Spirited tribute merits repeat performances

It’s hard to imagine what cabaret would have been like in Los Angeles during the last decade without J.D. Kessler, manager of the Cinegrill, and Tom Rolla, co-owner of the Gardenia. Parallel pillars of support for the music, they consistently use their venues to spotlight established artists and showcase new talent. They have been -- and continue to be -- major forces in creating a viable cabaret environment for the Southland.

On Sunday at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre, a Society of Singers benefit honored Kessler and Rolla with a parade of performers offering often teary-eyed reminiscences and tributes.

It probably was appropriate that the eclectic array of styles, as well as the highly variable skill level, reflected the sort of programming that one might experience on any given night at the Cinegrill or the Gardenia.

The highlights in a gathering that featured more than 24 starring performers offered convincing evidence of a sophisticated California cabaret community.

Among the first act’s most engaging players: the husband-and-wife team of Karen Benjamin and Alan Chapman, revisiting their whimsical Christmas songs; the quirky Cindy Benson, using a bizarre combination of vocal prowess and physical comedy to make her points; the feisty Elmarie Wendel, stalking the stage with the manic energy of a caged puma; and musical director Todd Schroeder stepping out with a Jerry Lee Lewis-like romp through Christmas blues.

The second act offered a particularly exceptional opening segment in Jason Graae’s hilarious sendup of “My Funny Valentine,” Ann Kerry Ford’s equally whimsical rendering of Monty Python’s “Galaxy” followed by a tender reading of James Taylor’s “Secret of Life” and a cabaret-defining performance by the gifted Jane A. Johnson.

Other memorable segments featured the youthful Maude Maggart, whose talent and imagination offer hope for the future of cabaret, and Keri Kelsey’s touching view of “The Last Song.”

The four-hour-plus program, with singer Deborah Downey and Les Traub as hosts, was, as one performer noted, the sort of event that -- in its affirmation of the life and spirit of cabaret in Los Angeles -- merits repetition on an annual basis. Maybe that’s the sort of thing that the estimable Kessler and Rolla can put together on a partnership basis.