Technically, Lisa Kantor, Pam Rich, Laurie Schiff and Debbie Zecher are not housewives. "We're all wives and mothers with jobs," says Zecher, the senior rabbi at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington, where she has worked since 1992. But Dangerous Women: An Evening of Song & Sass at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox could be a high-brow reality TV show: the story of four women (photographed left by John Dolan) who spent six months rehearsing with a professional director for two cabaret shows to raise funds for scholarships at the Berkshire Country Day School, where one-third of the students gets financial aid. Clearly, this is not your run-of-the-mill PTA fundrasier. The show's artistic director is Joseph Rich (Pam's brother-in-law), a scion of the Pittsfield furniture family and former Broadway dancer
who famously performed with Grace Jones at Studio 54 on New Year's Eve in 1978. (He's the one closest to Jones in the photo in the recent Vanity Fair story on the history of disco.) "Joseph has been astonishing," says Zecher. "He's both a wise man and a magician." Rich has been working with the women since last fall, helping them choose songs that fit the theme as well as their personalities. "Each one of them can belt out a song and then surprise you with a ballad," says Rich. "There are a couple of songs that get me choked up every time I hear them. These women are very strong individuals, but they have blended as an ensemble." What makes them "dangerous" women? "For me, the dangerous part is about going onstage in front of my community," says Kantor, who's a pyschologist with a budding cabaret career. "People will see all of us in a new light," she says, noting that songs such as "What You Don't Know About Women" from City of Angels provide the show with a narrative thread.
Rabbi Zecher doesn't expect her performance will shock her neighbors or congregants who are familiar with her schtick: she's also Hevreh's cantor and she's done a show called Broadway Bible. However, she says that the chemistry among the four women and their director and musical director, Joe Rose, has turned what might have been merely a concert into a full-fledged show or a "caba-revu-sical" in the words of Joseph Rich. "Sparks fly when four like-minded women get together," says the rabbi, whose numbers include "When Do You Start?" by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. "I think the show will be pushing the envelope for some people emotionally. That's as dangerous as it gets." The women hope the show will prove that you can simultaneously do good and have a good time. Says Kantor: "We're very lucky women who can express their passion for music and at the same time raise money for education." Dangerous Women fundraiser for Berkshire Country Day School ScholarshipsShakespeare & Company Lenox, MA April 24 @ 8 p.m. $75, includes a cocktail reception April 25 @ 2 p.m. $40 adults; $20 students
