Singer, writer, actor and comic Colleen McHugh employs all four of her hats each time she steps onstage. This week she lights up Signature Theater’s summer cabaret series in a show bursting with humor, music and zany improv. Titled “Change of A Dress,” it features songs inspired by fashion.
“The show was inspired by woman’s love of fashion and a list of songs associated with the September issue of Vogue,” she said. “Each year, it introduces the latest outfits for the coming season. The songs by composers ranging from Cole Porter to Irving Berlin have in common the theme of how clothes make you feel. There’s always an improv song that I write after getting a story from the audience concerning clothes. And at one point in the show, I change my dress to fit the story.”
McHugh was newly graduated from the University of Illinois with majors in history and architecture when she moved to Chicago for law school. To satisfy her love of music, she took voice lessons and soon was invited to sing at a wedding. The positive reception pointed her in a new direction. Casting the prospect of becoming a lawyer to the wind, she got involved in Chicago’s Second City, the training ground for some of theater’s most accomplished and outrageous comedians.
| Onstage |
| ‘Change of A Dress: Songs of Fashion’ |
| Where: Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington |
| When: 7 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $24; 703-573-SEAT (7328); signature-theatre.org |
“It was a marvelous collaboration,” she said. “Everyone there was intelligent and on fire. Even though we came from many different backgrounds, we had common bonds in our love of the arts, architecture, politics and current society.”
Her 2004 debut at Helen’s Hideaway Room in Manhattan soon established her as a font of wit, wisdom and irresistible show titles. Cabaret audiences were already prepped for fun when they clutched tickets to a romp titled “Hail Barry: For the Love of Manilow,” “There’s Noel in Chanukah,” “Mad Dogs and Educated Fleas” (songs by Noel Coward and Cole Porter), “Spring Forward (and Blossom)” (a tribute to Blossom Dearie) or “Feeling Randy: Colleen McHugh Sings Randy Newman.”
McHugh’s admiration of Judy Garland, of whom she says, “Nobody was a greater entertainer,” was captured in “Night of a Thousand Judys,” last month’s benefit program to help the Ali Forney Center for homeless youth. She will repeat her homage to the entertainer later this month in a cabaret show titled “Friend of Dorothy: The Songs of Judy Garland.”
“It was released at Birdland only last week,” she said. “I had great fun putting together Porter’s French connections backed by a five-piece jazz band with a French Django Reinhardt flavor. Now I look forward to returning to Signature, where I had so much fun last summer. Tedd Firth, my music director, and I love putting together an entertaining show and want the audience to have a wonderful time.”
