Local singer's cabaret show to benefit Connecticut Food Bank

By PATRICIA BLAUFUSS

Bridgeport resident Megan Owen, cabaret artist and versatile singer who also trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America, will present her new one-woman show, "Food of Love & Vice Versa," to benefit Connecticut Food Bank, on Friday, September 5, 8 p.m., at Playhouse on the Green in Bridgeport. 

The show features a variety of songs about food, running the gamut from opera and standards to Broadway and pop. Owen presents character sketches of "Chefs I Have Known" to the music of Leonard Bernstein, Cole Porter, Kander & Ebb, Hector Villa-Lobos, David Shire, Victor Herbert, Richard Danley and Woody Regan.  Director is Avrom Berel, with Richard Danley on piano and Paul Avgerinos on bass.

"If music be the food of love, then come to the cabaret!," said Owen.

Before moving to Bridgeport, Owen lived in Ridgefield and New Canaan and was a church soloist in Darien, New Canaan, Stratford and Westport. As a cabaret artist, Owen wrote and performed her autobiographical one-woman show, "The Road Taken," in New England, New York City and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Other cabarets in which she has appeared include "The Greatest Generation: Songs of WWII,"  "A Night on the Left Bank" and "The Floor Show." Ms. Owen's CD, "All the Things You Are," offers a journey through the pains and joys of romance.

Megan Owen studied modern dance and ballet as a young girl in Concord, NH, where she performed both as an actress and dancer. A graduate of Concord High School, she received her BA degree from Lake Erie College in Painesville, OH, majoring in both French and the performing arts. During her junior year, she lived in Dijon with a French family who inspired her to write several songs that appear in her shows "A Night on the Left Bank" and "Love of Food & Vice Versa."

After her marriage to architect Zane Yost, and while raising their family, Ms. Owen taught modern dance in New Canaan, Ridgefield and at the Silvermine Guild, and studied voice with Diane Armistead, Herta Glatz and Arabella Hong Young. She honed her acting skills in New York at HB Studios with Herbert Berghoff, and with Mark Zeller and Dana Zeller-Alexis at the 78th Street Theatre Lab. She played the part of Sister Marie Charlotte on the CBS daytime drama "Guiding Light," and Mrs. Gladys Winter in the award-winning film "Clean, Shaven" with Peter Green. She also has done television commercials.

Proceeds from "Food of Love & Vice Versa" will be donated to Connecticut Food Bank (CFB).  CFB has more than 120 partner programs that depend on the Fairfield County Warehouse for their food distribution needs.  CFB distributed nearly two-and-a-half million pounds of food last year to partner programs such as youth and day programs, food pantries and emergency shelters.  More information on CFB is available at www.ctfoodbank.org. 

Tickets to "Food of Love & Vice Versa" are $40. For tickets, visit www.theatermania.com, "Food of Love & Vice Versa" or phone 212-352-3101 or 1-866-811-4111.

Playhouse on the Green is located at 177 State Street between Main Street and Markle Court in downtown Bridgeport.  Exit 27 on I-95. For more comprehensive directions, go to the Playhouse's website:  www.playhouseonthegreen.org. Free, secure parking one block from the theater is available.