ON THE BEAT: It’s hard to sit still at Composers Showcase
Most journalists will tell you that we're fortunate enough to see some pretty interesting stuff. No surprise, of course. If it weren't interesting, we wouldn't be there to tell the world about it. But as journalists, we're supposed to be there as flies on the wall. At a heated city council meeting, we put on poker faces to appear un-fazed by any biases buried deep within us. We strive to stay composed in the face of extraordinary circumstances – an interview with a 7-year-old cancer patient, a fire that destroys a neighborhood or a divisive legal case.
These situations pull at our emotions, but we're not there to participate, add to or to comment on them. Journalists are merely the quiet mirrors who reflect the situation.
Well, I'll admit it … at the Composers Showcase a couple weeks ago, I threw all my journalistic inhibitions to the wind. The monthly showcase starts at 10:30 p.m. and lasts well past midnight. So I figured, if I'm going to be on the clock at 11:30 p.m. on a Thursday, I'm
going to enjoy it.
I was a respectful reporter, for the most part. I walked past the appetizers and the booze to take my reserved seat in the front row.
The Composers Showcase is an unadvertised event where the most talented songwriters and performers squeeze into the Liberace Museum to show off their newest material in a casual atmosphere. There is no stage makeup, no spotlights and no paychecks. They're there to have fun and to swap their creative talents.
By the end of the night, I was singing along with Robin Baxter, who currently plays Rosie in the Strip show "Mama Mia," and snapping my fingers to Clint Holmes' performance of "Simple Songs."
I sat there, face to face with this talent, and thought, how fortunate am I to work as a reporter and get a glimpse of this? Then I realized, I'm no one special. Anyone can go to a Composers Showcase. It's free and open to the public!
The Composers Showcase is held monthly at the Liberace Museum, 1775 E. Tropicana Ave. The shows begin at 10:30 p.m. The date for the showcase changes each month, as it fits between the performers' and songwriters' schedules. For updates, visit www.thecomposersshowcase.com.
