Thread: What songs would you like to hear at a Cabaret night?

Hey folks! Just looking for a little help here; I've recently started doing more cabaret singing but must admit I am not really a showtunes buff! As a result, I'd love it if you could give me any suggestions of songs you'd want to hear sung at a burlesque/cabaret night.

Much appreciated!

xx

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I love Mein Herr from the movie Cabaret. It's quite raucous and always gets me in the mood for partying

I recently sung 'I got Rhythm' from the Gershwin musical 'Crazy for you' and that really seemed to get the crowd going.

I agree about songs from 'Cabaret' aswell. I really recommend any upbeat song from the tin pan alley era (Gershwin, Berlin, Kern etc) as people tend to know them and they are good fun songs to do aswell as being fitting with the cabaret type era.

Hope this helps. x

As an audience member and performer I'd personally like to hear songs that aren't cabaret standards or showtunes, or at least not the same standard versions of them.

Be original! Make yourself stand out! There is a wealth of music out there, see what you can make your own

I agree with Honey, I wouldnt fill you set with show tunes, but they may be a good way to get the crowd going to start off with. x

Thanks ladies -- I have actually been doing a rendition of 'Mein Herr' that goes down quite well, but Honey & Scarlet I couldn't agree with you more. I don't just want to bring out the same tunes everyone else is doing, yet at the same time they still need to fit the mood of the night.
Hm.
Any further suggestions of songs that are sort of cabaret-ish in nature yet aren't necessarily from a musical would be much appreciated!

xx

The tin pan alley ones I wouldnt necessarily call musical theare songs, although alot of them are in shows, they are better known for being sung by well known singers of the era as pop songs.
hope this helps. x

as a showtunes obsessive,
doing them at shows really riles the crowds!
however - people do pick the standards.

doing non middle of the road ones, always actually works a treat!

songs they recognise, but no one else does.

standards you see most often are cabaret, mein herr, maybe this time, diamonds are a girls best friend, i wanna be loved by you, and... well... my minds gone blank currently... but they will come to me later...!

people also forget disney!
so theyre nice ones to nab up!

and by songs they recognise, but noone else does...
i mean - songs that people know.
but no other singer thinks of doing!

I'm with Honey/Scarlet/Joe on this - at my night I work closely with our resident singer to find songs that are a little different, along with some old favourites of course! Even just finding an original twist/characterisation of a recognised song can work well - the difficulty often lies in finding affordable, appropriate backing though. We're leaning much more towards recording our own, e.g. to team up with Honey Wilde's Thatcher routine at our 'Sex and Politics' event we're planning to do the Smith's Maggie on the Guillotine but in a more music hall style?! My advice would be to take risks - for us it seems to work!