Debra & Mary’s Night on the Town (with special guest Tim Gunn!)

Ed, John & I went to Park Slope in Brooklyn on March 13th at the invitation of our cabaret singer friend, Mary Cleere Haran. She does a weekly Monday night show with her friend Debra Barsha at the Night & Day Restaurant in their cabaret Skylight Room. The restaurant is a nice place. We got chatting with one of the owners, Judy Joice, and her son Max. Nice, engaging people who seem fully invested in their business.

The show is called “Debra & Mary’s Night on the Town.” Debra is a pianist & the composer of a musical called “Radiant Baby.” Mary was called “America’s most literate chanteuse” by the New Yorker magazine. Debra and Mary host this 9 PM show with songs, a recap of their weekly adventures, witty banter and a different guest each week. They build each show around a theme with songs and a guest relating to the theme.

This week’s show theme was Fashion. They sang songs like Devil with a Blue Dress On, These Boots Were Made for Walking, Alice Blue Gown, Take Back Your Mink, and Top Hat, White Tie and Tails. Their guest was Tim Gunn, the “den father” and advisor of the contestants on their (and my) favorite reality TV show, Bravo TV’s Project Runway. Tim is the Chairman of the Fashion Department at Parson’s New School of Design.



Mary saw us at the bar before the show. Tim Gunn was having dinner in the restaurant and Mary brought us over and introduced us to him. He was so gracious and charming.

Mary also handed us some cards to write down questions for Tim. They had a bunch from the audience and asked one of my questions and one of Ed’s. Ed’s was, “Besides Banana Republic, where do you shop?” Tim talked about how he wore Banana Republic clothing before he got involved in the show (which is sponsored in part by BR). Everyone assumes that he gets all his clothes from BR gratis. He said that that the BR execs are less than kind and haven’t given him a thing in the two years that he has done the show despite all the publicity the show brings them. Everything he wears comes from his own closet and is paid out of his pocket. My ‘question’ was, “Pick one and why: 1) Coco Chanel, 2) Christian Dior, 3) Edith Head.” Mary read the question and said as she read the third choice, “This must be from a gay man.” Tim picked Coco Chanel and told of her huge impact on 20th century fashion back in the teens.

Tim grew up in D.C. and shared a great anecdote about his father, an FBI man who wrote speeches for J. Edgar Hoover. Dad called the house once and told Tim and his sister to come down to his office because Vivian Vance was there. He met I Love Lucy’s Ethel Mertz but never found out why she was at Hoover’s office. In recent years when rumors circulated that Hoover was a cross-dresser, Tim wondered if it was really Viv or Hoover in drag.

Tim also read from a published collection of Diana Vreeland’s memos to the magazine staff when she was Editor in Chief at Vogue. They were hilarious, particularly as read by Tim in his distinctive manner and tone.

Mary & Debra had asked Tim to pick two songs, one pre-1960, one post, that they would sing. He picked “Losing My Mind” from Follies (good choice, Tim!) which Debra sang beautifully. She learned it just for this show. Mary sang a lovely old song. I can’t recall it. It might have been a Jerome Kern song. I know there was talk of the RKO movie Roberta and its MGM remake Lovely to Look at.

Debra and Mary end each show with a Beatles tune. They thought about singing “Happiness is a Warm Gun” for Tim but ultimately chose “I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends.” It was a great finish to a really enjoyable evening.

One of the three Project Runway finalists, Daniel Vosovic, was in the audience. We spoke to him for quite a bit after the show. He is handling his 15 minutes of fame quite well and if his work on the show is an indication, he should do very well for himself in the fashion world.

As a ridiculous stalker, I tried to figure what I could bring to have Tim Gunn sign. I considered but then though better of lugging my sewing machine to Brooklyn. Ditto my dressmaker’s dummy. I didn’t want to pull out a pair of scissors and startle anyone so I settled on my sewing tape measure. Tim and Daniel both signed it. Tim wrote, “Carry On, Tim Gunn,” which could not have been better.

It was a fun adventure in Brooklyn and an entertaining show. I'll be keeping an eye on their schedule, and I'm sure we'll go again.