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Motion Picture director Sidney Lumet (Long Day's Journey Into Night, Serpico, Murder On the Orient Express, The Wiz) said it best, "Over the years, movie music has developed so many clichés of its own that the audience immediately absorbs the intention of the moment: the music tells them, sometimes even in advance. Generally, that would be the sign of a bad score, but even bad scores work. When the score is predictable, when it duplicates in melody and arrangement the action up there on the screen, [these films] are probably not injured by them. Chances are, the music is not the only cliché in the movie. It's probably loaded with them."

So in defense of the syrupy popcorn song, as well as some fine classic film tunes, St. Joan's 9th Annual Cabaret fundraiser tapped into songs from movies for 'The First Reel Cabaret'.

Friday night's performance (10/24) rolled out the red carpet treatment as bubbly irreverent Julie Madden, in a fur coat and navy blue velvet gown, interviewed people arriving for the event. She then changed into a delightful mint green 1950s style cocktail dress belting the opening intro in her best Doris Day meets Ethel Merman rendition of "Que Sera, Sera," the Oscar winning song from Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much. She dismissed the song's girlish questions with witty barbs improvising: "Here I am at St. Joan of Arc. Who thought I'd fall so far. Que Sera, Sera ."

To get the reel rolling, Mime artist Michael Hennessey began by channeling Charlie Chaplin with his deft partner Colleen Tigue in a whimsical silent film routine.

Gary Rue, strumming banjo, niftily sung the first verse of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Oscar winning 1969 classic "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Nancy Stockhaus and Bob Hanson offered a romantic verse of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's "Tonight" from the 1961 musical West Side Story and to complete the opening movie medley, the entire night's lineup strolled out with umbrellas for the title tune of Gene Kelly's 1952 marvel Singin' In the Rain.

Dennis Spears(right), looking dashingly unique to say the least, in a black full length frontal skirt with pants from behind, brought Jazz theatricality to Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow" from 1939 film The Wizard of Oz building vocally with a heartfelt intensity. Bruce Kurnow sublimely accompanied with harmonica. Debbie Duncan dovetailed a more understated Jazz sophistication covering Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek," from the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers hit Top Hat with silky smooth phrasing and a few swift dance steps.

Guitarist Pat Donohue, quietly captivating, superbly strummed Dimitri Tionkien's title theme from High Noon, the 1952 legendary Western drama about a crisis of conscience. Dan Chouinard and Steve Kramer handled vocals, but sadly no harmony part, with a brief version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" from Mike Nichols 1967 film The Graduate. Kramer with Boyd Lee and Rue, however, impressed with tight guitar precision.

Bassist Dick Hedlund

Deb Harley, warm and soulful, sang a medley of "I Believe I Can Fly"/"Fly Like an Eagle" from the 1996 fantasy/comedy Space Jam. Her guitarist Arkadiy Yushim grooved in sync with some amazing riffs. Boyd Lee provided creamy crooning to the Bluegrass Carter Stanley arranged traditional "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" from the Coen Brothers' 2000 Homer's Odyssey retelling O Brother Where Art Thou. With Joe Cruz on ukulele and Lee's steady guitar skills, you have the makings of a fine country hoedown.

Bryan Adams "To Love a Woman," from the 1995 film Don Juan De Marco, fits (newly slim and fit) Pat Frederick's pop tenor vocal style like a glove. Peter Ostroushko's impeccable mandolin playing lends authentic Spanish atmosphere while beautifully complimenting Frederick's passionate vocal delivery. Then Ostroushko mellowed his playing a bit for the instrumental lullaby from the 1982 Canadian film The Grey Fox, a story about train robbing. Kurnow shined on harmonica as did Chouinard on piano. Kurnow then accompanied himself on piano while warbling Sting's familiar "Fields of Gold" from the film Flight of Fancy.

The Walter Donaldson/Gus Kahn composition "Makin' Whoopee" has been interpreted countless times; the 1989 Michelle Pfeiffer-on-top-of-a piano version from The Fabulous Baker Boys certainly refreshes memory. Written in 1928 for the musical Whoopee!, also a successful 1930 film sung by Eddie Cantor, the song received a hysterically personal adaptation from our own Fred & Anna Vagle who are experiencing a bit of empty nest syndrome: "We're suspicious of our kids all grown . . . and we're suspectin' they're makin' whoopee." Jim tenBensel's trombone, Kurnow's harmonica and Chouinard's piano accommodated fabulous honky-tonk atmosphere.

Producer/Keyboardist Dan Chouinard

Bruce Henry, stretching it a bit, offered "Shout" from the 1978 Belushi frat binger Animal House. Not too imaginative a choice, but for sure a crowd pleaser, and Henry showed off a hypnotic falsetto. Robert Robinson brought the audience to their feet with majestically dynamic phrasing and glorious gospel sound to the Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz Oscar winning song "Colors of the Rainbow" from the 1995 Walt Disney cartoon Pocahontas. However, Jerry Rau squandered what should've been a fine performance of the Willie Nelson staple "On the Road Again" from the 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose. By noticeably pulling back from the mic, he kept dropping the end of his phrases.

Ann Reed, who honored the first anniversary of Paul Wellstone's death, performed "a song which gave me a great deal of comfort," Richard and Robert Sherman's "Stay Awake" from the 1964 Disney landmark Mary Poppins. Her richly commanding alto voice along with Chouinard's lovely piano accompaniment provided tender solace.

Despite his tux, Bob Hanson, with rock n' roll attitude and gritty vocal, nailed Pete Townsend's "Pinball Wizard" from the 1975 Rock Opera Tommy. Lee Vague's electric licks are a great match for Townsend's. Wanting to offer something of Jamaican flavor, leave it to Cyril Paul to resurrect Harry Belafonte's "Jump In the Line" from Tim Burton's 1988 macabre comedy Beetle Juice. With his red sequined do rag, red pants and silvery shirt, this ageless hipster inspired audience members to jump right in.

Cabaret Chair Paul Hempe

During an hour-long intermission, raffle prizes were given away by Cabaret Planning Committee Chair Paul Hempe and our glamorously lovable cutup Julie Madden. She at one point misread a raffle number's sixes as nines. Oops. Dan and Joe Chouinard tickled the ivories for a crowd-pleasing duet of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" from the 1973 Paul Newman/Robert Redford vehicle The Sting.

Act II kicked off with a video clip from an actual movie, the 1975 Cult Classic Camp Sci-Fi The Rocky Horror Picture Show. A riotous Rachel Kroog deftly performed three roles from the film by shedding clothing layers character by character. Doing the "Time Warp" she started out in a mask and tux as Richard O'Brien's creepy Riff Raff, then became Patricia Quinn's lascivious Magenta and then finally Little Nell's squeaky pitched Columbia while taking us through the song's signature moves. Too bad a sweet transvestite from Transylvania never showed up.

From his fantastic falsetto to some strong guitar playing, Paul Peterson mightily pulled off Prince's eponymous1984 hit titled song from the film Purple Rain. Kurnow served some wonderful harmonica and most of the night's vocal lineup backed a solid, if under miked, chorus behind Peterson. Nancy Stockhaus and her daughter Chelsea had a ball with the infectious Kander/Ebb hit "All That Jazz" from last year's Rob Marshall directed film Chicago, the most successful movie musical of all time. Though their lower vocal arrangement didn't show off the pipes that these women possess (they opted not to belt), their Bob Fosse-like choreography showcased some slick show-stopping moves.

Guitarist Lee Vague

An event like this wouldn't be complete without a syrupy popcorn song and "It Might Be You (I've Been Waiting For All of My Life)," Stephen Bishop's groaner ballad from the 1982 film Tootsie takes the Razzie award in spades. Mary Jane Alm knows just how to handle this material and transcends its sentiment convincingly. Billy McLaughlin's guitar and Chouinard's accordion work capture gorgeously the European flavor of "That Boy" from 1988 Italian-French film Cinema Paradiso. And Caryn Vagle's passionate vocal resonates deep romantic yearning at its best. With Chouinard continuing his accordion magic, Diane Jarvi performed a Finnish song from the obscure film The Little Heart. Mark Stillman kept the accordion spirit flowing with a medley of familiar movie songs, basically anything that would be played at a Catholic, Jewish or Greek wedding.

1960s pop crooner Gene Pitney recorded several movie themes, two of which were showcased tonight in style. Lee Vague performed admirable vocal and guitar work with the theme from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a 1962 James Stewart/John Wayne film directed by John Ford, considered one of the greatest westerns of American cinema. Gary Rue, with both vocal and guitar, also impeccably delivered the theme from Town Without Pity, the 1961 Gottfried Reinhardt directed court room drama. Accompanied by Chouinard's wondrous piano ability, Prudence Johnson captured the essence of heartbreak with her winning take of the Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin classic "The Man That Got Away" from George Cukor's 1954 semi-musical A Star Is Born.

Newlyweds Shane and Kathy Speltz

Shane Speltz, complete with outrageous black pompadour, and his recently wedded bride Kathy Perkins visually and vocally matched John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's performance with the John Farrar penned tune "You're the One That I Want" from the 1978 musical film hit Grease. It's a shame the band didn't have their act together backing them up. As brothers, Paul and Tim Frantzich possess distinct chemistry. They beautifully sung sweet harmony together with "A Dream Is a Wish your Heart Makes" from the 1950 Disney fairy tale classic Cinderella.

Sima Shumilovsky's rich deep Russian voice brought unique reverence and joy to "Edelweiss" from the 1965 Robert Wise directed film The Sound of Music. She sang the first verse in Russian with Chouinard's able accordion accompaniment and the second verse with an approving audience in English. T Mychael Rambo's powerful baritone voice worked "Believe" from the 1978 Sidney Lumet directed film The Wiz like a charm. For the finale the entire ensemble came together for a joyous version of Irving Berlin's Oscar winning song "White Christmas" originally from the 1942 film Holiday Inn.

Interestingly, this year each performer delivered only one song per performance, clearly a factor that helped make this concert one that flowed seamlessly like no other SJA cabaret in recent memory. Word of advice for the many vocalists singing backup through out the performance. You're barely audible. As they say, you need to "eat your mic. Get right next to it." Looking ahead, next year St. Joan's celebrates their 10th year Cabaret anniversary!

Cyril Paul(above) Nancy and Chelsea Stockhaus(right) perform 'All That Jazz'.

Michael Reinbold, a continuing web reporter, freelances as a writer and banquet caterer. A passionate believer in SJA's mission of social justice and collaborative ministry, Michael is an SJA Choir member, mass reader, Team Oz AIDS rider and Grace House volunteer cook. With an extensive background in theater, photography and fundraising, he relishes all aspects of the arts, staying fit and inspiring and working with people.

Bill Cameron was a pilot at Northwest Airlines for 32 years until his retirement in June of 2001. Also an attorney, Bill now practices law about half-time. The rest of his time is spent taking pictures (... a serious photography habit), playing tennis, and working on volunteer projects. Bill's wife Connie is an educational consultant and they have three adult sons.