San Francisco Blog

The theme-oriented contests adopt a modern spin on an old form of entertainment. “Popera,” Katya explains. “It’s a genre of music that takes pop music and reinterprets it in an operatic way.” The humor, the performance, the singing, the art remains the same. Still, Trauma considers the trend a “new generation” of cabaret for the “next generation” of performers.

It may not last. Carly Ozard, an up-and-coming singer and participant in Sunday’s “Comedic Songs” showcase, laments the scarce cabaret venues for local artists.

“It’s very frustrating because there are very few resources,” she said. But when opportunities for cabaret were waning, Ozard, like many others, found a home. “It’s cool that drag queens with talent are leading the way to help us find better venues,” she said.

Though the common sight at Martuni’s events is drag, any willing soul can partake in the contest. Winners are voted on by a guest panel of judges, and are awarded half of all cover charges collected that night. (About $150) Accessibility of the event has been created not only for fans, but also for performers. “It’s not a drag thing. It’s not a gay thing. It’s quite literally just fun,” said Katya.

Yet, not all cabaret is created equal. And the founders of the showcase have acknowledged diversity of the genre. “You don’t have a comedic person going against a ballads person because it’s just not the same thing,” said Katya. So 10 different themes have been listed for the ten contests throughout the year until April 2009, after which a “best of” contest will award an all-around winner with a show of their own.

No two contestants are the same either. The three performers who participated in the “Comedic Songs” event this Sunday were as different as the varieties of cabaret. Brandon Finch, a musical theatre singer learning cabaret, was the first to take stage -- his name had been pulled first from an oversized martini glass. The sleeves on his violet button-shirt were missing, his dark jeans faded from the spotlight, but with flamboyance he ripped out some high-pitched tunes.

“This forces me to get out every month and learn two new songs,” said Tom Geller, another performer at Sunday’s event. Unlike Finch, the missing collar on his dress shirt, tie and black slacks make him look like a fancy waiter -- his chic proves all to true when he approaches the piano for the absurd song, “Smut.” Every singer has a song about themselves or about their life -- Geller’s happens to be “Smut.”

These voices are trained, but the songs aren’t “upper crust.” Ozard tunes her pitches, from out-of-key to very, very high for “Always a Bridesmaid” -- a song about her life. “When I look in the closet/there’s a rainbow deposit/All those husbands are gone/but the dresses live on,” she sings. “Always a bridesmaid/ Thank you Lord!/Never a bride.”

Ozard went on to win the “Comedic Songs” contest.

By the Way: The next “Cabaret Showcase Showdown” at Martuni’s, the first Sunday of September, will be themed “Impersonators.”