Ballets With A Twist To Perform COCKTAIL HOUR: THE SHOW

From coast-to-coast, Ballets with a Twist is turning heads and setting trends with its signature production, Cocktail Hour: The Show. Watch as “Bloody Mary,” “Manhattan,” mocktail “Roy Rogers,” and more spring off the menu and onto the stage in a series of dazzling vignettes. Suitable for audiences of all ages, the fun and fast-paced show transports theatergoers through time and around the world with original choreography, music, and costume design. You've never seen ballet like this!

Cocktail Hour: The Show is slated to close out Banners at McNeese State University's 2025 Cultural Season. A week of community engagement is planned preceding the May 1st performance. 

Upon participating in Ballets with a Twist workshops, select dancers from the Lake Charles Dance Academy and the Lake Area Ballet Theatre will have the opportunity to join the professionals onstage. In addition, company composer, Stephen Gaboury, will coach the South Beauregard High School Marching Band to prepare the ensemble for its featured role in opening the May 1 production. Tickets are $5-$10 and are available at https://banners.org. For more information, call 337.475.5997 or email rpartin2@mcneese.edu.

Created by artistic director and choreographer Marilyn Klaus, Cocktail Hour: The Show melds the glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age with a sleek, state-of-the-art sensibility. Elegance, electricity, and all-American energy combine in a series of delightful dancing drinks. It's high-style entertainment for the whole family!

Program highlights include

● “Champagne” — A glittering ballroom bubbles to life in this silver-screen dream.

● “Brandy Alexander” — Atteeennntion! In the wake of a bold marching band reveille, The Great One arrives with loyal troops in tow, ready to conquer the dance floor.

● “Mint Julep” — Sophisticated fillies leap toward a photo finish on a breeze of bluegrass and southern hospitality in this Kentucky Derby story.

The Company

Marilyn Klaus, whose choreography has been seen internationally, formed Ballets with a Twist in association with Grammy-nominated composer Stephen Gaboury and Costume Designer Catherine Zehr. Her company has appeared in a wide range of venues throughout the country, from Cleveland's Playhouse Square and New York City's Beacon Theatre to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Tribeca Film Festival. — "This troupe blends vaudeville flash and flair with tutus and pointe shoes." (The New York Times) 

Stephen Gaboury's compositions have been performed by celebrated musicians nationwide. As a pianist, he has collaborated and toured the world with pop/rock icon Cyndi Lauper for more than a decade, most recently joining her alongside the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at its historic home venue. He has also accompanied such artists as Patti LaBelle, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLachlan, and has performed at internationally televised events such as the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and the New Year's Eve Times Square Ball Drop. Gaboury's music has been heard in concert, on television, and in films (including Boyhood and American Beauty).

Catherine Zehr is the artistic force behind the company's costume design. Her creations evoke the origins and essence of each dance with brilliant colors and ornamentation. Zehr honed her skills while working at major American fashion houses, then by designing and manufacturing attire for her own label. She studied art and design at Washington University and New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology, where she and the company delivered the presentation “Designing Costumes for Ballets with a Twist” as part of The Museum at FIT's Fashion Culture series.

The Venue

Cocktail Hour: The Show will be presented by Banners at Lake Charles Event Center's Rosa Hart Theatre. Banners was established in 1992 under the direction of Dr. Robert Hebert, former president of McNeese State University. Because many events coordinated by the School of Liberal Arts were occurring at the same time, Dr. Hebert's idea was to organize these events into a cohesive unit and give the community access to each show. Over the years, Banners has expanded to include: a year round student-driven outreach program; cultural, art, and humanitarian programming performed by artists from around the world; the Rouge et Blanc annual fundraiser, and more.

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