Bill Cooper at The Octavia Lounge

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An Evening With Bill Cooper at The Octavia Lounge

For singer Bill Cooper cabaret is a subject that causes him to be ecstatic. For him as a performer there is something innate about it. He understands the elements that move him to get up on stage. He will be at The Octavia Lounge on Oct. 27 for his one-man show called, “You’re Soaking in It.”

He met with Cabaret Exchange to talk about the show and his excitement about taking the show to New York City to debut at The Metropolitan Room ten days later. Since the 1990’s Cooper has been performing at all the cabaret venues in San Francisco.

Born into a musical family, he was singing by age five in church and at country-western dance halls. “My mom was a Pentecostal preacher and my father was a blue grass musician,” Cooper said.

His parents were originally from Oklahoma. They moved to California and settled in what is today referred to as Silicon Valley. “I grew up in the San Jose area. Back then it was a small town atmosphere of orchards and vineyards, nothing like it is now,” he said.

Cooper is thankful that his parents did make the move west because he confided that he loves the warm weather of California. An exception is San Francisco in summer when it has its chilly fog season.

He credits those early years as part of the incentive to perform. He sees the pastoral setting and religious influence as a positive thing. But church assembly or jamboree sessions notwithstanding, Cooper was drawn to musicals.

He was able to get a sample of live performances of musicals through variety shows on TV like the Ed Sullivan Show. “I was able to watch movie musicals which were also shown on television and I just fell in love with them,” said Cooper. Saving up his allowance, he would buy original cast albums.

Those television shows and movies were such a treat because Cooper got to see some of the most talented people at the time, like Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. “The television specials they had were classics. There is nothing on TV like that any more,” said Cooper.

He admitted that he was not at all interested in rock music while in high school. “Back then I was a total Barbra fan,” he said. “To me she was a phenomenal talent, her voice, her sense of humor. But to the other kids in school she was just the girl with the big nose who sang,” said Cooper.

“I got teased awful at school because of it,” he added. Nevertheless, he was still inspired. He remembers seeing many an exceptionally talented person on those TV shows. Among them were Susan Johnson and Karen Morrow.

Unknown to younger audiences today, including this reporter, Johnson and Morrow were among the great voices that graced Broadway in the 1950’s and 60’s. “Unfortunately, part of the reason why they are unknown is because individually, they were in many shows that flopped,” said Michael Mascioli, Cooper’s lyricist-show writer and friend.

Yet, despite the obscurity of Morrow and Johnson, Cooper considers them among the greats like Streisand and Garland. It has to do with that innate something. Cooper surmised, “Words and melody are important but there is something within the voice that just hits me,” he said. 

“The first time I heard Susan’s voice, I got teary-eyed,” Cooper recalled. Upon closer investigation there was success amid the flops. Susan Johnson is best remembered for her performance “The Most Happy Fella” that opened on Broadway in 1956.

And, Karen Morrow made her debut in the musical “I Had A Ball,” in 1964.

Mascioli helps Cooper find material for shows. Mascioli referred to Bluegobo.com, an online archive of video clips and sound bytes from Broadway shows. In that archive were “The Most Happy Fella” and “I Had A Ball.”

The clips at the site were taken from segments of the Ed Sullivan Show as scenes from the musicals were performed live. Clearly, it is easy to recognize why Cooper tallies Morrow and Johnson among his favorites.

Playbill magazine published Johnson’s obituary when she died in February of 2003, referring to her as “the big voiced Broadway soubrette.” Webster’s Dictionary defines this French word as a soprano who sings supporting roles in comic operas with a voice that exceeds insuperable. 

Somewhat similar in stature to the likes of Ethel Merman, no doubt these two Broadway voices were huge not only in talent but also in stage presence. “Karen really belts out the song. Yet she can sing ballads too with subtlety,” said Cooper. 

Morrow still performs as her resume lists countless appearances in TV sit-coms over the years since “I Had A Ball.” Cooper was delighted to learn that she has a website, (www.karenmorrow.com).

Cooper is honored to include in his show, several of the songs Morrow and Johnson sang while on Broadway. He follows no particular theme. “I just sing what I like and some of it is stuff that does not get heard much,” said Cooper.

It took some time, courage and lots of effort with money out of pocket, but as he said, “I went out there and did it.” His very first performance as a singer was at the Plush Room in San Francisco.

Cooper left the church choirs and country music jamborees to do what he longed for. Since that very first performance at the Plush Room, Cooper has continued to perform. He loves to sing show tunes, ballads and heart-felt torch songs.

Barry Lloyd will be accompanying Cooper on the piano. “I like Bill’s choice of eclectic material,” said Lloyd. “He’s got a knack for picking out interesting stuff, even the obscure,” Lloyd added.

Lloyd mentioned that Cooper is one of the few singers he plays for, as Lloyd is currently performing in shows of his own. Lloyd will be performing at The Octavia Lounge the night before “You’re Soaking in It!”

Cooper lamented that the Plush Room will be closing at the end of the year as he noted much of the live entertainment contemporary audiences go for are large concerts. “There is so much going on. People are not really listening to the music, it’s just a bunch of noise.”

“We need to keep cabaret alive,” he said. “Audiences out there are starving for the intimacy that is offered in a cabaret setting,” said Cooper.

“There is something that happens in cabaret that keeps me going.” “Certainly, not financially,” said Cooper with a laugh. “It seems tangible at times, yet mystical. I get a thrill each time I get to sing.” “This is what I do; it’s an innate part of me,” he said.

For more information about Bill Cooper and his show “You’re Soaking in It,” visit: www.billcoopersings.com.