'Charitable Cabaret' Lets Audience Members Choose Cause

Ambitious actress and events coordinator Anita Boyer put on her first original variety show in October 2010 and is now kicking off her second, the Charitable Cabaret, which will take place Thursday through Sunday at the .

"We did the October show as a fundraiser," Boyer explained. "I got the idea to do a second show because I am trying to establish our troupe, Our Fabulous Variety Show, as a group that does two to four shows annually in order to benefit many different charitable organizations."

Audience members will receive a raffle ticket each and have the opportunity to purchase additional tickets. "Once intermission ends, we will draw the winner, and that audience member will get to decide which charitable cause the proceeds from that performance will go to benefit," she said.

The theme of the Charitable Cabaret was inspired by the recent Christina Aguilera/Cher movie Burlesque, Boyer said. "We wanted a venue to showcase our talents and we also wanted a challenge, a show with many different styles of dancing and singing than any of us are used to, so that we could both improve as performers and also bring a unique show to the East End," she said. She stressed that the show is family friendly.

Boyer, who started her career in event coordination and business Stressless Event a short time ago, said she aims to create her own work and events "often out of nothing," in an attempt to build her client base and get her name out there. "This event is another way for me to hone my skills both as an actor and as an event director," she said.

She began throwing around ideas for the show this past February, working with one of the choreographers, Bethany Dellapolla, to establish the theme, set list and casting for each number. "I ended up with an extremely professional cast," she said.

The pit band is led Karen Hochstedler, and every cast member is set to have a featured number. The numbers will include such jazz standards as "Take 5," and "At Last" as well as some Broadway tunes from the shows Sweet Charity ("Big Spender") and Chicago ("I Move On.")

"Our dance styles range from stomp and hip-hop to jazz, tap and ballroom, and we round out the performance with our rendition of Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way,'" Boyer said.

Kasia Klimiuk, one of the show's choreographers, said, "I'm most looking forward to the high energy of the show, since many of us are in almost every number."

Performer Erin McKenna is especially anticipating the audience's reaction to a more old-school form of dance. "I'll be performing the number "Take 5,"" she said. "It's a piece that is all about the tap-dancing, and I know that the audience will have just as much fun watching it as I have doing it."

"All of us have performed together in the past, and we have a really great dynamic while working together," Klimiuk said. "We are all really good friends as well, so every rehearsal is not only hard work, but enjoyable too."

"We're all people with very busy lives who also love to perform," McKenna said, "and everyone really stepped up to the plate to make this happen. The result is a dynamite show."

Tickets for the Charitable Cabaret are available online, via email at stresslessevent@gmail.com, or by calling 740-607-6748. Shows are Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. Tickets range from $15 to $50.