Tickled Pink
Two decades ago in Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was working in politics and attending countless fundraisers. Disenchanted with the music at the events, he founded the “little orchestra” Pink Martini. One year later, Lauderdale recruited former Harvard classmate, China Forbes as a vocalist and they began to write music for the group together. Their first song “Sympathique” became a smash hit and since then, all five of their albums have struck gold, selling over 3 million copies. Pink Martini has gone on to play with more than 50
orchestras and performed with such notables as Jimmy Scott, Carol Channing, Jane Powell, Chavela Vargas, Michael Feinstein, filmmaker Gus Van Sant, Japanese legend Hiroshi Wada, Chi Chi Valenti, Faith Prince, the original cast of Sesame Street and Mamie Van Doren, who had this to say about performing with them; ”My guest appearance with Pink Martini at the Greek The- ater was a highlight of my career. Thomas Lauderdale and all the musicians and crew could not have been more supportive. I can’t wait for the next time.” Singer, songwriter, actor, author and bisexual, though she dislikes the term and prefers to refer to herself as “sexually omnivorous,” Storm Large joined Pink Martini in March 2011. The versatile artist has been singing and writing songs since the age of 5. Af- ter finishing high school, she attended the American
by tony reverditto
PINK MARTINI’S Facebook and Twitter pages encapsulate their vibe perfectly; “Breakfast at Tiffany’s meets the United Nations,” and “If the United Nations had a house band in 1962, we’d be it.” This ultra-cool ensemble performs a multi-lingual collection of music on international concert stages, backed up by some of the most renowned symphony orchestras in the world.
Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. It was during that period she garnered her first wide-spread recognition on the stage of a reality competition show calledRock Star: Supernova. A Portland, Oregon resident, Storm tours with Pink Martini, performs with her own band (also Portland-based) and has branched out into theatre and cabaret. The Rage Monthly asked her to share how she began her career with Pink Martini. China lost her voice less than a week before the band
had four concerts in Washington DC, at the Kennedy Center. The shows were with the National Symphony Orchestra, and they were completely sold out. Thomas called me no less than ten times in one
day to pretty much beg me to do the show...but I didn’t know any of the songs, I sound nothing like China and....”No....just NO.” However the word “no,” to Thomas, is just a somewhat delayed “yes.” After China wrote me asking me to do it (and gave
her blessing), I finally conceded. I learned ten songs, in five languages, in four days. I slept with ear buds in, listening endlessly to the repertoire, had cheat sheets on a music stand and a speed metal drummer in my chest. I’m told I did well, though I don’t remember a thing! That is so intense, congratulations on the accomplishment! So tell me, which is your all-time favorite song to perform?
Such an unfair question! But for now I can say that
“Pana Cand” (Romanian love song) and “Hang On Little Tomato” are my present favorites. You have shared the stage with many incredible artists, of whom do you have the fondest memories? Ari Shapiro now and forever will be my favorite human on and off stage. My favorite wild memory on stage was singing with George Clinton and Funk- adelic. You have performed all over the world, which was your favorite and why? Is there somewhere you desire to go still? I’d love to see Venice and Amsterdam...but my
favorite city to perform? A three-way tie between Madrid, Istanbul and Portland, Oregon. What can we expect in the future? I’m releasing a semi-standards album in June and
working on my next
book....also trying to convince Thomas to do a disco album with me. How fun would THAT be?!
Pink Martini performs Thursday, January 23 through Sat- urday, January 25 with Pacific Symphony at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. For tickets and more information call 714.755.5799 or go to
pacificsymphony.org.
They will also be performing in San Diego at the Balboa Theatre onWednesday, January 29. For tickets call 619.570.1100 or go
tosdtheatres.org.
And finally, they will be performing in Palm Desert at the McCal- lum Theatre on Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1. For tickets go
tomccallumtheatre.com.
20
RAGE monthly | JANUARY 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64