PORT TOWNSEND — When George Rezendes said come to the cabaret, people listened.
And this weekend, the guitarist and recording studio operator is wrapping up a string of successes: the Key City Cabaret series of house — or make that playhouse — concerts.
Rezendes and Denise Winter, artistic director of Key City Public Theatre, had a kind of mind meld several months ago.
‘Racka-racka’
They both wanted to turn the Key City Playhouse into an intimate venue where people could hear the melody and harmony — instead of the “racka-racka,” as Rezendes put it, that can fill up a nightclub.
With Winter’s blessing, Rezendes got busy booking acts.
His series started with jazzman Wayne Horvitz in June and finishes at 8 p.m. Sunday with fiddler Laurie Lewis and mandolinist Tom Rozum, bluegrass luminaries from Berkeley, Calif.
Only about a dozen tickets are left for the Lewis-Rozum show, Rezendes said Tuesday.
They’re $15 at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor St.; Crossroads Music, 2100 Lawrence St.; and at www.KeyCityPublicTheatre.org, while information is also available at the Key City office, 360-379-0195.
“It’s sure to sell out,” Rezendes said.
“This [series] has been a sellout at almost every show.”
The Key City Playhouse at 419 Washington St. seats about 80 in the cabaret configuration. And, Rezendes believes, it provides something people crave.
Intimate situation
“The artists and the audience want a more intimate situation,” he said.
That closeness, it seems, is what made Key City Cabaret a hit.
Blues ukulele player Del Rey filled the playhouse June 8; singer-songwriter Simon Lynge completely sold it out July 22, Rezendes added.
These are artists who perform all over the country — and who appreciate the chance to connect with their fans in a venue as cozy as this Port Townsend playhouse.
Rezendes, who owns the Toolshed SoundLab recording studio in Port Townsend, has many friends in the acoustic music world; it pleased him to provide this new venue for their art.
Cooking up series
And since the cabaret series was such a success, he’s cooking up a winter concert series for the Key City Playhouse.
“I already have some very interesting people in mind,” he said, such as finger-style guitarist Mary Flower of Portland, Ore.
She’s in town for Centrum’s Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival throughout this week, but Rezendes envisions a much cozier concert later this year or in early 2013.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
