The Shows Go On

Cabaret is alive and thriving at Bob Egan’s Cosmopolitan Club in New Hope, Pa.

By: Anthony Stoeckert

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TIMEOFF/ANTHONY STOECKERT
Cabaret has a new home in New Hope, Pa., at Bob Egan’s Cosmopolitan Club.


   Life is a cabaret old chum, and for Bob Egan, life goes on in New Hope, Pa.
   A little more than a year after Odette’s closing due to the flood of June 2006, Mr. Egan has settled his cabaret into a new home, Bob Egan’s Cosmopolitan Club at the New Hope Inn. The club’s 108-seat room hosts all kind of acts, musical comedy, Broadway performers and jazz, Friday and Saturday nights.
   "I look at it as this is cabaret in the sense of the word that ‘cabaret’ means an intimate performance space," Mr. Egan says. "But that doesn’t mean the music offerings are (cabaret-style only). It can be any kind of musical performance, really, in an intimate setting."
   Mr. Egan even had opera singers perform at Odette’s, and stand-up comedians play on his bill regularly. Some upcoming acts include Laurel Masse (a founding member of Manhattan Transfer) Aug. 17, Liza Minnelli impersonator Rick Skye Aug. 18, and Maureen McGovern Aug. 24 and 25.
   They will all perform in the Cosmopolitan Club’s elegant room, decorated with colorful paintings by John Gascot, wooden floors and candlelit tables. Connected to the room is the Cosmo Lounge, which hosts piano bar, guitarists, jazz and other acts.
   "Performers need a place to play, singers need a place to sing," Mr. Egan says during an interview in the lounge before a Friday evening show. "That’s why I’m passionate about the venue, why I was really feeling a loss for the last year of not having it… What I love watching is how important it became to so many people."
   Cabaret has been a passion of Mr. Egan’s ever since he saw it for the first time in the 1980s. For him, seeing talented singers perform in such close quarters created an atmosphere that almost demanded listeners to take notice of a song’s finer points.
   "People tend to choose some really good, special material (in cabaret) where people really pay attention," he says. "You’re not just doing rock ‘n’ roll in the background. Even jazz singers who sing in a lounge, it’s a different format for them because they have people paying attention and listening, so it’s a very nice format."
   On buying his home in New Hope in 1985, Mr. Egan was disappointed to see the "celebrity buzz" in the borough had died down. He had heard stories about Ann Miller being seen around town, and the days when big names would appear at the Bucks County Playhouse.
   "I used to hear about all these famous celebrities, and I was so excited," he says. "But when I got here, it was gone. I just felt like I wanted to do my part to make something else happen here (regarding) the entertainment offerings in town."
   So in the fall of 1987, he started running cabaret shows at Odette’s (where he played piano), drawing talents like Margaret Whiting (who popularized "Moonlight in Vermont" in 1943), Rosalind Kind (sister of Barbra Streisand) and Sam Harris, a former champion on Star Search, whose Broadway credits include The Producers.
   One of the staples at Odette’s, which is back at the Cosmopolitan Club, is the weekly Monday Night Showcase. Hosted by Mr. Egan, the showcases offer acts ranging from brand-new talents to established performers who test new material.
   "It was a night to showcase seven to nine up-and-coming talented singers, and give them a (chance) to do two or three songs in the cabaret," says Mr. Egan, who also plays piano at various clubs and owns an entertainment management company. "Mixed in with that format would be some of the professionals, promoting their upcoming show."
   Giving performers a place to perform is something he takes seriously, and he admits that there were times following Odette’s closing when he wondered if New Hope’s cabaret tradition would continue. Before the Cosmopolitan Club opened, some shows were held at the Stockton Inn, but a different spot was needed for the long term.
   "I really thought, after the flood, that there were going to be offers from everybody in town," he says. "There were a couple of (offers), but the places just weren’t appropriate, the setups wouldn’t have worked."
   Then a friend of Mr. Egan’s told him about the New Hope Inn, which he initially balked at, thinking the old Best Western wasn’t a cabaret-like spot. But after seeing the layout and talking with the hotel’s owners, he realized it was the place.
   Because of its small setting, making a cabaret a big money-maker isn’t easy. Mr. Egan says he had the cabaret at Odette’s breaking even only in its last few years.
   "The funny thing about cabaret is, ever since I got involved with it in the mid-’80s, there’s always been talk of a comeback," he says. "There would be articles about cabaret making a comeback, it was the art form that was holding on by a shoestring."
   He’s also seen cabarets in Philadelphia open and close over the years. So what’s allowed him to keep it going in New Hope for 20 years?
   "Mainly because I have another job," he says.
   Right this way, your table’s waiting.
Bob Egan’s Cosmopolitan Club at the New Hope Inn is located at 6426 Lower York Road (Route 202), New Hope, Pa. Upcoming performances include: Laurel Masse, Aug. 17; Rick Skye in "A Slice O’ Minnelli," Aug. 18; "Lovely" (Kelly Briggs and Jerry Chrisakos), Aug. 19; $10 food and drink minimum for all shows; (215) 862-5221; www.thecosmopolitanclub.com