Last night, I had the privilege of being “cool and not like, uncool.” Thats right I scored an invite to see #CountessAndFriends at Feinstein’s/54 Below right here in Manhattan. In case you are not privy to all of the cabaret goings-on here in NYC, this evening stars the one and only “Countess” Luann de Lesseps of The Real Housewives of New York City fame. With only an hour’s notice, I had to figure out how to turn my musty, post-gym look into something suitable for royalty. Luckily, I have a generous roommate who helped iron out the perfect shirt for the occasion while I could shower…sure I owe him a week’s worth of dinners but that’s all part of the roommate code.
The venue is legendary here in NYC, and has hosted every kind of celeb from film, television and even Broadway. The Countess needed to be sure she could rise up to those rankings to join such an elite group of predecessors and I have to say…she did. As the night began, Luann mocked her own singing abilities. She admitted that she isn’t the best singer so going into the evening you know to expect less than stellar vocals from the reality star. But, her failure to hit a single note did not let the entertainment value suffer one bit. Over the course of the night, we were treated to 4 glamorous costume changes, 9 singing cameos from friends in the biz, secrets from her diary and even some RHONY gossip. What more do you need?!?
While the Countess is known more for etiquette and less for humor, she definitely had a field day making jokes about the painful year she just endured. Turning lemons into lemonade, the host of the evening used her public divorce, public arrest, and public stint in rehab to keep the audience in stitches. Luann even sings a few bars of Amy Winehouse’s Rehab, only to then admit that unlike the lyrics suggest, she actually loved rehab. The group of talented singers to join the Real Housewife on stage was comprised of Murray Hill, Michael Mustro, Lauren Elder, Charles Busch, Marissa Rosen, Shockwave, Larry Owens, Tracy McDowell and Eric Michael Krop. Here are my favs:
Broadway’s Lauren Elder showed off her talents with this stellar version of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.”
New York City’s very own pint sized, powerhouse Marissa Rosen tore the stage up with her rendition of “Son Of A Preacher Man.” The audience practically fell out of their seats when they heard the vocals that poured out of this singer’s mouth.
Tracy McDowell and Eric Michael Krop, who happen to be headlining a night at Feinstein’s/54 Below on June 8th, performed a romantic duet that brought the house down for a moment.
In between songs, the Countess shared some juicy tidbits from her actual diary. She recounted the time she surprised her ex boyfriend by showing up unannounced, only to find him in bed with someone else. She then told of the time her and her gorgeous, Italian boyfriend escaped to a romantic hotel, only to leave with crabs. Poor girl has never been lucky in love! The spilling of secrets led to a Q&A, where Luann actually revealed which housewife she is currently closest to. The audience assumed it would be Sonja Morgan, as the two have always been pretty tight knit. The duo even lived together for a short while. Instead, Luann revealed that she and Bethenny Frankel have actually grown to be quite the pair! The Countess joked that she had to be at her lowest point in life to finally receive sympathy from the Skinnygirl mogul.
A Countess cabaret would not be complete without a performance of her hit song “Money Can’t Buy You Class.” This time, she brought beatboxer Shockwave to incite a new rendition of the song. She ended the evening with a rendition of “L.O.V.E” and received a standing ovation while singing her equally as famous, “Chic, C’est la Vie.”
I have to say I enjoyed the side of the Countess I saw last night. She was fun and clever, and really knew how to throw together an interesting evening. She did grab my hand during one performance so expect my name on the billing of the next #CountessAndFriends. Speaking of which, there are four more dates left in the show at Feinstein’s/54 Below so for more info on tickets, click here!