By Claire DeMarco
It was a pleasure and delight to spend last Monday evening, March 27th with Carole J. Bufford.
Note: Okay, there were several hundred other people there, too!
Bufford wowed the audience at the O’Reilly Theater as she presented her “Vintage POP!” show as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Cabaret Series.
Multi-talented with a wonderful singing voice and a big personality, she often incorporated a little dance or two while performing. Bufford had a rapport with the audience that you could feel was genuine and the audience responded in kind.
“Vintage POP!” took us on a journey from the 1920s to the 1980s – years considered to be the prime years of American pop music.
Some of the songs included in the program had interesting stories behind them and Bufford enjoyed highlighting them. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was almost eliminated from the classic movie “Wizard of Oz.” Bei Mir Bist Du Schön started out as a Yiddish love song and was popularized by the Andrews Sisters, Lutheran siblings from Minnesota.
Bufford regaled us with a variety of songs from the 1919 “There’ll Be a Change in the Weather” through the decades to the 1980’s Tina Turner classic “The Best.”
Bufford is “simply the best.”
-CED
The Greer Cabaret Theater is temporarily closed for renovation. The next show in the Trust Cabaret Series is on Monday, May 8, 2023 at the O’Reilly Theater featuring Norm Lewis. For more information, click here.
