By Sean Taylor

Kat Robichaud has carved out a unique place for herself and company with her serial perofmances at The Great Star Theater in North Beach, under the umbrella “Misfit Cabaret.” Previous editions included “Whimsea” (July, 2016) and “Wilde Women” (December, 2016).

More recently, she was at it again with her second installment of the 2017, “Cinephilia,” referring to the love of  film, an homage to cult classics. The eggshell walls of the Great star theater swel with laughter on Misfit Cabaret nights and it was no different for “Cinephilia.”

There is a marriage between great cult films and the music that bears them and that is the vein with which Kat snuck into our hearts. It almost felt excessive, going to a theater to celebrate great film that is celebrated in theaters, or perhaps it was ironic? Regardless, when keyboardist Brendon Getzel opened the night dressed as Hunter S. Thompson he eased the audience into a lullaby of strange and surprising proclivities. Chaos soon after ensued as our monarch Kat Robichaud shouted him down mid-song dressed and decked out impeccably as a Droog from Clockwork Orange, I then remember swimming in this beautiful strange fan fiction marriage of Kubrick and Hunter S. It was in this very moment that I found myself with my fingers crossed hoping that I would be able to keep up with all of the film references of the night.

Thanks to Kat’s illuminating line-up the attendees were treated to some macguffin revealing Tarentino burlesque provided by Grace Bones, as well as aerial acrobatics by Nina Savant that left me wishing Die Hard’s John McClane was cast as a woman. An odd and extra terrestrial Oingo Boingo cover band, fashionably named Oinga Boinga, rocked out and rounded off the first half.

As these celebrations of cinema captivated and slayed the crowd we rolled into the second half of the show wherein Kat treated the audience to two of her original songs. The first song titled “Artists,” rides the inner monologue of the ever-peculiar Norma Desmond of Sunset Boulevard fame. The second single steps inside the consciousness of Edward Scissorhands, titled, “White Snow, White Dress.” The indelible nature of these miniature masterpieces can be haunting as Kat draws them through at least five minutes of bare exposed wrought emotion. The narratives reveal, beg, and plead a new dimension of personal aside for these characters that are already brimming with tragedy. If you’re curious to hear these mini rock operas I must implore you to pick up her latest album aptly titled, “Misfit Cabaret” that just happened to be released that very night, June 2nd, 2017. I for one cannot stop listening to it, every song seems to be crafted with an excess of both passion and affliction.

As the night wound down the crowd only wound up and before it was all over they were dying to escape their seats and dance in the aisles, in the lobby, and on the stage. Kat is certainly perfecting her Misfit Cabaret and lucky are the ticket holders that get to witness it.

Although “Cinepihlia” has, sadly, come and gone,  tickets are already up for sale for “Horror Show”, the next installment of Misfit Cabaret, it will be held once again at The Great Star Theater October 20-29. Click here for more information.