Chicago Cabaret Singer Beckie Menzie is "Real Emotional Girl" on New CD | Playbill

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News Chicago Cabaret Singer Beckie Menzie is "Real Emotional Girl" on New CD Beckie Menzie, the Chicago cabaret artist who sings and plays a mean jazz piano, has released a new disc of pop, cabaret and show standards, "Real Emotional Girl."

The disc is a followup to an earlier album, "Heart & Soul." Billboard and Back Stage recognized Menzie for her vocals and musical arrangements on singer Tom Michael's debut CD, "Sailing On." Michael now guests on Menzie's disc, which includes songwriters as diverse as Mary Chapin Carpenter ("Where Time Stands Still"), Irving Berlin ("Always"/"What'll I Do"), the Gershwins ("Fascinating Rhythm"), Jerome Kern ("Make Believe"), Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse ("Feeling Good") and Randy Newman ("Real Emotional Girl").

The CD includes a frisky, pianistic version of Berlin's "Let Yourself Go" which has "Flight of the Bumblebee" as a countermelody. Also heard is a new song by Windy City theatre lyricist Cheri Coons and composer Menzie, "Surprise Me."

According to her bio on beckiemenzie.com, Menzie has appeared at New York City's Town Hall and Don't Tell Mama, Chicago's Pump Room, The Bushnell Theatre in Hartford, Houston's Ovations, and The Breakers and Four Seasons in Palm Beach.

She's two-time winner of Chicago's After Dark Outstanding Cabaret Artist award and the 2002 Hall of Fame Award.

Menzie performs regularly in Chicago at Gentry on State and The Big House and has appeared at Toulouse Cognac Bar, Pops For Champagne, Davenports and The Royal George Theatre. As a songwriter, Menzie received a 1999 After Dark Award for Outstanding Music & Lyrics and a Jefferson Citation nomination for Best New Work for the musical Female Problems, produced by Chicago's Pegasus Theatre.

 
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