"Will & Company" Features Special Guest B. Iris Tanner

Lovers of great singing and great songs will find both in abundance Friday, March 28th and Saturday, April 12th, both events at 8:00 pm at the CAMBRIDGE CENTER FOR ADULT EDUCATION Cabaret Connection (56 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA - 617-547-6789 - Ext. 1 - http://www.ccae.org/), when singer/cabaret impresario Will McMillan hosts another edition of Will & Company - showcasing songs by contemporary songwriters.

McMillan, who has become established as one of Boston's major cabaret talents through his sellout shows at Scullers and the Cabaret Connection, created the Will & Company series to introduce lesser-known singers and songwriters to Boston audiences. Audiences have responded with enthusiasm; in fact, Will & Company was awarded the 2001 IRNE award for best Cabaret Performance by the Independent Reviewers of New England.

Each Will & Company features a set of songs performed by the guest songwriter plus a set of songs by other local songwriters performed by McMillan, with Doug Hammer on piano. Will's guest in March and April is songwriter B. Iris Tanner. Classically trained, Tanner successfully transitioned into cabaret with the production of her CD, "Fools' Paradise." Last spring McMillan performed her song "Nevertheless" at the 2002 Boston Cabaret Festival.

In addition to Tanner's work, this edition of Will & Company will feature songs by Krisanthi Pappas, Barry Rosenberg, Ernie LiJoi, Barbara Baig, David Stern and Dennis Livingston, among others.

Will McMillan is a singer, songwriter and cabaret promoter who performs in At the Movies and hosts Will & Company, a series highlighting local songwriters. Last year he debuted both an Irving Berlin and a Richard Rodgers show with singer Bobbi Carrey and pianist Henry Schniewind, and he is busy recording two CDs: one with "At The Movies" and another of music by Boston songwriters. McMillan's February 2000 debut at Scullers sold out in advance, as did his 2001 and 2002 collaborations with Nina Vansuch, Brian Patton and Michael Ricca in a cabaret revue called "At The Movies." In April 2002 he was one of ten singers invited to part of the first Boston Cabaret Festival. In 1999 he was one of thirty-seven performers chosen nationally to be a Fellow at the O'Neill Theater Center's 10th Cabaret Symposium.

As a child/teenager Mr. McMillan did commercials, plays and made-for-TV movies including "The Four of Us" with Barbara Feldon, "Bound For Freedom" with Fred Gwynne and "Goldenrod" with Donald Pleasance. He was also a standby in the original production of PIPPIN on Broadway. He has sung in a Capella groups (the Harvard Din & Tonics), rock/pop bands (the Adult Children of Heterosexuals) and many musical theater projects. Mr. McMillan has produced four recordings : "Will Sings Sondheim," "Simple," "Whimsy: The Allston Years," and "Sketchbook 1."

You are welcome to visit his web site at http://www.willmcmillan.com/.

Raised on a blend of classical, folk and Broadway show tunes, B. Iris Tanner writes songs that show the influence of all three styles. Most recently her dominant influence has been contemporary cabaret. While she enjoys performing her own material, she is much more interested in hearing it sung by others whose vocal talents are better suited to particular songs.

B. Iris Tanner wrote her first song, a setting of "Sam's Song" from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," at the age of 16 but did not begin to produce songs in any quantity until seven years ago. A self-produced CD, "Fools' Paradise," completed in 2000, has helped publicize her songs, as have her affiliations with the Boston Songwriters' Workshop and BACA (Boston Association of Cabaret Artists - http://www.bostoncabaret.org/).

Tanner describes herself as a "reformed soprano" because (in a previous life) she once studied voice, performed solo concerts and worked as a church soprano. These days, however, she prefers to stay in alto territory, and actually sings tenor in her church choir." When not writing songs or performing, she works as an editor in financial services communications and raises national-winning show cats.

 

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