by Kirby Laney, posted 14 May 2018
Over two weekends, from May 17th – May 26th, at Hale’s Palladium, Kat Robichaud is bringing her entertaining and enthralling Misfit Cabaret back to Fremont. Each one of Robichaud’s splendiferous variety musicals has a different theme. This time out, audiences will be treated to ‘Cinephilia’, a cult film tribute. With comedy, romance and bawdiness filling every moment of the show, and original music performed by Robichaud and her Darling Misfit band, Misfit Cabaret offers an interesting evening’s, outside the norm. “It’s a variety show within a musical,” Robichaud observed, “It’s a fun experience!”
There are actually many, many reasons to check out the Misfit Cabaret, even beyond the dozens of references, parodies and mash-ups of favorite cult films in ‘Cinephilia’. Robichaud has carefully constructed these shows, with co-producer Jordan Nathan, to entertain while also celebrating the magic of local, live theater.
Showcasing Local Specialty Talents
Robichaud has brought Misfit Cabaret to Seattle from San Francisco, yet she hires local talent to perform in the scripted shows. “What we like to do,” she explained, “is showcase local artists.” In SF as well as here, Robichaud wants to feature the incredible but all-too-often overlooked performers we have here in our theater community. “We want people to see the talent that they have,” she observed.
“We have so many artists being pushed out of town in the Bay Area,” Robichaud explained. Due to increasing costs, and the shrinking opportunities for work in live entertainment, many performers are relocating – or getting out of theater altogether.
For Misfit Cabaret, Robichaud relies upon a cast of specialty artists. Each Misfit Cabaret show incorporates provocative dancers, “we always have an aerial act, and we have a puppeteer.” It isn’t simply acting, but also dancing, aerial, puppetry, drag, burlesque, and calling upon other fantastical skills that don’t get exposure on cable t.v. As a singer, Robichaud has struggled with the lack of opportunities and venues in which she could perform, and with Misfit Cabaret she wants to give others chances to showcase and shine.
For the shows in Fremont, Robichaud will be performing – as singer and MC – as will Brenden Getzell – her keyboardist and right-hand. Nathan may join them, but essentially the rest of the 15 – 20 people they need to stage a Misfit Cabaret show, cast and crew, will be recruited from the wealth of local variety talent living and working here.
‘No Textbook’
“You have to work your ass off in this day and age,” Robichaud observed about the music industry. “I grew up as an 80s baby,” she explained, “on rock-n-roll. My dad raised me on musicals, but I have a rock-n-roll voice.” Robichaud also grew up on movies, but found that her talent took her into rock-n-roll – but that didn’t mean she could only follow one path. “In this industry, there is no textbook,” she observed, “you have to have talent, and you have to be able to reach people.”
“I got started in a cover band in North Carolina,” Robichaud said, performing with them for seven years. In 2013, “I went on The Voice,” she said, and finally found herself able to reach the national and international audience she’d wanted. Still, even as it got easier to get bookings, she struggled with the on and off nature of the music industry. “I hate the time between the shows,” she acknowledged.
Yet, “anytime I’ve had something in my career fall apart, and hit the fan, something else has come along,” Robichaud said. In this case, it came in the form of a booking in Paul Nathan’s Speakeasy, and working with Jordan Nathan. “When Jordan said ‘Let’s do a musical variety show,’ I already had songs written,” Robichaud recalled. Nathan encouraged her to compose a variety show, around her music and performers they both knew.
Creating her own show gave Robichaud a chance to work without waiting for an engagement. It also gave her the opportunity to help build the theater community, in San Francisco and here, engaging with talented artists from every discipline imaginable. Ultimately, she takes pride in the productions she creates. “It’s a show that [the performers] enjoy being a part of,” Robichaud observed, and audiences can delight in.
‘Everything Is Done Live’
With each new Misfit Cabaret – Robichaud has written about a dozen so far – she composes new, original songs. Robichaud expects that, “eventually, I’m going to write a whole musical.” For now, they encourage live performances, free of canned music. “Everything is done live,” she said, “we stay away from backing tracks, except for some drag artists.” Some artists, and acts, have pre-recorded music as part of the performance, but Misfit Cabaret continues to celebrate the in-person, spontaneous nature of the shows.
“Misfit Cabaret has grown a lot in the three years,” Robichaud observed. “As the shows progress,” she explained about the evolution, “there is less of a barker announcing each act.” Robichaud doesn’t expect to develop a complete narrative to the shows, but she’d like to have less need for an MC to announce the acts. “We will have some breaks,” for Cinephilia, she explained, yet “there is no real plot, but we will go without breaks, creating a fun, flowing show.”
Rather than narrative, the theme creates the flow. Cinephilia will have references to famous films such as ‘Some Like It Hot’, ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘Hedwig & the Angry Inch’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, and ‘Edward Scissorhands’. “It’s our movie lovers cult-film themed variety show,” Robichaud observed.
“We all have our things,” Robichaud explained about a Misfit Cabaret, “trope to the show.” One of those is the involvement of the audience. Many people dress up for Misfit Cabaret, wearing costumes or colorful outfits. “We love when people sing along with us,” Robichaud said, but for Cinephilia they will also hold a ‘Jack Rabbit Slim’s’ dance competition during intermission, a la ‘Pulp Fiction’, and they encourage people to come dressed to impress.
Tickets are on-sale now for Misfit Cabaret’s Cinephilia, including date night and VIP packages with added treats like bubbly wine, an after-show serenade, and keychains a la ‘The Shining’.
Step inside the Palladium for a spellbinding evening of fantasy and film, sure to bewitch and bedazzle. Check out Misfit Cabaret while it is here, and while we have a chance to revel in this creative musical celebration!
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