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Lee Summers can wear a lot of hats – singer, songwriter, actor, playwright, producer, club manager, booker – the list goes on.
For “Winds of Change,” he linked together several of his talents to present a major cabaret show at The Triad, a room he not only manages and books, but where he produces some of the shows. This is his own one-man opus, and in it he sings three of his own songwriting efforts, in which he composes both music and lyrics. Directed with a sure hand by Leslie Dockery (who happens to be his wife) and accompanied by the awesome Timothy Graphenreed, this was an episode of the “Just A Piano Concert Series” which Lee produces with singers and pianists.
Summers is an attractive man who appeared on the quite workable stage at The Triad with charm, confidence and a beaming smile buoyed by great response from a sold-out audience of friends and colleagues who were there to support and enjoy. He gave them their money’s worth and then some, opening with the sure-fire pleaser, Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” In this autobiographical act, he talked of his beginnings in his hometown of Nashville, with a deft mixture of highlights of his past, a song from Dreamgirls (he was in the entire four-year run on Broadway) and on to a rousing Motown medley from his long stint as a featured singer at the Motown Café and three songs of his own, written to express his deep feelings. The many friends in the audience reacted happily to the material. The great idea of such a personal show, is that to folks like me, coming to it as a stranger (I knew Lee and liked him only from his work as a manager and booker of the club), by the end of the performance I felt I KNEW him, and this to me is the essence of a great cabaret act. While the evening is billed as “Just a Piano Concert,” Timothy Graphenreed is not “just” anything. He was Musical Director of The Wiz and is an incredible ace pianist and accompanist. Lee cheated a bit by adding the tasteful violinist Nick Orefici, who brought some serious magic to the night.
Lee will be back again in September and November, with dates to be announced. My suggestion is that you check out the first date. You’ll want to come back with a bunch of friends to show off your discovery, I feel sure.
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