Philanthropy Technology & The Performing Arts

Once again San Francisco audiences have a unique and multi talented singer stylist to be proud of and call their own. Mystery bombshell Connie Champagne has a style and repertoire well suited for our café society and nightclub culture. Bursting on the scene about the same time as Sylvester and the Cockettes, and being a part of the times and music that became the San Francisco sound that keeps audiences standing in line to show appreciation for the off beat and rebellious sounds that came to identify so many times in the colorful and rich fabric of social and cultural change that continues to happen here with regularity. Miss Champagne and a variety of her other persona’s have covered a wide variety of song and dance that stands the test of time well and keeps her working all over the country. I’m not sure if Kelley Gabriel came before or after Connie Champagne, but there is a resemblance that looks uncanny under certain lighting conditions in certain clubs with certain back up musicians, but it’s probably just my imagination. Have you ever wondered what the deeper connection between Lisa Minelli and Peter Ustinov really is or why the atomic bomb is kept in waiting as we slowly starve the planet to death? Damn, that’s a rhetorical question, and back to Connie if you’ll please indulge me. Connie has been noticed and nominated several times for major award recognition like BAM Magazine’s Bammie Award for Outstanding Female Vocalist, Winner of the 1990 SF Weekly’s Wammy Award for Outstanding Cabaret Performer, nominated in 1994 for the Cable Car Award for Entertainer of the Year and Outstanding Concert for her solo show, This is War! In an interview done a long time ago and asked what the stupidest thing she’s ever done, Connie shared that “Suffice to say, the stupidest thing I ever did was get hooked up with this guy who ended up dumping me on Valentine's Day for my best friend. [laughs] It sounds like a bad Country & Western song. He asked me to meet him at the Cafe Flor, and my former best friend showed up five minutes later. A big fight ensued and afterwards I was sitting on the street crying. The police came and I asked them to take me to the hospital—I had a black eye and bruises all over. It was really sick; it was so Billie Holiday, and stupid. Mind you, I'm not even 21 years old at this point. So, the police take one look at my dyed black hair and weird make-up and go, "We're taking you in because you don't have any identification" (I didn't have any). I got hauled away to jail by San Francisco's finest for sitting on the sidewalk crying with no identification. [laughs] Whenever I think of the lowest point in my entire life, I think that would have to be it.” But back to the songbook this powerhouse tunesmith claims as her own, what are the songs she stakes out and makes her own? Miss Champagne is hard to peg or classify like your standard torch singer or chanteuse, but no one does “All Tomorrow’s Parties” quite the way she does, even the Velvet Underground themselves. New wave is old hat to our bombastic and ballistic balladeer and her interpretations of Judy Garlands songs set new standards and keep audiences clapping and clamoring for more. She has a powerful and beautiful voice that can carry many mediocre songs into respectability. Miss Champagne released her CD La Strada almost a decade ago and like her performances in ‘The Rocky Horror Show, is classic Champagne. She tells that when doing research for her part in “The Charlie Manson Story” a long time ago, she discovered that Susan Atkins had used the name Connie Champagne as an alias and that it was like a joke that caught on and that became a principle stage name for the artist. Miss Champagne, “the little singer with the big, flexible voice” formed the Tiny Bubbles Orchestra with a handful of very talented musicians and became fixtures at SOMA haunts like The Paradise Lounge and DNA. Then came Media Band where she played the lead role in this breakthrough. She has done SOLD OUT runs at Josie’s Juice Joint and then hooked up with Morty Okin to form “The New Morty and Connie Show”. This versatile and eminently talented singer, stylist, arranger, chanteuse, seductress has played every club of note here in San Francisco and her repertoire continues to grow and challenge the status quo. Other significant work has been in ‘Cabaret,” “Beehive,” “Valley of the Dolls,” “Christmas with the Crawford’s,” and as part of the exciting Whoa Nellies. Connie Champagne is a leading light of the San Francisco performance community and well regarded for her work as an actor, singer, voice over artist and volunteer for a shit load of good and worthy causes. Learn more about Miss Champagne at www.conniechampagne.com