“When I watch ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ if it’s really well acted, I always hope that this time, those kids are going to live,” said Gillett, the singer-actor-director and former circus ringmaster, who’ll bring not one but two of his acclaimed cabaret shows to Olympia this weekend.
“You keep thinking that if you roll the dice again, this time it’s going to work out,” he said. “You keep taking the chance because eventually it’s worth it.”
It’s no surprise, then, that the show Gillett came to Olympia to perform is called “The Best of My Love” and that its centerpiece song is the Eagles classic about love that fails despite the couple’s best efforts.
“It’s about two people who just can’t make it work out, but on some level there’s forgiveness,” he said. “It’s not that we did something wrong. We really did try.”
He put the show together after a 10-year relationship had ended and he realized how many memories and stories – both touching and funny – remained.
The singer, who’ll be in the Black Box for a four-night run, also wanted to bring his newest show, “Widescreen,” here.
“It’s about the magic of moviemaking,” he said. “It’s one of those shows that’s for anybody who’s ever gone into a dark movie house to escape.”
South Sound is getting this double serving of Gillett so that some of his loved ones can see the show. He grew up in California, but three of his sisters have since moved north: Janice Lyons Ranum of Tumwater, Susan Adams of Lacey and Kathy Taggart of Rainier.
He visits Olympia often for holidays, but this is his first performance here and his first time bringing his cabaret show to the Northwest.
“Although I travel all over the world as a concert artist, my family have never seen me sing in a local venue,” he said.
He has performed in Seattle as the ringmaster with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a job he held for 12 years.
Gillett, whose acting credits include “Law & Order,” is not a typical cabaret singer. And his songs are not necessarily the typical cabaret songs.
“I always thought there were plenty of people already singing Cole Porter and George Gershwin,” said Gillett, who also directs shows by other cabaret artists, including Karen Akers and KT Sullivan. “There are plenty of people who are out 40 weeks a year singing the great American songbook.
“That’s not really my songbook. I’m a child of the ’60s. The songs that speak to me are songs of a later generation,” he added. “I always include more recent and more popular material, but I combine it with songs that are more traditional.”
“The Best of My Love” includes a Backstreet Boys song and one by Celine Dion.
“There is no disparity between the old writing and the new writing,” he said. “The storytelling is just as strong, and the melodic lines are just as strong. Audiences seem to respond to the fact that they’re hearing songs that they grew up with as opposed to what I think of as museum pieces.”
It’s the story in a song that’s most important, he said.
“When I’m searching for a song, the thing I look for is storytelling – why the story matters and why someone would want to sit in the dark and listen to me sing this. The audience goes on the journey with you.”
