Home Arts & Entertainment End of an era: The Plush Room goes dark for good

End of an era: The Plush Room goes dark for good

Friday, 30 November 2007

Many expected it over the past few years, many decried it – some even tried to save it – but the Plush Room is finally closing. The cabaret in the York Hotel on Sutter Street, which first opened as a club in 1979, will have its last show at the end of the year. Then, the Plush Room belongs to the ages.     The new owners of the property, Personality Hotels, decided to lease the room out to a restaurateur. The Plush has been the stage for hundreds of acts; many of them were local artists who cultivated their talent at the Plush Room. Ironically, the Plush has been better known on the East Coast than here. It’s often referred to in New York’s cabaret scene as “the best night club on the West Coast.”     “I’m happy to say that I was there on opening night,” recalls Wesla Whitfield, who, with her husband, Mike Greensill, will be the last act on New Year’s Eve this year. Oddly, Wesla’s first night was also New Year’s Eve. So, she has come full circle.     “I was hired about three days before,” says Wesla. “So there was no way I could get a piano player at that stage before New Year’s Eve. I opened for Pam Brooks, who was the very first act. I had to play the piano, which was not on the stage, on the floor, by myself in the dark. That was some beginning.”     Bill Lanese was one of the publicists over the years for the Plush Room. He was also publicist for Paula West, the San Francisco-based singer and Plush Room regular. Bill is also the director of New York’s Mabel Mercer Foundation, which supports cabaret as a culture.     “It’s a sad day when the Plush Room closes its doors,” Lanese laments. “Don’t ever forget the men –from Michael Feinstein to Steve Ross to Steve Tyrell to Tom Wopat to Sam Harris. Don’t ever forget the women – Wesla Whitfield to Rita Moreno to Paula West to Julie Wilson to Andrea Marcovicci. The ghosts will remain and will not be forgotten in the finest cabaret room in the United States.”     Rita Moreno was often seen at the Plush, showing her support for other acts. She joined performers such as Andrea Marcovicci and Sally Kellerman to persuade the hotel owners to sell the club to them. They were not persuaded.     “I am truly saddened by the closing of the Plush Room which, for so many years, was an important part of the culture,” Ms. Moreno told Northside San Francisco. “However, like the Phoenix, it will arise again, and in a better place. It’s of the greatest importance that we continue to preserve and support that precious art form called cabaret.”     Andrea Marcovicci performed at the Plush for 21 consecutive years. It represents a big part of her life, and many great events occurred there for her.     “There was something terrific about the feeling I got from looking out from the stage at the audience at the Plush Room, recalls Marcovicci. “I would absorb the energy from the audience. It was wonderful. The place means more to me than a nightclub. My career as a singer really started there. It was when I first kissed Danny, the man who became my husband. It was where my little girl, Alice, came out on stage because she wanted to know what I was doing there. The Plush Room began a new phase in my life. I’ll be the first to be a champion of the Plush Room. I am sorry the owners did not see this night club as a jewel of their hotel.”     Sandra Stolz, a local resident, says, “The Plush Room brought refinement and culture to this part of town. There were so many pretty people and performers who you could see there.” Marcovicci calls the singers “canaries” and “chantootsies.” This was where the birds would gather.     The Plush Room continues with shows this final month. Singer Rachel Efrom performs for one night on Dec. 2., Lorna K has her CD party on Dec. 3, the great Mary Wilson of The Supremes will appear Dec. 4-16, jazz vocalist Carol Luckenbach is there Dec. 10-11, Jackie Beat’s holiday show is Dec. 20-22, and Dec. 27-31, it’s the duo that helped make the Plush Room, Wesla Whitfield and her husband/arranger/pianist, Mike Greensill. A perfect close to the year is the outrageously talented Terese Genneco, who makes a special appearance at the New Year’s Eve show.     “It’s all OK,” says Wesla Whitfield. “It’s the end of this particular era and the beginning of a new one.”     A new room for cabaret, the Rrazz Room, is under construction at the Hotel Nikko.     The Empire Plush Room: York Hotel, 940 Sutter St. (near Hyde). Tickets at 866-468-3399 or www.theempireplushroom.com.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 December 2007 )