On Tuesday evening, February 20th, at St. Cecilia Catholic Community, in Palm Springs, audiences will have the pleasure of seeing one of Coachella Valley Theatre World’s writers, Laura Bloom Farber, in a different hat: Laura, a soprano, will present a cabaret designed to transport audiences back to the 1950’s.

This is Laura’s fourth cabaret, and the third in which she highlights the jazz songs of a mid-20th century decade; she has presented the songs of the 1930’s and the 1940’s in 2022 and 2023. Before that, shortly before the pandemic closed all the theaters, she channeled the women of Broadway in her first solo musical outing.

The songs Laura will perform on Tuesday night cover a variety of 1950’s genres: Broadway, soundtracks, jazz, and pop music. Laura and tenor Tom Mayer will together sing the ballad “One Hand, One Heart,” from West Side Story. She will also perform duets with Richi Ray Harris.

Laura, who has a long history of musical theatre performances in such classic shows as The Sound of Music and Sweeney Todd, also has vocal experience in such varied genres as opera and multiple types of liturgical music; Laura sings in St. Cecilia’s church choir and in the Desert Outreach Synagogue choir. She has played piano, clarinet, and keyboard as well as serving as musical director for local productions. She has written lyrics, including additional lyrics for Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Modern Major General” Pirates of Penzance patter song. This Renaissance woman also composes and arranges music.

Laura lives in Cathedral City (by way of New York, San Francisco, and Hawaii) with her husband, David; her daughter, Maureen; her-daughter-in-law, Sharona; and a menagerie of four dogs. One of them ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, and yes, he sings.

Laura Bloom Farber Sings Songs of the 1950’s will take place on Tuesday, February 20th, at 7 p.m., at Saint Cecilia Catholic Community, 555 N. Commercial Road, #1, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Admission is $15 cash, payable at the door.