naked - a cabaret

Come check out my latest cabaret this Friday at 9pm at Signature Theatre! Featuring music by The Indigo Girls, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Adele, The Civil Wars, Cheap Trick, and Paula Abdul.  Yes, that's right, Paula Abdul! Check us out!!!
xoxoSGS

Hump Day update

What's up? What's new? What's going on? Well...I am fighting off a cold, now for the 4th week straight, which just really sucks. I am so tired of being sick, it is driving me insane. But that is hardly breaking news.

In other news, this weekend is a very special one at ArtSpace Falls Church, as the FOURTHwall cabaret series has been extended into September due to popular demand, and kick off the extension week is none other than Matt and Penny Conner. Yes, you heard right. Here is the press release:

"Matt Conner is going back to his roots of Gospel Music and celebrating with his mother Penny. A life long singer and former lead singer with the band "Lonely hearts",she will be singing some of her favorites including Consider the Lillies, Patsy Cline's Crazy, and The Rose, just to name a few. Matt and mom will be sharing stories from childhood including the Annual Christmas Pageants, that were written by Matt, and the many country funerals and weddings. Take a glimpse into a past that has one common family thread: Music!!!"

That is this Saturday, September 11th at ArtSpace Falls Church. Not to be missed. ‎571-239-5288 or http://www.creativecauldron.org/ for tickets.

What else? I just sang at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage for the 5th year in a row. We presented work in development at Signature, including "The Hollow" and "The Boy Detective Fails". You can watch the archive video HERE. Then when you get there, click on the 9/6/10 performance, and there we will be!

Fundraising continues for me and Matt's show, Night of the Living Dead the musical. The Kickstarter web page was started not 24 hours ago, and we are already at over $400!!! We have 29 days to go, so please help me spread the word! Even one dollar will help to raise the dead!!

In case I have not battered you over the head with it enough, HERE is the link to donate.

The first reading of the piece will be held at the Kensington Armory on Monday October 18th at 8pm. It is free and open to the public. Details to follow.

That's about all I know right now, but will check in with more news as it happens! Happy Hump Day, y'all!!!!

Save the Last Dance for Me - Photos

Here are some photos, taken by Jose Luis Diaz of my last cabaret, Save the Last Dance for Me. Photos feature yours truly alongside Karissa Swanigan. Enjoy!

Surfacing...

Wow. This has been an incredibly hectic Summer! Singing in 4 different cabarets, Performing in a Fringe Festival show, teaching camp for 12 weeks, bar tending at Signature, and writing a show! Wow!
No wonder the blog posts just sort of evaporated on here. Now that most of that is done, things are returning to somewhat normalcy. I have many pictures to share with you, and we have much to talk about. For now, my next performance will be at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, singing a few songs from The Boy Detective Fails on Labor Day. After that, the next thing definitely on the books is a reading of me and Matt Conner's new musical, Night of the Living Dead on Monday, October 18th at Kensington Arts Theatre. I start rehearsals for Sunset Boulevard on November 8th at Signature Theatre, and am incredibly excited to be a part of all of these amazing projects.

Everything else is fine, Buddha is as funny as ever, and is doing well. (As you can see from the picture above).

So more posts will be put up here this week. Summer is almost over, and the blog is back!

xoxoxo

sgs

This Saturday: The Kid Inside: A Cabaret about Teaching and Learning

My Latest cabaret will be this Saturday night at Falls Church Art Space. It is about me teaching children there at the art space, and what I have learned by watching them. Some songs that you will hear include: Go the Distance from Disney's Hercules, Out There from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Rainbow Connection, I Won't Grow Up, Any Dream Will Do, and many others! Children under 12 get in free with the purchase of one adult ticket. 571-239-5288 or www.creativecauldron.org for tickets. See you there!

COMING ON TUESDAY!!!

BUY TICKETS NOW!

LEAST COMPLICATED - JULY 20TH @ 8PM

Karissa Swanigan and I will be presenting a cabaret at Signature Theatre on July 20th entitled, Least Complicated. The show is a funny look at love and relationships from grade school to present, with songs by Madonna, The Pretenders, Bruce Springsteen, Heart, Steve Winwood and many others. The cabaret will also feature Gabriel Mangiante on piano and Sean Jenness on guitar. Tickets are available at Signature Theatre's website, HERE.

JULY 20, 8PM: Stephen Gregory Smith & Karissa Swanigan

Yes, that's right - July 20th at 8pm at Signature Theatre, Karissa and I will be bringing you "Least Complicated" - a cabaret about laughter, love, and all of the grade school dances in between. Featuring songs by Ingrid Michaelson, Heart, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Matt Conner, Rufus Wainwright, The Pretenders, The Indigo Girls and more.

TICKETS ON SALE JUNE 1ST

BREAKING NEWS: ADDED PERFORMANCE OF SWINGING SANTAS AT SIGNATURE THEATRE TONIGHT @ 8PM!!!

This in from Signature Theatre:



Signature Theatre has added a special performance of the Swingin' Santas on Monday, December 21 at 8pm. Don't miss your last chance to celebrate the holidays with some of Signature's favorite men who will be singing of chestnuts, holly and holiday cheer.
Swingin' Santas: A Holiday Cabaret
ADDED PERFORMANCE - December 21, 2009, 8pm



TICKETS ARE ONLY $33!
Call the Signature Box Office starting 9 a.m. Monday morning at 703-820-9771 to get your tickets!

So we have one more show now, and if you have not seen us yet, please come out and see us!!
xoxo
sgs

NOW PLAYING: SWINGING SANTAS at SIGNATURE THEATRE

Come and see me this week in Swinging Santas at Signature Theatre! The show features some gorgeous music and some great voices! December 15th through the 20th at Signature Theatre. For tickets and info, go to www.signature-theatre.org
See you there!

Gentlemen Apparently DO prefer Blondes...

Last night I went to see my friends, Bligh Voth and Weslie Woodley in their cabaret debut, "Blonde Ambish" at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage.
The show was fantastic, as I knew it would be, and the chemistry that the girls have is fantastic! Their blend in such songs as "Casting Call" or "I Will Never Leave You" was so good that it sounded like one voice having a duet with itself. Their tonality and phrasing is so similar, that whenever the girls sang together, it was truly wonderful. And their solo numbers were a treat as well. Bligh gets quite a bit of respect from me for singing "Making Love Alone" at the Kennedy Center. lol.
Weslie's "Girl in 14G" is quite a tour de force as well, ranging in many different musical styles.
The show was packed, and the girls really were amazing. I think that this is the beginning of a cabaret duo that we will see much more of in the future. I mean; you do the math - two gorgeous blonde gfirls who are amazingly talented and sing their faces off...book them now!















After the show was done, we dropped by what was to be a surprise birthday party for Erin Driscoll. And when I walked up the stairs, I saw this cake and did a double take...










Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Erin Driscoll and James Gardiner are engaged!!!
It became quite the happy celebration with all of their family and friends gathered around them. I am ridiculously happy for both of them and wish them all of the happiness that they truly deserve.
So yesterday was QUITE the fantastic day. Even more fantastic if you were any of the three blonde girls mentioned in this post, though.
Congrats to all!
xoxo
sgs

(2) - AKA The Stephen Gregory Smith Show - The Photos - by Joe Calarco

The show went great - here are some amazing photos taken by Joe Calarco.
Enjoy!
xoxo
SGS

(2) - AKA The Stephen Gregory Smith Show - Wednesday, July 15th at Signature Theatre

Just FYI - My cabaret is now titled - (2) - AKA The Stephen Gregory Smith Show, and will feature duets with Washington DC's and NYC's top performers...singing with me.

Artists featured are:

Stephen Gregory Smith with...

Tracy Olivera (Casey)

Felicia Curry

Hunter Foster

Eleasha Gamble

James Gardiner

Will Gartshore

Amy McWilliams

Chris Mueller

Chris Sizemore

Bayla Whitten

Weslie Woodley

With Gabe Mangiante on piano.

Wednesday, July 15th at 8:30pm

- all tickets $20.

www.signature-theatre.org

Hump Day Check In

Hey there folks. What's new? What's going on in your lives? How is your summer going?
Mine is off to an interesting start.
I am working at my part time day job for a couple of days a week, but that is about it, so for the first time ever, I have filed for unemployment.
I start teaching camp in about 2 weeks, so I don't plan to be on it for long.
It's just these 2 weeks that will get a bit scary in the wallet department...so if any of you want to cook me dinner, I wouldn't object...haha.
Speaking of which, I signed up to sell some stuff at our community's yard sale this Saturday from 8AM to 11AM. I have been making some candles to sell there, and drudged through many dvds, videos, clothes, etc. I am sure to have a strange, interesting and wonderful sales table. Drop on by and buy some stuff!
My cabaret this summer will be entitled "Mixtape"
and will feature an eclectic blend of folk, pop, gospel, show tunes and more, featuring Gabe Mangiante on the piano. July 15th at Signature Theatre. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
What else?
I am kind of obsessed with The Weather Channel's

VORTEX2: The Great Tornado Hunt
It is an amazing show, fascinating and breath taking all at once. I feel a little heartsick watching it, because I know that I am watching what I truly should have done with my life (career wise). Not just being a tornado chaser, but being a field meteorologist. This show is almost over, but you can catch 2 more days of it on The Weather Channel and also catch their streaming web casts from 12-2PM tomorrow and the next day as they drive to whatever their new chase locations will be. Check it out.

Ok...that's my hump day check in. Hope you are all well and that life is treating you good.
Chat more tomorrow.
SGS

Another flashback: Franklin Shepherd INC.

A FLASHBACK: "Giants in the Sky"

From my cabaret, "Use What You Got". Signature Theatre 2007

The Last Gasp of Summer

Well there it went. Labor Day Weekend 2008. As always, we joke with each other - "How is Summer over already?". Yeah. I am asking the same question. What's funny is that every year we end up asking ourselves this, but while Summer is slipping by we hardly take umbrage. When it is early July, it seems like September is FOREVER away. September is not even a thought. How does it happen so fast?
And what have you done with your Summer? We also ask ourselves these silly questions. We put so much pressure on a season that it can never be what we expect of it. When we were young in school our first assignment back in class was usually an essay in which we had to explain what we did with our Summer.
It is a mystical and magical time of year when we all seem to be happier to be alive. Happy to enjoy the sun, and do activities outdoors. Happy to go and get an ice cream cone and not feel guilty about the calories. Happy to grill out and have outdoor picnics. Happy to be content in doing absolutely nothing.
Happy.
Even as August begins, the long and sprawling month of 31 days of dead heated Summer air seems endless. It stretches out and blurs like the horizon of a hot asphalt road.
Then you wake up one day and start to make Labor Day Weekend plans, and before you hang up the phone it hits you. Labor Day.
Where has it gone?
Well for me the Summer has been spent mainly at work. I started working at Alexandria Tanning Salon in May, and also was teaching at Arts Adventure camp in July, plus working my usual Ticket Place job, and also juggling my cabaret, Insomnieoke that ran 4 performances in July and August. Oh, and making candles.
My time spent performing this past Summer is shorter than i would have liked it to be, as I did not have a show to do this Summer. But instead I had many other opportunities that were all different from each other.
I spent the beginning half of the Summer having panic attacks over my cabaret. What to do in it, how to make it funnier. How to conceptualize it. I got so sick of thinking about it. In the end, it came out how it came out. I was not totally happy with it but it was what it was. People seemed to enjoy it.
Then there was the Signature Theatre Open House. That whirlwind of a day that is always a manic rush of a good time. I had a blast and think I liked the Imrov Show hosted by James Gardiner and Evan Casey the most. I don't want to have to wait a year to see and do that again! It was too much fun!
Then the Kensington Arts Theatre Gala last week,which was fantastic and a big success for the company. Matt and I were happy to be able to perform there, and LOVED the chance to see our friends Brad Oscar and Diego Prieto.
And finally this past Monday I had the pleasure of singing in "Where Does East Begin?" a Musical Journey by Matt Conner at the Millenium Stage of the Kennedy Center.
I have sung for the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival, which this was a part of, every Labor Day for the past 4 years. I am always happy to do it, and love the opportunity to sing my partner's gorgeous music. New material was featured from 3 shows that he is working on: Crossing, Senior Moments, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It went very well, and I think was our best showing at the Page to Stage yet.

And in closing, this is what I did for my Summer. At least part of it. I will continue to update with Summer recaps through the week.
Sorry I have been blog silent of late, but I have been working non stop and when my time is free obsessing over the DNC or RNC, depending on the night.
Talk soon,
SGS

INSOMNIEOKE - FINAL PERFORMANCE - AUGUST 1st - 9:30PM@ SIGNATURE THEATRE

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Easy like Sunday morning...

Ok...much better last night. Not quite perfect, and still working out a few kinks, but at least I had a good time. For the time being, however, I don't even want to think about it. I have 2 weeks vacation from the sleepless night Cabaret. And last night was the first decent night's sleep that I have had in weeks. So on to talking about other things for the next 2 weeks. I'm sick of talking about myself!
:)
Like this picture, for instance.


My friend Damien sent me this picture. It is from 10 years ago, when we were doing Sweet Charity at SU. God I look like a child. Anyways, I kind of love this picture, and wanted to share it with all of you.
Also, I am blogging from the Arlington Library below Signature right now. Kind of weird. God I can't wait till I get my computer fixed!
Till tomorrow!

Where is the steering wheel?

Well...last night was interesting. The audience had a good time. I learned a lot about the show, what works, what doesn't, what needs to be honed in on more, and what angles need to be cut out.
I am still compiling all of this information and feedback in my head. The show that I did last night was made up on the spot. Entirely. It contained elements of the original idea, but was not the complete original idea.
I think what my problem is is this: I am an ambitious dreamer. I want to give people an entertaining, hysterical, irreverent and enjoyable evening. I want them to identify with the places the human brain can go when left to its own devices late at night. The problem is that I bring SO much to the table that I tend to lose myself in all of the everything else. I got stuck in an idea of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as torture late at night as it gets stuck in my brain and keeps reoccurring.
Hence the puppets that you see below.
This idea started to force me into a creative corner, and I was getting stuck there.
At 6:30pm last night, after I sound checked and had already gone through my show order and lights, I went home and had a meltdown.
Not kidding, here. A serious meltdown. Most of this, funny enough, is because the cabaret about not being able to get to sleep has done the same thing to me in my real life. I have been working 4 jobs while trying to put all of this together in my living room, with no director or editor's eye. And all on about 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night.
And when I came home, I realized that I had bit off more than I could chew. There was simply not enough time to pull off all that I wanted to do. I had roughly 20 minutes to load in my set and props.
I realized that this would not afford me the time to devote to everything that I had intended.
I sat in my house with my ever valiant partner and he helped me to simplify the big mess that I had made for myself. The resulting evening was far less of a disaster than it would have been without his help. I really and truly don't know what in the world I would do without Matt Conner. He is everything.
So, long story short...last night, while fun, was a sort of hodge podge of what I had originally intended. Tonight, I have honed down many elements, cut some songs, and am much more aware of what I am doing.
Thank God.
You have no idea how terrifying it is to stand on a stage and look out at all of you wonderful people and feel like I am not doing the best that I can do. To fear that I am not entertaining you. From the wonderful feedback I heard from last night, I am gathering that I did entertain you.
But last night was about many things, and last night is over.
Tonight, I'm taking this horse's reigns back in my own hands. I'm driving the bus tonight, and you are in for a wonderful ride.
Till it's time for beddy-byes,
SGS