Review: Brewery Art’s Center Evening with the Divas a success

The Brewery Arts Center mixed many ingredients for a delightful Evening with the Divas. Four local singers left the attendees of the packed Performance Center in awe Saturday night. The BAC held the event as a fundraising effort and collected almost $10,000 for the non-profit organization. The event also featured a silent auction.

“Fundraising is not usually a fun thing, so we try to make it as entertaining as possible,” said BAC Executive Director Gina Hill. “We are so thankful to these talented ladies who believe in the arts. They gave generously of their valuable time. It was definitely an amazing show that I will never forget.”

Many contributed to making the show a success. The four ladies, Cindy Sabatini, Christina O’Neil Bourne, Khailiah Cage and Misty Rea, all donated their time and voices for the event. MC Kat Simmons, a local comedian, kept things rolling and had the audience laughing between songs. The music group Phreemium, arranged by Brandon Dodge, performed all of the songs for the divas and KD Sound gets credit for the excellent sound.

The setting was very ritzy and classy. The Performance Hall, which was converted from a Catholic church, provides a great atmosphere. There isn’t a bad seat in the house, with great views and sound from every location with professional lighting and spotlights.

Sabatini started the show with elegance as she came out in a feather boa and sang “Turn Back Oh Man” from the musical Godspell. Her song collection was classy and included “I Can Cook Too” from the Broadway show On The Town. Her set was fun as she danced around and took the audience to a classy place.

Bourne, a music teacher at Mark Twain Elementary, said her song choices came from songs she performed at specific parts of her life. In sixth grade, she said she remembered singing “Memory” from the Broadway show Cats, and that’s how she opened her set. She had the audience captivated and also performed a duet with Sabatini (“I Still Believe” from The Last Saigon), which was nice to see some collaboration.

Cage put on an energetic set, shared a funny story of how she ended up in Nevada as a child and fell in love with the area. She put on a fiery rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” with some help of future diva Emma Scofield. She had a tremendous voice and put on an entertaining show.

Misty Rea came out as the final performer in a dazzling, silver dress that glittered all sorts of colors as the spotlight reflected off it. Rea lifted the audience with her voice, and she charmed them with her personality. A Las Vegas native, Rea joked about performing in casinos at age 13, but having security guard her to make sure she wasn’t drinking. That wasn’t the case anymore, as she joked and took a sip of something on stage.

Rea brought tons of energy and showed off her vocal prowess. Three backup singers joined Rea on stage: Cage, Scofield and Mallory Engstrom. They kicked if off with Aretha Franklin favorites “Respect,” and “A Natural Woman.”

Rea had the audience laughing as she read the definition of “diva” aloud. She joked and decided the ladies shall be called goddesses instead. Rea shared the spotlight with an up-and-coming artist as she let 21-year-old Scofield sing a song. Scofield is a neo-jazz and soul singer who recently moved back to Carson City from Seattle.

Rea started closing with a soulful song “I am Light,” in which aerial artist Louisa Lopez came to the stage to add some visual arts that fit the song’s theme. Lopez performed at the Summer Concert Series and everyone’s eyes are glued to her as she flows up and down the ribbons in thrilling fashion.

After the audience stood up for some of the closing comments, Rea and the rest of the divas burst into “We Are Family,” which had the crowd up and dancing and left everybody with a warm feeling to take home on a chilly November night.

Check out more upcoming events at the Brewery Arts Center at breweryarts.org.