Coffee House to be Held In Old Leverett Library

Unsatisfied with the specturm of talent Harvard's a capella singing groups and performance bands have drawn in recent years, two students have organized a cabaret-style talent show to expose some of Harvard's less well-known artists.

Scheduled for February 23 and 24 in the Old Leverett House Library, the Harvard Coffee House Cabaret will feature 10 acts, including a saxophone quartet, a folk trio and a classical pianist, according to Lynda A. Doctoroff '91.

Linda Cohen '90, who is producing the event together with Doctoroff, said the cabaret was designed so "people that don't get a chance to perform frequently could be seen."

Doctoroff said that she hopes to make the coffee house an official Harvard organization, in order to get more funding and a better space for the performances. She said she hopes there could be two or three such cabarets every semester.

Currently, the Leverett House Art Society is providing funds for the cabaret. Doctoroff said the money is being used to purchase coffee and cookies for the performances, as well as other "things that will make it look like a coffee house."

Auditions for the cabaret were held at the beginning of the semester, and Cohen said they attracted a tremendous amount of talent--something the producers were pleased to see, but were forced to pare down.

"We wanted to get a mix of vocal and musical performances," Cohen said, explaining that diversity was an important factor in choosing acts.

Doctoroff, who originally came up with the idea for the talent smorgasboard, said that last year she became "a little frustrated with what was happening musically at Harvard." Although she is a singer, she said she did not feel the a capella groups were "where she wanted to be."

She said that "Harvard focuses a lot on a capella groups, jazz groups and occasionally musicals, but in terms of small bands and soloists there isn't much of an outlet."

Most houses have their own cabarets, Doctoroff said. But she said most of them feature only house members, and that students still needed a cabaret that attracted different talents from across the University.

"It's a good idea," said China F. Forbes '92, an Adams House resident who will be singing at the cabaret. "It brings artists from all over the college."

Previously, she said, she had sung only at house cabarets.

Admission to the cabaret will be $3 for residents of Leverett House, $4 for other students and $5 for non-Harvard attendees.