Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever “real” show from Lauren Ambrose (of Six Feet Under, last year’s play “Exit the King,” and most recently as the voice of KW in Where the Wild Things Are) and her band, “The Leisure Class” at Joe’s Pub. They apparently have been playing together out in the Berkshires, where Lauren lives, in garages and tiny clubs. After some work with Shakespeare in the Park (produced by the Public Theater), Lauren approached the Public and asked to try out their gig in NYC - and boy did it pay off:
The Lady Can Sing! The Leisure Class plays a sort of saucy Dixie Jazz, replete with upright bass, piano, a suitcase-cum-kickdrum, and pictured above is their super hot banjo/steel-guitar player! Lauren sang some standards (adding her own Dixie flair) like “Honeysuckle Rose,” a song that proves she not only has melodic acumen, but wonderful phrasing and timing as well. I went in to the show expecting an actress that could hold a tune, but Lauren proved she can do much more than that, she can style songs; from belty emotional numbers that she ripped into, to cute character songs about smoking reefer - I hope we get to hear more from her soon!
If I can find recordings of the songs today, I’ll post them for you. Really - you wouldn’t believe it - so good. And we were seated literally three feet away (from both Lauren and that square jawed slab of adorable on the banjo).
Oh man going on my to do list.
This is full of yes. I hope songs are found.
Found via krankmills. 12 Notes. Permalink. Monday, November 16th, at 9:52 AM (∞).
