Cabaret at The Imperial

Linda Beck celebrated her birthday last Thursday the way she's spent Thursday nights for several months now -- at the keyboard in The Imperial's piano bar. Linda and Anne Galloway, who's the vocalist in the duo, performed old standards, some contemporary tunes and even some beach music for the crowd, which was sizable.
Most of those in the bar appeared to be baby boomers, so the wide range of music was perfect.
During the duo's break, Anne sat down and talked about the gig.
"I've sung in the choir, with groups, especially with my brother Hank (Martin) and friends," she said, "but this is the first time I've done something where I sing by myself. I love it."
Anne and Linda made the perfect duo, bantering a bit with the audience and each other between numbers. The crowd often seemed to be singing along softly, and you almost expected one of them to walk over to the mic and belt out a few bars with Anne.
Linda's improvisations on the piano (she sang a little bit, too) were crowd pleasers. She said she felt like she could play every night, but school's starting soon, and she has to go back to her gig as Furman Middle School's chorus teacher (and the director of the fine musical comedies the school puts on each year). So just Thursdays will have to do for the next nine months, at least.
Both said they're having a great time together. Anne said she'd often dreamed of being in a long black, sequined dress with a long cigarette holder, holding forth in some New York club.
It may not have been a New York jazz club, but Thursday night the singing and playing was excellent. All that was missing were the swirls of blue smoke in the spotlights.
Linda and Anne will be back in The Imperial Piano Bar Thursday from 7-10 p.m. There's no charge for admission.
Chuck Wilson, who's at the piano with Linda, played "Happy Birthday" for the crowd to sing along.