Cabaret

Un-Cabaret When: Sundays, doors open at 7:30 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. Where: Bar Fedora at First and Hope; 710 W. 1st St., Los Angeles. Tickets: $10 Info: Call (213) 617-8555 or http://www.uncabaret.com

MOVIES Who needs Coachella when a weekend of stellar cinema awaits you at the TCM Classic Film Festival? This year's installment features a variety of beloved favorites — including "Cabaret," "The Searchers" and "Chinatown" — screened in A-list venues such as Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian. TCM Classic Film Festival, locations, times and prices vary. Thu.-Sun. http://www.tcm.com/festival.

Harlow Gold Burlesque Where: Bordello, 901 E. 1st St., L.A. When: Sundays, doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m. Price: $10, $15 and $25 Contact: (213) 687-3766; advance tickets at www.harlowgold.event brite.com; group reservations at www.bunnyhopprod @sbcglobal.net Devil's Playground Burlesque and Cabaret Where: Bordello, 901 E. 1st St., L.A. When: Dec. 12 and every second Saturday of the month Price: $13 Contact: www.courtneycruz.

Un-Cabaret When: Sundays, doors open at 7:30 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. Where: Bar Fedora at First and Hope; 710 W. 1st St., Los Angeles. Tickets: $10 Info: Call (213) 617-8555 or http://www.uncabaret.com

I find it unusually amusing that at the same time that one member of the Garden Grove City Council was denouncing that "foreigner" Shakespeare at the Grove Shakespeare Festival, the Garden Grove Community Theater, with which this same council member is associated and which he has stated he prefers to the Grove, was preparing a production of "Cabaret." Did this council member know that "Cabaret" is not only set in Berlin and deals, among other things, with the depravity of Germany between the wars (and is rather explicit about the whole matter)

Beth Lapides didn't even know she was looking to bring back her legendary Un-Cabaret comedy show until she saw the hidden backroom at the restaurant First and Hope, with its Art Deco styling and speak-easy feel. The swanky location inspired Lapides to resurrect the Un-Cabaret that she and co-producer Greg Miller had created in the early '90s and which had fueled a new generation of alternative comedy around Los Angeles. In response to the hacky acts she found at mainstream venues back then, she wanted a show that was "un-homophobic, un-xenophobic, un-misogynistic," she recalls.

On the cusp of her Broadway return, starring in the controversial re-imagined production of "Porgy and Bess" (renamed "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess"), four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, 41, comes to Orange County on Oct. 15 for a cabaret performance, midway through a two-month cross-country tour. Your Oct. 15 concert at Segerstrom Center is scheduled for a break between "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess'" out-of-town and Broadway runs? Yes, we have a couple of months off. We start back up with previews Dec. 17. What can the audience look forward to?

Mary Cleere Haran, a singer, actress and writer whose performances and recordings brought new perspectives to classic American popular songs, died Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She was 58. The Broward County coroner's office confirmed that she died of injuries suffered two days earlier when she was struck by a car while riding a bicycle. From the time she made her debut in New York's cabaret scene at the Ballroom in 1988, Haran quickly established herself as one of the sophisticated musical genre's most uniquely appealing stars.

The cabaret room at LunaPark is a low-ceilinged black box hung with red curtains and mirrors--as well a cabaret should be. Little round tables snuggle together. Candles smolder. "I feel like I'm in a Turkish prison," comic Ed Kraznick says appreciatively, taking the stage. LunaPark is the creation of Jean-Pierre Boccara, genius of the Lhasa Club and Cafe Largo.

Life may be a cabaret, but don't try telling that to the Irvine Civic Light Opera these days. The troupe's financial woes have lent an unusual, and uncomfortable, importance to its production of the John Kander/Fred Ebb musical. What the ICLO needs is a hit, the kind of show that generates the word-of-mouth that leads to a full house--and maximum box office--every night. What it's got is something only passable, a mix of entertaining stretches diminished by missed opportunities.

Beth Lapides didn't even know she was looking to bring back her legendary Un-Cabaret comedy show until she saw the hidden backroom at the restaurant First and Hope, with its Art Deco styling and speak-easy feel. The swanky location inspired Lapides to resurrect the Un-Cabaret that she and co-producer Greg Miller had created in the early '90s and which had fueled a new generation of alternative comedy around Los Angeles. In response to the hacky acts she found at mainstream venues back then, she wanted a show that was "un-homophobic, un-xenophobic, un-misogynistic," she recalls.

At one point in her career, Janis Paige suffered from a singer's worst nightmare: the inability to carry a tune. But nearly irreparable vocal-cord damage didn't stop her. The 89-year-old singer/actress will be performing her one-woman autobiographical cabaret show Friday and Saturday at the Gardenia in West Hollywood, March 4-5 at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco and at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in New York on May 20-21. Cinephiles know Paige for her peppy, comedic performances in such musical comedies as 1948's "Romance on the High Seas" and 1957's "Silk Stockings," in which she nearly stole the film with her rendition of the satirical Cole Porter tune "Stereophonic Sound" with Fred Astaire.

REOPENING Water Grill 544 S. Grand Ave. 3-11 p.m. Friday. (213) 891-0900 NEW LOUNGE Sadie 1638 N. Las Palmas Ave. 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat-Sun. (323) 467-0200 PST MINI-CONCERTS SASSAS at Welcome Inn 1840 W. Colorado Blvd. 4 p.m-10 p.m. Sunday. Sassas.org/welcomeinn COMEDY Un-Cabaret with Marc Maron First + Hope 710 West 1st St. 8 p.m. Sunday. $15. (213) 617-8555. POP-UP NOODLE BAR Cooks County 8009 Beverly Blvd.

On the cusp of her Broadway return, starring in the controversial re-imagined production of "Porgy and Bess" (renamed "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess"), four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, 41, comes to Orange County on Oct. 15 for a cabaret performance, midway through a two-month cross-country tour. Your Oct. 15 concert at Segerstrom Center is scheduled for a break between "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess'" out-of-town and Broadway runs? Yes, we have a couple of months off. We start back up with previews Dec. 17. What can the audience look forward to?

Mary Cleere Haran, a singer, actress and writer whose performances and recordings brought new perspectives to classic American popular songs, died Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She was 58. The Broward County coroner's office confirmed that she died of injuries suffered two days earlier when she was struck by a car while riding a bicycle. From the time she made her debut in New York's cabaret scene at the Ballroom in 1988, Haran quickly established herself as one of the sophisticated musical genre's most uniquely appealing stars.

'Cabaret' Joel Grey won a supporting actor Tony for the 1966 Broadway production of "Cabaret" as the malevolent Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub and the supporting actor Oscar for Bob Fosse's celebrated 1972 film version. 'Dancing With the Stars' Grey's daughter, Jennifer, not only won season 11 last fall of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," she also was nominated for a Golden Globe as Frances "Baby" Houseman in the 1987 favorite, "Dirty Dancing. " Mickey Katz Grey's father, Mickey Katz, was a renowned clarinetist but was best loved for his musical parodies, such as "Duvid Crockett," "Borscht Riders in the Sky" and "Barber of Schlemiel.

Phil Moore, the vocal coach whose classes have turned hundreds of nervous amateurs into confident professionals, went public Wednesday evening, presenting 15 of his students at the Alleycat Bistro in Culver City. The long evening left no doubt that Moore doesn't try to cast all his charges into one mold. Some leaned toward contemporary pop, others to jazz with an occasional touch of soul. Most of the performers displayed good stage presence, though some were inclined to talk too much. E. J.

The citizens of this town, built as a monument to an oppressive ruler and the last place in the Caribbean to bear a dictator's name, are pleased to announce a change of address. Not that the poor and often barefoot residents are moving away. But now, with the Duvalier dynasty toppled after 28 years, the townsfolk, using paint and shouts, have restored to their town its former name: Cabaret. "Vive Cabaret (Long live Cabaret)!"