【R19：WORKS】 The world of Laura Pink – charming the audience and becoming one with them
Laura Pink is a cabaret singer who arranges and performs in her own unique style a wide range of musical genres including Broadway tunes, Jazz, R&B, and Japanese folk tunes. The writer interviewed her to learn more about the cabaret style and also hear about the party Laura held to celebrate the color pink – her number one obsession.
Her obsession with pink
Laura loves pink so much that she added it to her stage name. Her obsession is evident in everything from her clothes, artwork, business cards, to her homepage. It has not only been her favorite color since childhood, but has also opened up opportunities that led to many rich encounters.
A photo of a pink bottle she once posted on Instagram was the catalyst which later led to her putting down roots in the United States. She came across a photo, posted by someone else, of the exact same bottle she had, and clicked “Like.” They followed each other on Instagram, and became friends. Laura learned that Mercedes Denis, her new friend and a woman living in Philadelphia, designed her own brand of fashion bags. They eventually met in person on one of Laura’s trips to New York, and hit it off immediately. Thanks to Mercedes, Laura got to know more people working in fashion. These connections eventually led to her Pink Party. As Laura commented: “We had the party twice - once in Philadelphia and once in Tokyo, and the dress code was pink. The party was full of music and interaction– a huge success in my book. It made me want to have Pink Parties all over the world.”
Kudos to Laura for her talent in connecting with people through sharing her favorite color, and also her ability to follow up on the connections she established.
Debut concert with Marilyn Maye
“I have always found that ‘what you learn and from whom you learn it’ is key”, says Laura. Asked about her cabaret mentor, Marilyn Maye, Laura replied, “I respect her so much as a person, and even think of her as a friend. I want to absorb as much as I can from her.”
Despite Covid-19, Marilyn remains active in the music scene. Ideally, the chemistry between the performer and live audience is, according to Laura, what makes a cabaret performance. But Marilyn has adapted to the Covid restrictions of live performances, holding live stream concerts, allowing for social distancing at in-person events, and continually searching for new opportunities. So her schedule might look something like “Yesterday - Minnesota, New York - the night before, and Florida - the night before that.”
Laura says she is lucky to be able to take lessons from her. “The pieces Marilyn chooses for me and the appropriate gestures always feel right to me.”…which is important for Laura, who, feeling an awkward gap between Broadway and Japanese musicals, has been in search for her own unique expression.
In her words: “Americans tend to use more body language in their daily lives than Japanese do. Because I’m not used to doing that myself, adding gestures in my singing can sometimes feel somewhat awkward. But Marilyn’s movements felt natural to me and she acknowledged the style in which I incorporated her movements, which I appreciated as well. “
Marilyn Maye is well known in the world of jazz, as well, and has even performed with Ella Fitzgerald. Her cabaret style combines elements from both classical and jazz music. Describing Marilyn’s singing: “She takes the elements of classical music and musical theater, which are all about telling a story through a melody or lyrics, blends that with jazz arrangements or improvisation and brings it to life on stage.”
Pianist Takaaki Otomo and bassist Yosuke Terao, with whom Laura performed in her debut concert on June 17th, 2021, are also active in the jazz scene. As Laura herself commented: “I only recently started singing jazz tunes after meeting Marilyn. But when I sing with Mr. Otomo, I enjoy a sense of openness, i.e., I simply let myself go from the notes I hear from the piano. When learning something new, I prefer to first take a swing at it without worrying about failing, and then work on refinement from there.”
In her debut concert, she performed with beautiful expression all 19 pieces/medleys – a wide variety of songs from Broadway’s My Fair Lady, Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid, to Wrapped in Kindness by Yumi Matsutoya.
Always connecting with the audience, Laura sometimes uses humor, and sometimes expresses herself in an endearing way – almost like a young girl, bringing to mind the young woman who sings on an NHK children’s show. While obviously incorporating Marilyn Maye’s cabaret style, Laura uses her own experiences and thoughts to bring her performance to a brand new level. “I’m confident that I can sing anywhere I want – whether that’s Japan, America, Canada, or anywhere else. And I want to sing. My next concert has not been set yet, nor do I know in which country it will be,” says Laura. In her words: “There is a lot I want to do. But my mindset is the same regardless of where I sing – to take on the work mentally prepared and perform with all my heart.”
The writer looks forward to her future musical endeavors on a world wide scale.
text：Momiji photo：Yui Matsukawa translation：Jackie Murchie
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