The Phantom of the Cabaret Sings Another Day
Singer and composer Artemisia LaFey emotes with passion during a performance of an original musical number from Wasted Girl at the 2025 Rochester Fringe Festival.
From the back of a small dark theater, under the soft glow of a purple-hued limelight, and deep inside the thresholds of the Spirit Room on State Street in Downtown Rochester, a one-of-a-kind vaudeville-esque musical masterpiece ignited the the gothic museum-style event space lined with church pews.
Wasted Girl, an odyssey of original musical compositions written with thoroughly researched morbid and romantic lyrics, a robust instrumental accompaniment, and performed by the multitalented, multi-instrumentalist Artemisia LeFay, and classical pianist counterpart, Renée Guerrero, at the 2025 Rochester Fringe Festival.
Artemisia’s cabaret and soon-to-be musical, Wasted Girl, pays homage to vaudeville and the eccentric cabarets of Berlin during the Weimar Republic, an era in German history from 1918 to 1933, which has become synonymous with societal taboos, including avant-garde arts and cinema, sexual liberation, expressionism, and burlesque shows. Importantly, the musical honors the lives of the ingenious actress, provocative dancer, and singer Anita Berber, and her artistic counterpart and lover, Sebastian Droste.
The musical compositions by LeFay and collaborators are lyrically rich; they act as guides, offering compelling stories that activate the senses to orchestrate a mental diorama that transports the audience members into a phantom realm, where the imagination is free to immerse itself like a fly on the wall in the chambers of the enigmatic performers of Weimar Berlin.
The piano accompaniment, performed by Guerrero, transforms throughout the performance, showcasing the musician’s virtuoso and dynamic, classically trained abilities with tantalizing arpeggios and original works reminiscent of preludes and sonatas by the late Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. The style of music shifts throughout the performance, and at times, the piano accompaniment erupts into a dark cabaret, motioning us into a waltz with subtle Romani influences.
An artist on the fringes, Artemisia LaFey is a powerhouse of a singer. As an actress, one might perceive LaFey as a Sally Bowles-esque character, from John Kander’s and Fred Ebb’s hit musical, Cabaret, especially considering Liza Minnelli’s portrayal in the 1972 film. I might argue that even deeper inside the vocal timbre and unique lyrical styles of Artemisia are elements reminiscent of Judy Garland, the famed American Hollywood actress raised in a vaudevillian home, who met a tragic end due to struggles with barbiturates. Whichever it may be, the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.
Artemisia LaFey and Renée Guerrero will continue their set of Wasted Girl this weekend at the 2025 Rochester Fringe Festival. Put down the knitting, the book, and the broom, and see the Phantom of the Cabaret sing another day at the Spirit Room.