New Mexico

Boba Cabaret is taking requests! November’s production “Broadway By Request” features a menu of 100 songs. Audience members will drop their names in a hat, and the ten whose names are picked will get to choose what they’d like to hear off the menu.

“During our August performances, we asked audiences for the titles of their favorite Broadway songs,” says director Megan McQueen. “We had 563 requests for 253 songs or musicals. We chose 100 tunes that fulfill over 400 of our audience’s suggestions.”

An enthusiastic cast has tackled preparing that huge number of songs. In addition to the ten numbers selected off the menu at each performance, the group will present the five ensemble numbers people asked for most: “All That Jazz,” “Hair,” “Mamma Mia,” “Fugue for Tinhorns,” and “Oklahoma.”

New Mexico State University music student Jonathon Gallegos, an operatic tenor with a similar passion for musicals, will offer such popular numbers as “Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera and “Maria” from West Side Story. Gallegos has studied in Italy and has an impressive amount of performance experience.

Trey LaFleur has been singing, acting, and dancing since his years at Las Cruces High School, most recently at Boba and Las Cruces Community Theater. His songs include an energetic “Get Me to the Church on Time” from My Fair Lady and the classic “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Boba owner Chris Waggoner, whose non-Boba performing experience includes work with LCCT and the Dona Ana Lyric Opera, will cover well known tunes like “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof and “Ol’ Man River” from Showboat.

High school freshman Taylor Rey’s selections include the oft-requested “Tomorrow” from Annie and the comforting “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music. Rey is in LCHS’s Modernaires and has studied at Michelle’s Dance Academy for seven years.

Rey will be joined by Shannon Ellison for a few numbers including “One” from A Chorus Line. A senior at Alma d’arte Charter High School, Ellison appeared in Boba’s Dreamcatcher and has made significant accomplishments as a dancer, actress, and filmmaker. Her menu items include “Money, Money” from Cabaret and “Try to Remember” from The Fantasticks.

Rounding out the cast, musical theater lovers McQueen and Ginny May most recently performed in Boba’s Earth Angels. McQueen will cover songs ranging from the Cabaret’s playful title tune to the hopeful “Memory” from Cats. May’s repertoire will include several classics, like “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” from South Pacific.

The dinner show seats at 6pm with a 7pm show. The $25 ticket includes hors d’oeuvres, dinner entrée, a beverage (beer and wine included), and gratuity. A second show will seat at 8:15pm and costs $10 for the show only.

Reservations are recommended. Please call 575-647-5900. Boba Café, 1900 S. Espina St. Las Cruces.