Singer's Versatility Shines in Showcase Of Broadway Treasures

Small tables are draped in black. Scents from candles and flowers fill the room. The spotlight shines on Clare O'Shea -- actress, singer, writer and producer.

Is this a nightclub in Calvert County? A cabaret?

In a one-woman show called "Passionate Broadway," running through Saturday at the Prince Frederick Masonic Lodge, O'Shea presents a montage of music from well-known composers and lyricists.

The lodge has been transformed into an intimate theater, thanks to the work of Northern High School's Amy Contanza, who provided the black stage curtains. Producer Janine Naus and lighting coordinator Daniel Beach were responsible for set design, along with O'Shea's son, Austin Peck, a New York actor who works in soap operas, including "As the World Turns."

If you have seen the 1950s movie "Sunset Boulevard," starring Gloria Swanson as an aging movie actress waiting for a call to return to Hollywood, then you can appreciate O'Shea's rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from the musical, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Another treasure is "Edelweiss," a song about a small white flower from "The Sound of Music" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.

A few songs might make you wish for a tissue: "I'll Be Seeing You" (music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Irving Kahal), "For Good" (music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz) and "If I Had My Way" (music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Jack Murphy).

In a letter to supporters of the Twin Beach Players (co-sponsors of the event, along with the Prince Frederick Masons), O'Shea wrote that she has "always loved to sing those sweepingly beautiful, passionate" Broadway hits. She also wrote that she was "passionate about having an intimate musical theater/nightclub cabaret experience with Calvert friends."

Much of the show's intimacy and humor come from the conversation that O'Shea, a former New York actress, has with her audience as she asks a question or explains a song.

She told a packed house that she had done voice-overs for radio and television. She said she particularly enjoyed doing cartoon voices and recalled coming in second in an audition to portray Pebbles Flintstone.

O'Shea will perform at the Prince Frederick Masonic Lodge, 655 Main St., tomorrow and Saturday. Both shows begin at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7:30 p.m. Light appetizers will be offered after the show. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, students and Twin Beach Players members. Tickets are available athttp://www.twinbeachplayers.org; from Richard's Bayside Florist, 5th and Chesapeake Ave., North Beach, 410-257-0207; or at CalvART Gallery at the Prince Frederick Shopping Center, 410-535-9252. For more information, call 443-624-1451 or e-mailinfo@twinbeachplayers.org.