Dennis Spears sang on Monday's benefit. (photo by Tom Wallace)
A parade of Minnesota musicians – plus wordsmith Kevin Kling – took to the stage Monday night at the packed Dakota to honor photographer-to-the-local-stars Ann Marsden.
The five-hour-plus program was a spirited, inspiring and gushing tribute to Marsden, who is fighting cervical cancer. It was a model and marvelous fundraiser in a room filled with actors, musicians, photographers and supporters of the local arts community.I wasn't there for the entire evening but still witnessed many highlights:· Dennis Spears and his quivering designer cargo pants on a campy "Minnie the Moocher."· Allison Scott's strong, soulful voice, which was a new discovery for the mostly middle-aged crowd.· The always elegant Connie Evingson duetting with deep-voiced T. Mychal Rambo on the appropos "You've Got a Friend."· Dean Magraw finding a funky groove on electric guitar.· Prudence Johnson pulling out a ukulele for Little Jimmy Dickens "Slow Suicide," a tune Marsden had introduced her to.· John Gorka thanking Ann for shooting the covers for eight of his albums including "the vinyl record that I put out in the late 1900s" and then singing "Flying Red Horse."· Minnesota Orchestra maestro Osmo Vanska demonstrating how Ann taught him to loosen up his stoic face for a photo shoot and then playing a striking cadenza for string quartet and clarinet but without the string quartet. "It is not long," he warned the crowd. "Don't be scared. Maybe three minutes. It depends how much I have to repeat some parts."· Kevin Kling was the perfect choice to follow the masterful maestro, with the humorist/playwright/author with a shock of hair announcing, "Whenever Ann took my picture, my hair looked combed." He then recited his wonderful poem that I believe is called "A Dance of Pink."· The acoustic trio known as the Warblers (featuring two-thirds of the Suicide Commandos punk-rock trio) warbling the Drifters' "Twilight Time."· Prudence Johnson and Dean Magraw joining the New Standards for a breathtaking version of Joni Mitchell's "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire." After their third number together, New Standards pianist Chan Poling declared: "It's nice to be the cushion that Prudence sits upon, in a manner of speaking."· That left it to the New Standards themselves to close the evening with their delightful take on OutKast's "Hey Ya."· A love-note to Ann (blanks were left on each table and read ontage) that proclaimed: "What a fun, beautiful, radiant, quirky evening – just like you."What a perfect description.Kudos to organizers Lisa Nebenzahl (overall coordinator), Prudence Johnson (music wrangler) and Ann Michels and Stacia Rice (auction coordinators) for a well-conceived and efficiently executed evening.
