Songs to Amuse ... A Cabaret Revue with

Byron Nilsson, Tom Savoy, and Malcolm Kogut

 

 

WE’RE INVITING YOU to laugh with us. There’s nothing that puts a smile on anyone’s face faster than a funny song, and when it’s crafted with elegance and wit, chances are you’ll find it in the repertory that Byron Nilsson, Tom Savoy, and Malcolm Kogut have performed for audiences throughout the area.

 

    A mainstay of their repertory are the songs of Flanders and Swann, who wrote for British revues in the 1940s and performed their own material in the Broadway and West End success “At the Drop of a Hat.” Songs like “The Hippopotamus,” “Have Some Madeira, M’Dear,” “In the Bath,” “The Gnu,” and so many more.

 

    Flanders and Swann were heavily influenced by the English Music Hall influence, which reigned for decades as Great Britain’s most popular place of entertainment, and the easygoing songs – topical, tuneful, slightly ribald – were enjoyed by everyone. Including Noël Coward, who wrote, “My father sang them, my mother played them, my nurse, Emma, breathed them through her teeth.” Byron and Tom and Malcolm keep this pleasure going with a generous bouquet of songs that never seem to lose their appeal, even though they sing about buses that no longer run in London and a vacation island (Capri) no longer as idyllic as it once was. Although the midday sun, celebrated in Coward’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen,” remains reliably scorching.

 

They’re also interested in the fascinating music that makes up our American concert and cabaret heritage; recent shows have included “After the Ball,” Erie Canal songs, a dramatic rendering of Robert W. Service’s “Cremation of Sam McGee.” From these old chestnuts we learn not to make fun of ladies (“She Is More to Be Pitied than Censured”) not to drink too much (“Come Home, Father”), and not to climb snow-capped mountains without the proper cold-weather attire (“Excelsior!,” a setting of the once-well-known Longfellow poem, itself inspired by the New York State motto!)

 

    Other favorites include amusing songs from the Broadway stage by Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim and the wonderful satirical numbers by Tom Lehrer (“The Masochism Tango,” “The Irish Ballad”) and Tom Paxton (“Hand Me Down My Jogging Shoes,” “I Am Changing My Name to Chrysler.”)

 

    They also sing original material and other surprises to liven what promises to be a program of non-stop fun – and if you catch yourself singing along from time to time, don’t worry. That’s how they got started with this stuff.

For information about booking a delightful evening of cabaret, contact cabaret@savoymusic.net or call 518-875-9156.

 

 

BIOS

 

Byron Nilsson is an actor and singer who works regularly with the NYS Theatre Institute, where he recently was seen in 1776 and Macbeth, and where he created roles in their productions of Miracle on 34th Street and Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence. Film credits include Winter of Frozen Dreams. TV appearances include Law and Order and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. He and songwriting partner Tom Savoy recently wrote the musical iFind You @ Last, which premiered last August. A former radio announcer-producer, he also provides theatrical sound design. As a writer, he contributes regularly to Albany, NY’s Metroland magazine, for which he has reviewed restaurants and covered arts events for many years. He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity.

 

Tom Savoy is a much-in-demand accompanist, vocal coach, and composer/arranger of both sacred and popular music. He is founder and past conductor of the New York Catholic Chorale, the RPI Chorale and currently director of Albany’s Fort Orange Singers.  He and partner-lyricist Byron Nilsson have written works for the Lake George Opera and the Albany State University Performing Arts Center, and they also regularly perform programs of cabaret songs by Flanders and Swann, Tom Lehrer, Noël Coward, and others.

 

Malcolm Kogut is skilled at playing and writing both popular and sacred music, and, in the latter realm, won the a National Association of Pastoral Musicians Musician-of-the-Year Award. He has two CDs of original works to his credit along with many published piano and choral books.  He has played in the pit for shows with all the major Capital Region theater groups; he’s also in demand when visiting performers pass through. He became part of the Byron & Tom team in 1986. When away from the keyboard, he loves exploring the nooks and crannies of the Adirondack mountains.