Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Chris Laitta performs "Chris Laitta's TV Tunes" during a late night show at CLO Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown, on a recent Friday night.

Well-structured songs that stand on their own, independent of production, staging or a larger theatrical context. Minimal instrumentation, with the focus on the songs. Stories that set up the songs, or short comedy bits that emphasize the performer's musical talent, timing and charisma.

There's no place to hide in cabaret. The simplicity of the structure requires sophistication of the performers. It's easy to do, hard to do well. Maybe that's part of the reason cabaret was virtually absent from Pittsburgh for decades.

		More information The Cabaret at Theater Square, 412-456-6666 Cabaret Pittsburgh Riverview Series, ProArts at 412-394-3353 Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, 412-276-3456

But that's beginning to change. Audiences are discovering Downtown cabaret shows every Friday and Saturday, and while local jazz singers have been slow to pick up on the trend, a cabaret series is attracting national headliners to Pittsburgh.

Then and now

Cabaret dominated stages for decades, but the performance style began to wane in the 1970s. It didn't disappear from Pittsburgh entirely. Since the '90s, pianist John Holt has written and performed cabaret revues at Mount Washington's Shiloh Inn and other venues. Winnie Flynn did a long-running Holiday Inn revue, and contralto Daphne Alderson has filled Oakland's Heinz Chapel and other spaces with annual cabaret shows.

The beginning of the end of Pittsburgh's near estrangement from cabaret began when the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust bankrolled a parking garage, restaurant, bar and performance space next door to the O'Reilly Theater on Penn Avenue, and in 2004 christened it Theater Square.

While the Trust serves as landlord and books late night weekday shows, Pittsburgh CLO books the early time slot and late nights on weekends and occasionally contracts promoters for special shows. The comfortable 261-seat Cabaret at Theater Square is a cluster of cabaret tables with clear sight lines, professional sound and lighting, and designer Cletus Anderson's lovely proscenium stage. The early slot opened with a long run of "Forever Plaid" before turning to the current open-ended run of "Forbidden Broadway."

CLO associate artistic director Jason Coll coordinates the Friday and Saturday Late Night Cabaret shows, which start at 10 p.m. after "Forbidden Broadway."

"It's pretty eclectic," says Coll. "We take a broad definition of cabaret and, yes, it's finding an audience."

People who "come to the cabaret" won't find the raunchy, smoky, stage shows that defined that Liza Minnelli movie. Mostly local artists perform 90-minute to two-hour shows that are as diverse as the performers.

Barbara Russell, a Pittsburgh institution since the 1960s with Brockett and Barbara, retools her old routine of songs and rim-shot punch lines. Singer-songwriter Karen Dryer's recent show spotlighted original piano songs from her upcoming independent CD. Sketch comedy troupe Citizen Steel recently satirized the political stage. On Saturday, Late Night Cabaret takes its first walk on the wild side with "Dragtime," a female impersonator show.

A key part of cabaret is the artist's patter -- interaction with the crowd and stories that set up the songs. Alderson's beautifully sung, bilingual Late Night Cabaret show offers insight into an interesting song selection from Europe and America.

Few performers have more to talk about than Lenora Nemetz, a former Fosse girl who has performed on Broadway and regional stages across America. Nemetz sings show tunes, dances the original Fosse choreography and weaves it all together with stories tracing her career from her CLO beginnings as a 16-year-old Pittsburgh kid with a lot of dreams and even more energy.

Rather just watch TV? Late Night Cabaret has that covered with "Chris Laitta's TV Tunes," a fun and hilarious romp through 30 years of TV sitcom theme songs with audience sing-alongs, prizes and Laitta's ebullient charisma. Retrofitted with some new songs, "TV Tunes" returns Friday.

Individual shows can be performed once, run for weeks, or show up on the schedule every few months. Tickets to Late Night Cabaret are generally $8 in advance, $10 at the door or $5 for students. Because it's designated a restaurant, all ages are welcome (under-agers wear a bracelet that keeps them from ordering liquor).

"We're developing an audience down there," says Coll. "What appeals to them and doesn't -- we're still figuring that out."

Sometimes, cast members in a touring show do their own cabaret, as when the "Spamalot" cast packed the house in September. But mainly, local artists audition for stage time. They're paid a flat rate, from which they compensate their musicians. CLO picks up the tab for print advertising, shoots out an e-mail list to cabaret fans, and hosts a Web page (www.clocabaret.com) intended to get the word out. Audiences are surprisingly diverse.

"Part of our mission at the cabaret is to introduce new audiences to CLO and get them to 'Forbidden Broadway,' which really pays the bills," says Coll.

"Once More with Feeling," aka "Buffy, the Musical," a sing-along trivia show based on the cult TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," performed this month to a full house of mostly young people who'd presumably never been to a cabaret.

The shows go on

"I think what's happened is the theater community has expanded," says Coll. "With the growth of theater in Pittsburgh, [audiences] are ready to experience [cabaret] as well, including theater-style and other forms of cabaret."

Like anything else that's new, there's a learning curve. Performers don't want to mention it on the record, but some have said privately that some audiences haven't picked up on the interactive nature of cabaret. Artists don't want hecklers, but they also don't want crowds to sit on their hands until the songs are over. It's usually OK to sing along and always appropriate to applaud when a performer drops a celebrity name, mentions a hit show, or sings or dances in a way that's absolutely dazzling.

Just around the corner at the four-diamond Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, a nonprofit spin-off of Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre is importing national cabaret stars. Stephanie Riso started Cabaret Pittsburgh with small shows at a Liberty Avenue cafe. Since 2004, the series has found a financial backer and matured into a multifaceted program that includes educational workshops for local performers and a sleep-over partnership with the Renaissance for fans who enjoy cabaret but not the long drive home.

"There used to be cabaret in Pittsburgh," says Riso. "There was a heyday when lots of clubs had this type of music in town. ... From my view, it's an intimate musical experience."

The 2006 Cabaret Pittsburgh Riverview Series started in May with Mary Cleere Haran, a New York cabaret star famous for her interpretations of screen and stage songs from a bygone era. Tony DeSare brought a set of lounge tunes in July, Craig Carnelia performed and hosted a master class for singers in September, and sister act Ann Hampton Callaway & Liz Callaway will perform Nov. 9.

Formerly of Pittsburgh, Riso runs the series from New York and says she's "considering other ways to keep involved in Pittsburgh" and hopes to "help build a critical mass" for cabaret here.

Local jazz clubs have been slow to capitalize on the growing cabaret trend, but last night in Carnegie, the newly renovated Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall showcased Andrea Marcovicci's interpretation of tunes from the great American songbook. Maggie Forbes, executive director of the music hall, says more cabaret shows are coming to Carnegie, including the return of a free show Dec. 16 with members of the Duquesne Opera Workshop.

"It's music where the lyrics mean as much as the melody," she says. "A cabaret singer talks to you and gives you back story on the songs ... and the lyrics take on a very important role. It's intimate. It's the kind of music we can all walk out singing."