produced, employed, mentored, nurtured and housed me and gave me a platform to evolve my work. She has created a haven for countless other Cabaret artists as well. This summer she is producing Jake as one of Provincetown Cabaretfest’s headliners in his Kander and Ebb Show that I will be directing. Despite my own reservations about stepping into the shoes of the great musicians of The Golden Era of Nightclubs, Patricia Fitzpatrick persuaded me that I was right for this material. I am extremely grateful, and she was right. The shoes fit better than I could ever have imagined.
If there’s one thing you’d like audiences to take away from SOIR NOIR, what would it be?
I’d like the audience to leave the show feeling refreshed and hopeful. The closing song of the show is Louis Armstrongs classic What A Wonderful World. Despite all the controversy and hardship, I believe it really is still a wonderful world. Life and music and laughter are precious gifts even in dark times. If the audience could leave the club with an inkling of that sentiment, then I’ve done my job.
Why do you think cabaret and intimate performance spaces are so important in today’s entertainment landscape?
It’s very easy to stay at home and get locked into Netflix or the myriad of electronic offering on your screens these day, big screens or small ones. Broadway and the West End offer dazzling, grand spectacles and tour de force performances that can thrill and delight. But there is no substitute for the intimate connection the performer and the audience can share in a fifty seat black box theater or a cozy nightclub. The interactive nuances between the performer and the audience create a bond that can only exist in an intimate setting.
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring performer what would it be?
Don’t rely exclusively on others to employ you or invite you to participate in their projects. Be the engine for your own career and artistic journey and collaborate with your friends. You never know where you or your friends will be in five, ten years and some of the most significant collaborative relationships and careers started with a bunch of enthusiastic kids gathered in a coffee shop, pub or living room and saying to one another “l have an idea. Let’s put on a show!”
And if you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring theatre creative / writer, what would it be?
The hardest part of writing or developing new work is self editing. I just looked it up and apparently it was the British author Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch who wrote in his 1916 book On the Art of Writing, “sometimes you have to murder your darlings.” The metaphor is basically saying that a writer may have to cut some of their most precious bon mots for the greater good of the essay, novel, play or screenplay. This can be devastating but it’s an essential part of the process. The other challenge is negotiating the inevitable onslaught of opinions and critiques from your colleagues, family, friends and collaborators. I have a formula that works for me to help cipher out the best input from outside sources. Firstly, I always try hear everyone as objectively as I can. Then I make sure I listen to myself. If I share my work with others and they have an opinion or a concern that is aligned with my own, I give it credence and make some edits. If something is brought to my attention by more than one source, even if I didn’t think it was an issue, I reevaluate. If someone has an opinion that no one else has addressed and I don’t share that opinion or see the relevance of their critique, I say thank you and move on.
A huge thank you to David Rhodes for answering these questions, and to CNC for facilitating this interview. Amazing responses there and really interesting to learn more about creating performances!
If you are interested in seeing Soir Noir, you can find out more and get your tickets here: https://www.brasseriezedel.com/events/soir-noir-a-nightclub-confidential/
Have your say!
Are you thinking of starting a career in writing or performing? Are you currently training to be a performer? How are you finding the process, and do you have any key techniques, tips or skills to hone? Let me know in the comments and lets get a discussion going!
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