Maggie Worsdale
Jazz and cabaret singer Maggie Worsdale has performed professionally nationally and internationally since 1989. Has performed in major hotels, jazz clubs, private clubs, private parties, jazz festivals and top cabaret clubs.
Maggie Worsdale Career Highlights:
Opening act for Bob Hope, George Burns and Mark Russell.
Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Dallas Texas, Atlanta Georgia, Chicago, Boston
Adam`s Mark Hotel in San Antonio and Dallas Texas
The Ritz Carlton in Dana Point California, Amelia Island Florida, Boston, Half Moon Bay California, Pasadena California, Miami, Naples Florida, New Orleans, Palm Beach Florida, Phoenix, Sarasota Florida
The Plush Room in San Francisco
The Petroleum Club in Dallas, San Antonio, Laredo and Lubbock Texas
The Cinegrill in Hollywood
Channings in Edinburgh Scotland
· Maggie Worsdale has released three dynamite albums:
“Presenting Maggie Worsdale”/1992, “The Best is yet to Come.”/1998, “JOY”/2003
· In the words of longtime friend and renowned jazz guitarist Kevin Eubanks (Musical Director of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno):
“Maggie Worsdale has that special ability to take a song
and make you listen; really listen to what it has
to say… just straight away, down to earth talent…
Maggie Worsdale is pure entertainer, with a voice that delivers
on every note.”
•“There is a word for this gal…WONDERFUL.”
Bob Hope/1992
•“Maggie has great taste…She likes my cigars too.”
George Burns/1993
•“This gal knows how to sing…she can sing with me anytime.”
Les Brown (and his Band of Renown)/ 1992
HOT OFF THE PRESS - REVIEWS AND STORIES
THE LOMPOC RECORD....shelly ingrams
‘Gaudy Girls' rock the joint
The Lompoc Civic Auditorium was the place to be last Saturday night for fans of a good set of pipes, bawdy delivery and just a plain good time.
Five minutes after Maggie Worsdale hit the stage to open “Maggie Worsdale and the Gaudy Girls” the joint was jumping.
The show was billed as a tribute to three song-and-screen legends - Marlene Dietrich, Mae West and Sophie Tucker - but those coming to see a loving re-creation of their favorite star would have come away disappointed.
Worsdale is a woman with an amazing vocal range. But she could not resist playing for the outsized and obvious joke - not a successful combination when attempting to duplicate the subtle, openly sexual style of a chanteuse such as Marlene Dietrich. Worsdale's Dietrich was more of a send-up than a celebration.
But her particular combination of talents works, and works well when Worsdale performs the type of material to which her personality is truly suited. Her rendition of the jazz standard “Coronet Man” early in the show was fun and exciting. It made those who had not heard her sing before sit up and take notice and prompted one fan in the front row to say “You still got it!”
Worsdale is one of those performers with such amazing vocal control and execution that she makes the extremely difficult look and sound like a piece of cake. She is not only able to deliver technically great performances but can do it with ease, often taking the time to fool around with the material while she is at it.
The combination made her Mae West believable, even though she did steal a few lines and the wonderful show tune - “Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend” - from a much later blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.
Worsdale was undoubtedly at her best when belting out a bawdy ballad, whether singing as herself or while impersonating Sophie Tucker, another brilliant singer who couldn't resist playing it for laughs. When she sang “I'm a Red Hot Mama” - even though she was wearing what appeared to be a Chinese lampshade on her head - she made you believe every word.
At this appearance, Worsdale was aided by her husband, Tom, in the sound pit and further supported by the show's emcee, Geri Attrick (who bares a startling resemblance to Dennis Headrick of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce).
Attrick is a talented performer who can best be described as a combination of Dame Edna and Martha Raye, with the fashion sense of Ernestine. She is, however, the possessor of a wicked sense of timing, a brassy manner and a surprisingly attractive voice that allowed her to be the perfect foil for Worsdale and yet still hold her own during the “Diamonds” duet.
The Gaudy Girls was not exactly the show one expected to see, given its promotional billing, but did provide a fun ride for those who arrived at the theater established Worsdale fans and a great introduction to a tremendous talent for those who left the theater as new Worsdale fans.
May 17, 2006