A&E

By popular demand: Hochkeppel adds Saturday show

by Walter Pierce

In this, her first, cabaret show, Andrea Hochkeppel will share tales of the entertainment battleground with her own original songs, current covers, musical theater favorites and comedic story-telling in "Fighting Forward."

Virtually no seats remain for Andrea Hochkeppel's one-woman cabaret shows set for Friday and Saturday night, but fans of hers and musical theater lovers can buy tickets now to the just-added 10 pm show on Saturday, July 20 at Theater 810 in downtown Lafayette.

Tickets for Hochkeppel's show, "Fighting Forward," are $12 and are available online at http://fightingforward.eventbrite.com/. Tickets will also be available at the door before each show. Tickets for Andrea's 10 p.m. show must now be ordered by phone (337) 484-0172.

Proudly Cajun but currently living in New York City, Hochkeppel, who cut her musical teeth first on piano, clarinet and bassoon, will belt out a one-woman cabaret-style concert.

Hochkeppel is a singer, actress, dancer, choreographer, director and composer. A theater/dance graduate from Northwestern University, Andrea is currently pursuing a performing career in the Big Apple. Andrea's credits include performing as a lead singer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, starring as Junie B. Jones in "Junie B. Jones the Musical," and most recently in a regional production of David Ives' "All in the Timing."

"Show business can be a battleground," says Hochkeppel. "You can't get anywhere in show business without fighting a few battles."

In this, her first, cabaret show, Hochkeppel will share tales of the entertainment battleground with her own original songs, current covers, musical theater favorites and comedic story-telling in "Fighting Forward."

"I've been in New York, doing all sorts of performing work, but I've never had a chance to do a one-woman show," explains Hochkeppel. "Cabaret is really big in New York, especially in the Broadway community. The feel is totally different from a show in a big theater on a proscenium stage, like the Heymann Center. Performers can feel the energy of the audience and the audience gets a closer connection to the performer."

Hochkeppel will perform contemporary musical theater works, with selections from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "The Addams Family" and "Avenue Q," and other show tunes in her one-hour show.

"Theatre 810 is a great space that makes it possible to create that kind of intimate show, the kind that you might see at 54 Below or Café Carlysle," says Hochkeppel. "I'm home for a summer break and I am so happy to have had the chance to develop this show and premiere it in my hometown."

"I started singing sort of later, after high school, when I went off to college in Illinois to study musical theater at Northwestern University," she says. "Most of my friends have never had a chance to hear me sing or see me perform, except in their living rooms or on YouTube. Since I'm home for a summer break, and Theatre 810 is available, I looked around for an accompanist, found Hannah Mayo and pulled in my brother, Chris Hochkeppel. Together, we'll put on a show!"

When she was a junior in high school, she surprised her parents - Bill Hochkeppel and Robin Hochkeppel - by entering the Junior Miss competition and electing to sing as her talent. It was a hard choice to understand, since she was an accomplished dancer, pianist and bassoonist. She swept the talent competition and the Junior Miss title, and decided her future was in musical theater.

Her talents include composing, arranging and orchestrating music and those who knew her as a musician and drum major in the Lafayette High School band have known of her abilities for several years. Cabaret is one more demonstration of her musical talent.