Reasons to See Cheyenne Jackson at The Cabaret
The dapper Cheyenne Jackson rolls into town this week for three shows at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club. Though he’ll likely leave Xanadu‘s memorable cut-offs at home, “It’s Now or Never” to catch this reprise of his sold-out Carnegie Hall show.
Formally titled Cheyenne Jackson’s Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era, this cabaret event pays tribute to the iconic, eponymous TV show as well as music from a long-gone decade, a simpler if martini-soaked time. Even so, don’t expect a night filled solely with crooner classics. Jackson is sure to swivel hips—his own, and perhaps yours—to a bossa nova beat. After all, that’s just what he did in his widely praised Broadway role inAll Shook Up, the Elvis Presley jukebox musical, based loosely on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, in which Jackson originated his first leading role.
A veteran of stage and screen, Jackson has flexed gifts ranging from easy-listening vocals to his Xanadu quads, also inhabiting the role of a Canadian street performer–turned–featured player on the critically lauded 30 Rock. There he showed off impeccable comedic timing alongside Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, also slipping in a duet or two with the fantastic Jane Krakowski (his co-star in New York City Center’s Encores! production of Damn Yankees).
We hope an intimate rendition of Irvin Berlin’s “What’ll I Do” will make this set list and allow him to show off the emotional depth revealed in his cinematic work to date, such as his portrayal of real-life hero Mark Bingham in the white-knuckle 9/11 film United 93 and the thought-provoking indie drama The Green alongside Julia Ormond and Illeana Douglas.
Previous incarnations of Jackson’s production have included arrangements of songs by Joni Mitchell, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, and Amy Winehouse. Suffice it to say, this is a cocktail hour sure to leave you filled with Glee.
Cheyenne Jackson’s Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era at The Cabaret. The Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Suite 516, 317-275-1169. July 11, 8 p.m.; July 12, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets $45 to $75. thecabaret.org
