STEFANIE CARDINALI: Torch Songs Over Dinner

SASHA WATSON

The smoky blues and smooth jazz that filled the dining rooms at Gurney's and the Harvest in Montauk some weeknights this summer came as a pleasant surprise to visitors.

Dinner music is unusual fare these days and so is Stefanie Cardinali, a powerful singer clad in sumptuous evening gowns, seated on a stool by the piano, a bouquet of roses and a candle or two near at hand.

She sings the music made famous by the great songstresses of the 1930s and '40s, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James, and Billie Holliday. Her repertoire of melancholy ballads like "Don't Explain," as well as romantic favorites like "Embraceable You" represents music that has been important to her since she was a child and her parents played it on the record player while she sang along.

Musical Dialogue

Ms. Cardinali devoted her energies to the theater for much of her life, but it wasn't until last spring that she decided to pursue music.

After some searching she found Paul Gene, a rock-and-roll pianist whose credits include tours with Meat Loaf, to accompany her singing. They played together once and he said to her, "Girl, you're the first pro I've met out here," she remembered with a smile.

The dynamic was right and the pair played four-hour sets several nights a week throughout the summer. During these sets, they both said, they occasionally achieve a kind of heightened communication where the notes speak to each other and the sound is perfect.

"When that happens I look over at him and we both just smile," said Ms. Cardinali, "It's like magic."

Her professional career started at the age of 10 but she'd had show business leanings even younger. As a child she would round up the kids in her Staten Island neighborhood, assign them roles, do everyone's makeup and hair, and put on shows in the garage.

At school, teachers recognized her talent right away and she started pleading with her parents to take her to auditions in Manhattan.

When they finally gave in she started with commercials, got a role on a show called "Livewire" on Nickelodeon, and then struck into musical theater. She performed in "just about every musical you can think of" over the years, including "Grease," "Anything Goes," "The Sound of Music," "Gypsy," and "Bye Bye Birdie" performed at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Forever "Tomorrow"

Her career as a professional actor, singer, and dancer would have been the envy of almost any girl growing up in the '80s, touching down as it did on such cultural phenomena as "Annie," "Fame," and the musical "Hair." The late-night rehearsals and performance schedules were generally no problem for her, said Ms. Cardinali, she loved being in the theater.

With the occasional exception, that is. Throughout those years she took part in the widely publicized "Annie" craze of the early '80s. "Every little girl in theater then went through that nightmare," she said.

The nightmare involved singing the songs "Tomorrow" and "It's a Hard Knocks Life" thousands of times and attending auditions constantly as long as she was under a certain height. Girls grew out of their roles almost as soon as they landed them, so they were always looking for new girls to play the parts. By the time she was too tall to try out anymore, she said, she was "totally burnt on Annie."

A Tamer "Fame"

From this early career she went on to attend the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan, where students studied drama, music, or dance but were not allowed to audition for roles outside of school.

Her time there coincided with the height in popularity of the television show "Fame," which was set at the school. Contrary to its portrayal onscreen, Ms. Cardinali said, students were not perpetually leaping onto cafeteria tables to execute perfectly choreographed song and dance routines.

It was, rather, a "very disciplined atmosphere."

The Real Kids

There were a few moments of glory like those on the show though. Once, she and some friends decided to give a German film crew lurking outside the school something to take pictures of by running outside and jumping onto the roofs of cabs. They were, however, soundly disciplined for the performance.

In a more structured appearance she toured London with a group of students her sophomore year. They did educational performances at high schools, were given a parade through the city, and appeared at a "Meet the Real Kids From 'Fame' " day at Harrod's department store.

"Some people were disappointed that Coco and Leroy weren't there," she said, "but we had fun."

Summer Jobs

She led the life of many young actors after high school, frantically auditioning, landing roles in both musical theater and straight theater, and doing summer stock outside the city every year.

One of those summer jobs was the rock-and-roll show at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. It was 40 minutes of 1950s-style song and dance that they put on six or seven times a day.

"I would just sit backstage and think, I can't do this again, and then we'd go out and do it again," she said. "It was like doing seven aerobics classes in a row." Her highlight in the show was "In the Still of the Night," a duet that she sang with a boy in the front seat of his car.

"Hair" Tour

In 1992 she got a role in the musical "Hair," and left New York for a European tour. A member of the "tribe" (the show's term for the chorus) she traveled through nine countries in 11 months, with only rare days off.

The show was exhilarating with its variety of musical styles, going from rock-and-roll to blues to romantic ballad and back again. The crowds, she said, were extremely receptive. "They were like groupies!" she laughed.

The tour was exhausting as well as exciting, though, and, coming home after nearly a year of touring, she decided to spend a summer in Montauk.

Eye To The West

Somehow at the end of the season she didn't feel like going back to the life of hectic auditions, rehearsals, and performances she'd left behind. So she's been in Montauk ever since, still traveling into the city to study music but choosing to keep her distance from the theater world.

She and Mr. Gene plan to play in even more venues on the East End this winter and next summer, and they're also looking to bring the show into Manhattan within the next year.

Now that Ms. Cardinali is certain of the material she wants to perform, she is ready to face that chaotic market again. She already performs a cabaret show at "Don't Tell Mama's" in the city. She remarked that supper-club-style entertainment is a niche that hasn't been filled here, that such performances add an elegant touch to eating out.

Bridges The Gap

Ms. Cardinali said that she has always imagined doing the kind of show she's doing now. She finds the basic melodies and simple lyrics of the music deeply moving and she sings with an emotional edge that draws listeners of all ages into the performance.

Older people who know the music are often surprised to see a young woman up there singing it, she said, and it's just that bridging of generations that she enjoys.

"There is very basic emotion in the music," she said, "it speaks to everyone."