CabaretFest Ptown: Honoree Angela Bacari Talks 6-Decade Career (& Famous Friends). New Belters Celebrate When Nightclubs Were King

CabaretFest Provincetown has been a spring tradition for 25 years, and this year, singer, producer, and all around makes-things-happen force of nature Patricia Fitzpatrick is celebrating her 10th Anniversary as producer of CabaretFest by putting on the most elaborate festival yet, with a stunning lineup of cabaret performers from New York, Boston, and Cape Cod. The festival runs from Monday, June 3 through Sunday June 9, with shows, master classes, workshops, and entertainment events in the early part of the week at Gabriel's Guest House, and performances in the latter part of the week at the Crown & Anchor.

The star-studded lineup will include CabaretFest veterans Michael Garin & Mardie Millit, Jo Brisbane, Rod Ferguson, Karen Mack and Elliott Roth, David Rhodes, Warren Schein, Sidney Myer, Lynda D'Amour, Pamela Enders, and Brian De Lorenzo (full disclosure: De Lorenzo is this writer's husband), as well as many newcomers and emerging artists.

Fitzpatrick has dubbed this year's CabaretFest "The Golden Era of Nightclubs," celebrating that era of the 1940s-1960s, when the glittering nightclubs of New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas were bursting with performances by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Steve Lawrence, and Edie Gormé.

To bring that era to life, this year's CabaretFest offers shows with such titles as D'Amour's "One Cool Cat: The Sammy Davis Jr. Songbook," Rhodes' "Soir Noir: a nightclub confidential," Mack and Roth's "Live at the Sands," Garin and Millit's "New World Swing! From the Borscht Belt to 8th Avenue," Enders' "How Glad I Am: A Tribute to Nancy Wilson," and De Lorenzo's "Sammy and Sinatra at the Sands."

Bringing this weeklong CabaretFest to a close will be headliners Seth Sikes and Nicolas King as "The New Belters," at the Crown & Anchor's Paramount Room, Saturday June 8th. Earlier that same evening, 2023 MAC Award Winner Rod Ferguson will present another CabaretFest veteran Angela Bacari with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

"I can't tell you how shocked I was," exclaimed Bacari, who, during her six-decade career as a singer, opened for such luminaries as Rodney Dangerfield (one of her proudest achievements), as a manager has helped promote, nurture, and shape the career of out country and pop vocalist Billy Gilman, and, as vocal coach to the stars, helped Liza Minnelli regain her singing voice and return to the stage. "When Patricia told me about the award, I started crying, I couldn't even breathe. I just lost it. That's what reaching 81 does to you."

Bacari's career began when her mom took her to the local Rhode Island radio station to sing on the show "Buddy and the Gang" at the age of 7, standing on a step stool to reach the microphone. She went from that to singing as a young adult in Playboy clubs in New York, London, Boston, and beyond. Marrying young, her first husband was a guitarist and they played restaurant gigs together, including Bill Hahn's Resort, a place where people like the young pre-"Funny Girl" Barbra Streisand went to try out their act before opening in New York. Bill Hahn introduced Bacari to Billy Rizzo, booking agent for the Playboy clubs. "I sang for him, and bingo, that was the start of my tour of Playboy clubs all over the country!" cries Bacari.

Bacari's second husband was an arranger/conductor, and he wrote out all the charts for the band that Bacari was touring with at the time. "The arrangements were all hand-written and not easy for people to read," groans Bacari. "Then Mike Renzi came on board and could read through the scribbles beautifully." Renzi, who passed away in late 2021, was a renowned pianist and musical director working with Mel Tormé, Peggy Lee, and Tony Bennett, and soon became Bacari's longtime accompanist as well.

As success placed travel demands on Bacari that took her on the road for months at a time, Bacari felt she needed to be with her two daughters more and returned home to Rhode Island, taking up teaching voice as a way of staying in touch with her music. "One of the students who walked through my door at eight years old was Billy Gilman," Bacari reminisces of her discovery of the child singer who she then began to coach and manage.

Managing Gilman's career took on a life of its own, with Bacari flying Gilman, then 11 years old, to Nashville, getting him an agent, touring venues, and securing a recording contract with Sony for the single "One Voice," which became a million seller. "One Voice" reached the Top 20 on Billboard's Country Chart, making Gilman the youngest performer to reach the Top 20 on that chart. "He's 37 now," recounts Bacari, "and I'm still managing his career."

At CabaretFest, Bacari will perform "The Angela Bacari Show" before receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award. And Billy Gilman fans will be delighted to hear that Gilman will join Bacari on stage for a duet.

Bacari also recalls how singer Michael Jackson saved Gilman's life. Through various connections, Bacari became friends with Jackson, who she then introduced to Gilman. After hearing the then 14-year-old Gilman sing, Jackson told Bacari he wanted Gilman to appear with him on September 7, 2001 at Madison Square Garden for a Jackson 5 reunion show, boasting a lineup that included Whitney Houston. But the performance was cancelled due to sound problems, and Bacari and Gilman drove back to Rhode Island, where Gilman was preparing to fly out of Boston's Logan Airport to Los Angles to appear at the Hollywood Bowl.

Just as they reached Rhode Island, Jackson's producer, David Gest, told Bacari they were going to do a makeup show at the Garden that Sunday, September 9th, and Jackson wanted Billy to sing. But Bacari said the schedule was too tight, as Gilman needed to fly out of Boston early that Tuesday morning. Gest said, "Michael wants Billy to sing and I'll make sure Billy gets to LA on time." To do that, Bacari had to cancel the Boston flight to LA, and rebook Gilman on a flight to LA out of New York. The flight she cancelled was for Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Tower on September 11.

"A couple of weeks later, I get a call from David Gest, who says 'Listen, I love Billy's outfit that he wore for the [Jackson 5 Reunion] show, and I collect outfits. I'd like to buy it,'" recalls Bacari. "And I said, 'You can have it, because he's gonna grow out of it, anyway." She said she would drop it off and asked where he would be. "I'm at Liza's" Gest whispered. "We're starting to date."

Bacari then says, "I grab my grandson Nicolas [King], who is beyond a Liza fan, and I grab Billy, and the three of us head off to Liza's apartment to drop off the outfit. And I tell them to be on their best behavior. At this time, Liza was in a down time, she had lost her voice. And while we were dropping off the outfit, she was at the piano and singing the song 'Crying,' and she cried, 'I don't think my voice will ever come back,' and Billy says, 'Well Angela can help you!' I said, 'Billy, shut up,' but I knew in my heart I could fix this."

Thus began a long relationship between Bacari and Minnelli that blossomed into a friendship, not only with Bacari, but with her grandson King. Bacari took Minnelli to a throat doctor, so she knew what she was dealing with and would not hurt her. As Minnelli's voice improved, her confidence returned. "And she had a comeback," gushes Bacari. "And I have a signed poster from her saying, 'Because of you, I'm back.' We got very close. We toured together. We've gotten very intimate, and she told me things I would never tell another person, because I respect her."

"One day, [Liza] called me up and said, 'I want Nicolas to open for me,'" marvels Bacari. "I never asked her to do me any favors. She came with me once to see Nicolas perform and it was all Nicolas." King, even at the age of 12, had already been in three Broadway shows, being the longest running Chip in "Beauty and the Beast" and appearing in "A Thousand Clowns" opposite Tom Selleck and "Hollywood Arms" opposite Linda Lavin.

"I also worked with Nicolas a little bit, in the early 2000s. Sometimes, I'd do benefits like Muscular Dystrophy, with Nicolas and Billy," remembers Bacari. "But over time, Nicolas got very independent, and he's very much on his own, now."

In fact, following Bacari's award ceremony, Nicolas King will take the stage with his new singing partner, Seth Sikes, with their show "The New Belters," which they started touring around the country 18 months ago, hitting Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Boston, and Delray Beach, Florida, as well as 54 Below in New York. They've done two winter seasons in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and a Vacaya cruise gig from which they've just returned, and will be doing their "MGM" show at Fire Island Pines, just before performing at CabaretFest. They also recently dabbled in theater, performing in a limited engagement concert performance of "Follies" in Las Vegas, with King as Young Ben, and Sikes as Young Buddy.

"That was a great thrill," yelps King. "You're not typically going to have 45 showgirls, and a 30-piece orchestra. Watching these 90-year-old showgirls, including the first black showgirl, who is now 96 years old, parading around the stage is quite something."

While the show title "The New Belters" isn't overtly honoring the golden era of nightclubs, it still fits solidly into the festival's theme. "It's basically a glimpse into the Golden Age of Nightclubs, anyway," declares King. "The first half the show will be a standby of our 'New Belters' show, and the second half will be from our 'MGM' show," both of which mine the treasure trove of theater and film songs from the '40s and '50s, which made up much of that era's nightclub repertoire.

"Act 3 will be all songs from 'Wicked,' and we will both play Boq," quips Sikes, referring to "Wicked's" similarly vertically-challenged munchkin character. It is that kind of banter between King and Sikes that has become a trademark of their shows, giving their show a Martin and Lewis or Sonny and Cher self-deprecating edge that is both disarming and endearing.

The key to their comfortable and sometimes zany stage rapport is spontaneity. "We have a solid framework, but it is not scripted line by line," notes Sikes.

King adds, "I've never been a fan of scripted shows. We know we are at point A and have to get to point B. I like to ramble, and Seth can go on funny tangents, but we always come back to the plan."

Sikes counters, "Nicolas will reign me in to make sure I don't rush out of the gate in some crazy tempo. And I like to make him laugh on stage when he least expects it."

Both are accomplished singers and concert performers, King being a Bistro Award winner, and Sikes being MAC Award-nominated, and have been singing and performing nearly nonstop over the past 10-20 years as solo artists before joining forces 18 months ago. Ricky Pope of Broadway World described their 54 Below duo debut as "a high energy, well-honed entertainment that had its audience buzzing with excitement and tapping its toes with joy. King's upbeat jazz stylings and Sikes' exuberant musical comedy sensibility have won them devoted followings. Together they are greater than the sum of their parts."

Circling back to Bacari and her impact, not only on King but on all those she's worked with in the entertainment industry, King has nothing but praise for his grandmother. "I'm immensely proud of her. She's a fabulous talent, and my favorite," beams King. "She always leads with love and a lot of warmth, and in show business, that can often get lost."

CabaretFest's "The Golden Era of Nightclubs" will run June 3-9 at various venues in Provincetown, MA. Angela Bacari will perform "The Angela Bacari Show, with Special Guests" 7 PM, June 8. Tickets are $50, or VIP Pass. Seth Sikes and Nicolas King will perform "The New Belters" 9 PM, June 8. Tickets $50 -$75 or VIP Pass. Both shows are at The Crown & Anchor's Paramount Room, 247 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA. For reservations and tickets, visit: https://www.provincetowncabaretfest.com/

Watch this product reel for The New Belters (Nicolas King and Seth Sikes)
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