Out There :: Paula West is in the house

Last week, beloved jazz and cabaret singer Paula West began an eight-week residency at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco, and all lovers of the American songbook beautifully sung should note the dates of West's run, through March 13. She is known for her intelligence and taste in choosing a play list, and on opening night she offered up 12 songs and two encores backed by a crack jazz ensemble, the George Mesterhazy Quartet.

West's vocals are full of power and character, and she also has the enunciation and diction to tackle songs from Cole Porter and Irving Berlin , dependent as they are on the delivery of sharp lyrics and wordplay. She opened her set with "Come Runnin'" by Roc Hillman, which she told us was a fixture of Lena Horne's supper-club act.

For all of her command of the stage and easy charisma, West is notably low-key in her patter and presentation, bordering on self-effacing. She is an anti-diva diva, if you will, but no less than utterly captivating when she is selling a song and making it hers. In this set she gives us, back-to-back, Porter's "At Long Last Love," Berlin's "Suppertime" and Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm." Other highlights include Hoagy Carmichael's "Baltimore Oriole" and, "in a mini-Perry Como tribute," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" by Slim Willet. The musicians onstage were in the groove - they swung. They were Mesterhazy, who did the arrangements, at the piano; Barak Mori completely in charge on the bass fiddle; Ed Cherry impressive on guitar; and, on drums, the endlessly inventive Jerome Jennings.

Out There remains somewhat unconvinced that Jimmy Webb 's "Wichita Lineman," made famous by Glen Campbell, deserves a hallowed place in the cabaret canon, but West made as good a case for it as anyone could. "And I need you more than want you": what lover in their right mind would ever want to hear that? But this is a minor quibble, for the show is a delight. Find info at www.therrazzroom.com.

P.S.: West and other stars of the nightclub stage could not have been nurtured and given the room to grow as artists without the support (and bookings) of dedicated venues like the Rrazz Room in the Hotel Nikko, and others. The Bay Area Cabaret season, for example, continues on March 13 when John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey play the recently reopened Venetian Room in the Fairmont Hotel. The jazz guitarist and his Broadway actress wife will bring their Cafe Carlyle (NY) show Heart of Saturday Night; find info at www.bayareacabaret.org.

Operatic anticipation

There's an awful lot of talent and excitement on tap for San Francisco Opera's 2011-12 season, its 89th, the specifics of which SFO announced last week. The headlines will no doubt be made by the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier by Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli , and company premieres of Donizetti 's Lucrezia Borgia, Handel 's Xerxes and John Adams' Nixon in China. There will also be new production premieres of Mozart's The Magic Flute designed by visual artist Jun Kaneko, Mozart's Don Giovanni by director Gabriele Lavia and designer Alessandro Camera , and a new Teatro alla Scala co-production of Verdi 's Attila.

But let's hear it for the operatic warhorses, because often they turn out to be the surprise highlights of the season. SFO Music Director Nicola Luisotti launches the fall festivities with Giacomo Puccini's Turandot at the gala opening on Sept. 9, a revival of David Hockney 's celebrated production. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's production of Bizet 's Carmen will also get an encore.

Leading singers coming to the War Memorial include Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, Marco Berti, David Daniels, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Lucas Meachem, Samuel Ramey, Paulo Szot and Ramon Vargas. Those are some major players. In addition, Maestro Luisotti will conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in two orchestral concerts of their own at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. Herbst Theatre will be the venue for a tribute concert to beloved mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, in celebration of her storied career.

"The Company's 89th season offers a nice balance of repertory, with a healthy mix of debuting and returning artists," said General Director David Gockley in a press statement. "I am particularly pleased that despite these continuing hard financial times, seven of our nine productions will be new to the War Memorial Opera House stage." Bring them on! More info at www.sfopera.com.

O Susannah

Of all the obituaries which followed the recent lamented death of British film actress Susannah York, we're pleased to report that the very best ones included mention of York's indelible role as "Childie, the immature young lover of the protagonist (played by Beryl Reid) in The Killing of Sister George (1968)." This is from the NY Times obit.

"The Killing of Sister George, directed by Robert Aldrich, centered on characters who were lesbians, a taboo subject at the time. It drew especially
wide controversy for an erotic scene between Ms. York and the actress Coral Browne. (The scene was cut from screenings in Connecticut, for instance, by order of the state police.)" The cops knew just how irresistible the lesbians of Connecticut found Ms. Coral Browne. Google her.

Finally, a little show biz dish. Film star Michael Douglas told Extra he is ready for his next role as pianist and King of Bling entertainer Liberace . "It's just nice to play a nice guy after playing all the villains," Douglas said. "Part of Liberace's charm - yes, his piano-playing was wonderful - but people kind of inherently just picked up on his joy and graciousness, on how much fun he was having!"

Matt Damon is onboard to play his young lover. Douglas joked about how he and Damon will prepare for their kissing scenes. "Every once in a while we send little e-mails back to each other and ask, 'What flavor ChapStick do you wear?'" And, we surmise, "Tongue or no tongue?"