The (original) *Kitchenettes* were a trio of singers based in San Francisco, from 2000-2006. The personnel changed over that period, but its founders, Linda Kosut and Lua Hadar, appeared throughout, also producing the group’s CD, Dining at the Banquet, and an Italian Festival version of their show.
The earliest version of the comic girl trio included Mychelle Colleary, Lua Hadar and Linda Kosut, accompanied by singer-pianist-arranger Barry Lloyd. Arrangements were also provided by Kelly Park, Ken French, and others, as The Kitchenettes worked with stage director Bobby Weinapple and new Kitchenette Eryka Raines to evolve their musical cabaret show (Mychelle had moved to New York.)
DINE: Where Food & Lust Burst into Song, which debuted at San Francisco’s classy Plush Room, played there several times during 2001, including the evening of Sept 10, 2001, before the world changed with the fateful 911 attacks on our native New York. On 9/11, The Kitchenettes’ monthly Thick Tuesdays Singers’ Workshop became a memorial and coming together for the local cabaret community.
DINE continued to play top venues and private events in the Bay Area, and in 2003, The Kitchenettes, now including Eryka Raines and accompanied by pianist Sheldon Forrest, performed an award-winning bilingual version of their show at the Italian National Festival of Comic Song, Dallo Sciamano allo Showman.
The Kitchenettes had long-running ties to San Francisco’s North Beach, with repeated engagements at Club Peña Pachamama and the legendary Purple Onion, where they hosted a monthly open mic, as well as presenting new talent in their series, The New Stars of the Purple Onion, launching several local performers in the atmospheric basement club.
Kitchenettes Lua and Linda taught cabaret workshops in several Bay Area venues, culminating in full class performances, including at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel Cirque Room.