Next up in my series of conversations with cabaret and pop musicians is Gretchen Reinhagen. Gretchen is a multi-award winning artist, receiving the coveted TRIPLE CROWN of cabaret awards in 2010: the Nightlife Award, Bistro Award and MAC Award - for her show “Special Kaye: A Tribute to the Incomparable Kaye Ballard” directed by Barry Kleinbort, with Musical Director David Gaines. Gretchen has worked with some of the biggest names in cabaret including Steve Ross and Karen Mason. Her shows cover a broad range of material from Musical Comedy to Blues and Rock. Former Back Stage and Citysearch critic Roy Sander said, “Gretchen Reinhagen's shows are marked by intelligence, warmth, a lovely spirit of benevolence, and fine vocals. It is always a pleasure to spend an hour in her company.”

As both a singer and an actress, she's performed in a broad range of theaters and concert halls from the House of Blues in New Orleans to the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her professional theater credits include Janis Joplin in Beehive, Louise Segar in Always Patsy Cline, Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the lead role of the therapist in the premiere of Mother Me Therapy at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York, and the Queen Mother in the European premiere of Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

At her recent show at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan, I was struck by her ability to take on songs that are so strongly identified with other performers -- singing a "Streisand song" or a "Fanny Bryce" song, for example -- and show them from an altogether different perspective.  We'll talk about her inspirations for her art, how she approaches a lyric, and get some insight into the world of cabaret. 

Learn more about Gretchen at www.gretchenreinhagen.com.