From shower to showtime - singing is cool again

by Malcolm Brown, The Sydney Morning Herald:

"EVEN their names have a melodious ring: the Sweet Adelines, the Bright Star Singers, A Choired Taste and, most fittingly in Sydney, the Leichhardt Espresso and the Circular Keys Chorus.

Community choirs, says the director of the Espressos, Michelle Leonard, have struck a perfect chord. Singing was "almost trendy", she said.

"People used to look at you as though you had some sort of disease," Ms Leonard said. "Now you can out yourself. The level of public awareness in the past 12 months has boomed."

Community choirs bring people together, start social relationships and quickly demonstrate how people care for each other, said Ms Leonard, whose youngest choir member is 15 and her oldest in his 70s.

Australian Idol, ABC radio's choirs competition and more lately the national broadcaster's television hit Choir of Hard Knocks have all contributed to the growing delight that people feel when they sing in public. ..."

Read the full article from the SMH here.

Come to the cabaret, says mum

By Lucy Barbour, Inner West Courier
"Monica Trapaga may be most known for her role on Play School, but this queen of children's entertainment is leading a whole other life and it's got more to do with sex appeal, jazz and devilish wit than teddy bears or rocket clocks. ...
Now Trapaga is providing a closer glimpse into her more adult side with a series of musical tributes to legendary diva and cabaret star Pearl Bailey, being performed at the AB Hotel in Glebe.
"It's not just jazz," she said.
"It's old style cabaret, verging on vaudeville."
In the show, Trapaga incorporates a touch of the "naughty", testing out the laps of audience members in true cabaret style, but the thing she wants to achieve most is to make people "feel sexy and good about themselves and to enjoy it".
That is one of Trapaga's great joys in life. ..."

Read the article from Village Voice here.