What: CabarGAY
Where: Belfry Arts Centre, 1291 Gladstone Ave.
When: Sat., June 27, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $20 advance, $25 at door
Reservations: 250-385-6815
The Belfry Theatre has hosted many performers over the years, but Mary Zilba is the only one whose resumé includes singing solo in the Sistine Chapel.
Zilba will be at the Fernwood venue on Saturday for CabarGAY, the Victoria Pride Society fundraiser she’s emceeing with Fiona Forbes.
The Ohio-born recording artist and Real Housewives of Vancouver star was reportedly the first soloist permitted to sing in the Sistine Chapel when she performed there with maestra Candace Wicke and New Jersey’s Continuo Arts Symphonic Ensemble. They were invited by the head of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel Choir to become the first U.S. organization ever to present a concert there.
“It was the greatest honour of my life,” recalled Zilba, a Roman Catholic whose friend, a New York-based violinist, recommended her.
Before recording Hero, her 2013 iTunes chart-topper in the U.K., the former Miss Ohio and University of Toledo journalism graduate wrote a series called Eye on Travel while living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The ensemble’s concert with members of Princeton’s All Saints Episcopal Church choir in the 15th-century chapel took place during a European tour that included stops in Dublin, Limerick and Assisi, Italy. Zilba, who had always said she would never visit Rome without her mother, flew her parents, in their mid-70s, to the Eternal City for a spontaneous trip.
“By the time they landed, they were able to watch me sing Amazing Grace, with cardinals everywhere,” said Zilba. “I get chills just thinking about it.”
Her religious experience was worlds away from what Zilba and Forbes, the TV personality and host of Vancouver’s Shaw gabfest The Fiona Forbes Show, will dish up.
“I’m so looking forward to it,” Zilba said from Los Angeles, where the two were pitching projects being developed by their new company, Lady Pants Productions.
“I have a lot of friends in the gay community and I’m a real advocate for it. I’ve always been in the entertainment business, where so many people in the gay community reside.”
Zilba has another thing in common with Forbes, besides friendship and showbiz connections — a passion for giving back.
“I feel very lucky to be a person who has a voice,” added Forbes, whose favourite charities include the CKNW Orphans’ Fun, Variety Club, Ronald McDonald House and Pink Shirt Day.
Last weekend, the Vancouver fashionista and TV host also took part in the annual Face the World charity event in Vancouver, which raised $1.5 million to help abused women and children and the homeless.
She said she’ll be equally enthusiastic auctioning off B.C. Ferries trips and Pride Packs at the fourth annual CabarGAY event organized by her agent, Richard Lucas.
“It’s serendipitous that I’ll be working with Richard,” said Forbes, who, coincidentally, shares her pal’s passion for Lucille Ball, the comedy queen known for her gay-rights advocacy.
Larry Moss, the Hollywood acting guru, once described Forbes as a woman “with chutzpah who reminds me of Lucille Ball” — a compliment she says she’ll never forget.
“To be told that by someone who knew Lucille was amazing,” Forbes said. “I was verklempt. I’ll take that one to my grave.”
While it’s anybody’s guess whether there will be any I Love Lucy shtick on the CabarGAY menu along with drag queen Gouda Gabor’s outrageous hijinks, the antics of the Cheesecake Burlesque troupe and a who’s who of local entertainers singing, dancing and making ’em laugh, the co-hosts were certain of one thing.
“This is a celebration of self-expression and we’re there to have fun,” said Forbes, who hopes to inspire that fabulous feeling so many charity events achieve.
“When you watch CNN for a few hours you can lose your faith in humanity and [CabarGAY performers] make you feel better about the world we live in.”
