'Ladies Who Brunch' Returns to Boston's Club Café Featuring Brand New Cast

"Jim taught me to be more conversational in my singing to tell the story," recalls Sneade-Roy, "and to take risks and to trust what I was doing." As serendipitous as that sounds, Sneade-Roy had to work hard to build a relationship with Rice. "Jim is tough love," asserts Sneade-Roy. "He doesn't hand out compliments. He's never going to hold your hand and tell you it's going to be OK, and he wants you to surround yourself with people better than you."

Sneade-Roy knew Rice needed a female vocalist for a "Steve and Eydie" show he was working on and Sneade-Roy wanted the part. "He wouldn't let me audition for it, because he felt I was too contemporary on Broadway, and I said, "Give me 3 songs,'" notes Sneade-Roy. "I listened to Eydie's work over and over again, and six months later, I auditioned for Jim, and he said, "I was wrong." Sneade-Roy was not only cast in the "Steve and Eydie" revue, performing the show together in numerous venues, including the famed Mechanics Hall in Worcester, but they have become a duo, performing the" Jim and Val Show" monthly at the Club Café's Napoleon Room, as well as other venues in the region.

With Rice as musical director for the "Ladies Who Brunch," Sneade-Roy will be right at home, but she and Rice don't plan to rest on their laurels. "I'm really focusing on the cabaret format with stories that connect with song. The stories are as important as the song itself," explains Sneade-Roy. "I chose my material based on my pattern and what stories I want to share. At the Napoleon Room during open mic nights, there are so many distractions that you have to keep things peppy and there isn't a lot of opportunity for patter and storytelling. So, this is my opportunity to do what I can't do on a regular Napoleon Room night."

Sneade-Roy will perform a variety of musical styles from gospel to cabaret, pop, and Broadway. It's varied. She'll also include a country song by Wynona Judd which she describes as a great cabaret song, with great imagery. Then there is a song, "Let Me Be Strong," by Barbara Baig, from her recording with Rice that they produced 20 years ago. "This feels like the right time to revisit this material," notes Sneade-Roy, "and perform it with what I know now."

Michelle Currie

If ever there was a stalwart fixture in the LGBTQ piano bar scene, it would be Michelle Currie, who has played for decades in various Boston boîtes, such as Diamond Jim's, and the old Napoleon Club, and in more recent years for the Front Porch in Ogunquit, ME, where she and her wife Stacy Cooper moved over a decade ago.

It was Currie's piano bar routine at the Front Porch that also became a lifeline for people during the early days of pandemic lockdown. During the pandemic, Currie decided to continue performing from home by live streaming her performances on the same nights she would normally have been at the Front Porch. It started out as 1-2 hours, but sometimes, if there was a lot of listener response, Currie would just keep on playing, sometimes 3-5 hours.

"Stacy was sitting off-camera communicating the chats to me on a board so I could see them, and she would let me know who was joining so I could say hello to each listener by name," recalls Currie. "I felt like I was doing something for everyone else, but it was also a godsend to me to be able to connect with people. And the music was bringing comfort to everyone, especially at that time."

What people didn't know, other than their close family, Currie and Cooper were early cases of Covid-19, before they knew how to treat it, and it seriously debilitated both of them. "One night, after I finished playing one of my live stream shows, I had 103 degree temp, and I almost passed out," Currie recalls.

Currie's recovery, though slow and not completely over, was faster than Cooper's, who has had to be homebound these past 4-1/2 years as one of the two most serious cases of "Long Covid" in the State of Maine. "She can't drive, or leave the house yet," reports Currie, "But she can now manage things at home, which allows me to leave the house for short periods. We vowed for better or worse, in sickness and in health, so I'm there for her."

With Cooper's small improvement, Currie has been able to maintain her gigs at the Front Porch which are short and close to home, and to branch out to some gigs in Boston and elsewhere. Like Casteel and Sneade-Roy, Currie has been booked by Ida Zecco at the Arctic Playhouse's Cabaret Club in Rhode Island, a gesture Zecco has made to support her talented friends in the community. "I'm so thrilled to be at Club Cafe and Arctic Playhouse, now that I can leave Stacy alone for a bit," says Currie with audible relief.

Currie's household, like Sneade-Roy's, was very musical, her parents being involved with the Worcester County Light Opera, and the Shrewsbury Players Dinner Theatre. Currie studied piano and performed in theater by the age of eight, and at 12, she was the pianist for the Worcester County Light Opera's Children's Summer Workshop. At one of the many cast parties held at her house growing up, her dad even woke her up at midnight, saying their pianist had left and could she come down and play for the party. "I played until 3 in the morning," remarks Currie. "I was 12 years old at the time!"

Currie always felt most at home with musical theater songs growing up. It was the music of her parents. "I listened to a lot of Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, good god, yes, and Liza Minnelli, who was a favorite of mine," confesses Currie. "I also liked Joel Grey and Barry Manilow. All of that came in handy playing at the Napoleon Club all those years ago, and of course at the Front Porch.

For her sets this Sunday, Broadway songs will be on the menu, but she will also mix in some other genres. "They'll be songs by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the Beatles, 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell, a song from 'Waitress,' and my staple, which is always in there, 'Fifty Percent,' from 'Ballroom,'" lists Currie. "It is all music I love to do. It was fun to choose some material people might not have heard me do before."

Currie is another singer, like Casteel, who has performed primarily while accompanying herself at the piano. "My job is to be behind the piano, and it has been my job forever," announces Currie. "But I love to sing out in front more than anything in the whole world and I don't get to do that that often. Only one person other than my wife fills my life with such joy, and that is Jim Rice." Currie has a special bond with Rice, both being from Worcester. "I relax in a different way. I breathe differently when I'm at a piano than when I'm standing up or sitting on a stool," describes Currie. "I enjoy both, but there is a thrill to come out from behind the piano. Ida was the first one to get me to do that. It was in Worcester at my first cabaret show. I was scared shitless! I lost my prop! Then it became its own thing."

Casteel's experience as a pianist/singer is similar. "I play for other cabaret singers. I also play for myself, but it can be distracting. I try to imagine,' How does Billy Stritch do it?'" ponders Casteel. "I asked him how he does it. He turns his bench at an angle so he can face his audience while he plays and sings. He says, 'You're just sore afterwards.' So, I do that and make sure I stretch before and after. But when I have someone as wonderful as Jim Rice play for me, I'd rather have him play."

Casteel couldn't be more excited to perform with Sneade-Roy and Currie. "I've known Valerie for a couple of years now watching her perform with Jim, and a nicer woman never lived," declares Casteel. "She's always very welcoming to me and other singers. She treats the room like it's her living room and everyone is invited." Because of Currie's homebound status, Casteel will be meeting Currie in person for the first time this Sunday. "I can't wait!" exclaims Casteel. "I've heard about her for years. Her talent speaks for itself. I get to watch these two great performers bring their A game. I will sit and be a fan girl when I'm not on stage.

Sneade-Roy is ecstatic to be performing with Casteel and Currie. "If there is someone who I could be when I grow up, it would be Michelle Currie," proclaims Sneade-Roy. "She sings from her toes. She just fills a stage and a room with her presence, her body and her spirit. She has such soul and depth. And, of course, she's a Worcester girl. I am so honored and privileged to sing alongside her." Sneade-Roy feels a different sort of kinship with Casteel. "She and I are cut from the same cloth. We are always cheering people on, taking people under our wing, feeling like there is enough sand in the sandbox for everyone." They are both comfortable standing in the back of the room watching other singers and being a cheerleader. "We both feel like we want to give back to the community by helping other singers. It's not just about me but for everyone else. Taking people's minds off the world. It's very healing. Music is very powerful. This will be one amazing set of songs. I will be in the back of the room when the other two are singing, because I want to see them on stage.

Currie's excitement is palpable. "Truthfully, I can't tell you how many times I've said to Jim Rice, 'I would love to be on stage with Valerie,'" says Currie. "Eden, I will be meeting on Sunday for the first time. I have friends that know her and love her. I'm excited to be on stage with these two talented ladies. Singing the final number together with the two of them will be epic."

Watch Michelle Currie sing "In This Life".

John O'Neil will present Eden Casteel, Michelle Currie, and Valerie Sneade Roy in "the Ladies Who Brunch, Sunday, October 13, 11:30 AM at the Club Café's Napoleon Room, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02116. Tickets are $20 online/$25 at the door. For reservations, visit Club Cafe