Lights. Camera. Cabaret?
Article: Ana Arias   |   Photography: Ana Arias and Cruz Pulido
The Rodeo Cinema hosted Oklahoma City’s first Collage Cabaret in an effort to create a space for all artists alike to showcase their talents ranging from dance performances to variety acts, theatre monologues, singing, magic and crowd work.
The effort? Seemingly successful. And the best part? All of the artists are Oklahoma locals.
As stated by the Collage Cabaret website, “The mission of Collage Cabaret is to build an accessible show of luxury for the local art community by giving artists a platform to be themselves, a place to come together, and a safe space to grow and be empowered through expression.”
In a nearly sold-out show, the night offered performances ranging from upbeat to even melancholic, but it was never dull.
Kaylene Snarsky and Kyle Kimlick, directors and actors in “Ain’t No Sunshine,” expressed their relief at having a place to not only showcase their work, but to see other projects as well.
“Yeah, I mean, I think the big thing I want to say is like we made this movie on next to no money with only a couple of days, and everybody involved was just doing it as a labor of love. And so yeah, we had to make some tweaks to make it theater-ready, but at the end of the day, this movie never would have happened if there wasn't such a passionate Oklahoma film community that was so excited to make an awesome action movie.”​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​The showcase lineup was as follows:

This World Will Remember Us - Bonnie & Clyde the Musical
Alexandria Yolie and Fé Harrow
Shylock’s Monologue - Merchant of Venice
Isaiah J. Williams
Magic Show
John Shack
Duo Scene - Heidi Chronicles
Alexandria Yolie and Clayton Jones
Hope You’re Happy - Music Video
Cheyanne Marie, Director Laura Susana Tapia
911 Testimonial
Jeffrey Picón
I’ll Be Here - Ordinary Days
Lyndsee Bell​​​​​​​


INTERMISSION

Black and Blue - Barry Cockcroft
Joshua Heaney
Ain’t No Sunshine - Short Film
Four Horsemen & Co.
Fish Bowl
Fé Harrow
Group Scene - God of Carnage
Maddy Grimes, Quinn Jones, Jesus Montero-Oliva, Bethany Woemmel
NUEVAYol - Bad Bunny
Jess Cajina
Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again
Alexandria Yolie and Fé Harrow
Laura Susana Tapia, the director of the music video "Hope You're Happy" by Shane Marie, stated the importance of a creative outlet like this.

“It's amazing that we now have a platform for both emerging and established artists who really showcase their talents. Like Alexandria said, it's a premium cabaret, but at an accessible price, location, just really bringing that art into the community and also creating a community for artists.”

The day of the show marked the 25th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks. One of the standout pieces of the night included the 911 Testimonial by Jeffrey Picón, where he was able to speak on his experience that day as he was just blocks away from the site. In a teary-eyed interview, Picón relived all that took place and felt taken aback, mentioning it’s something that impacts the rest of your life.

Alexandria Yolie, Co-founder, Executive producer, social media manager, and just about every other role, expresses her gratitude for the turnout. ​​​​​​​
“The most beautiful culmination of people that are so passionate, and also the sentiment of just gratitude that people came and purchased a ticket to watch these artists. Something that went from concept to being here at rodeo to almost being sold out. Like there's proof in the pudding, and like how grateful I am that people just took the time out of their Friday nights to come be part of this.”

Yolie declared that this Collage Cabaret has a future in evolution involving an addition of locations, themes and an even deeper variety of art forms.

Those interested in film. writing, quality cinema, movies, social media, cabaret, emerging artists, music video, art, local talent, creative passion and the Oklahoma community should all make their way to the next Collage Cabaret.

This event was the first, trailblazing the way to not be the last.
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