Flapper, Pianist Entertain In Quemado

By Anne Sullivan
For the Mountain Mail

It was the perfect winter evening in Northern Catron County on Feb. 26.
First of all, it didn’t snow. Then, our stomachs were warmed by the tasty beef stew dinner served by the Quemado Senior Center. And to top it off, our spirits were really heated up by the performance of ‘I Want To Be Bad -- The Flapper and Her Song.’
Singer Jane Voss and pianist Hoyle Osborne put on a superbly bittersweet show. The minute Osborne started to play and Voss began to sing ‘There’ll Be Some Changes Made’ the audience was transported back to the carefree days of the 1920s.
But, lest we long too much for the days of yore, their repertoire included: ‘Downhearted Blues,’ There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears’ and ‘Ten Cents a Dance’ (the ultimate working girl’s lament) which showed another side of an era in which women were emerging from the kitchen but not from the heat. Evidently the flapper’s life was not all it was cracked up to be.
Between musical numbers both Voss and Osborne read interesting quotes and poetry of the times explaining what was going on in those years. Did you know that Dorothy Parker was considered the epitome of a flapper?
And did I tell you that Voss sang beautifully in a bouncing flapper way and Osborne played a mean piano?
Brought to Quemado by Northern Catron County’s Roadrunner Arts Council through the auspices of the New Mexico Humanities Council and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, ‘I Want To Be Bad’ is a shining example of the works they offer to rural communities.
That’s Entertainment!

Flapper, Pianist Entertain In Quemado