Patricia Snyder, Candidate for Queen of United Way Mardi Gras, is pleased to announce a special evening of delectable food and fine wines, accompanied by a great show, “Passionate Broadway” featuring Clare O’Shea, to help raise funds for the United Way of Calvert County. The event will take place Saturday, January 31, 2009 from 7 pm to 10 pm at Fridays Creek Winery in Owings, MD.

Guests are invited to enjoy the surroundings of this Calvert County winery with its elegant décor and art displays, while sipping delicious wine, and experiencing the enchantment of Clare, a gorgeous, cabaret singer, sharing original stories of loves, joys and sorrows polished with wit and comedy.

“Passionate Broadway” is Clare’s latest hit show and it has recently garnered a lot of fan praise and critical acclaim. You’ll want to get your tickets early for this United Way fund-raising event as seating is limited to 50 attendees.

In a review of “Passionate Broadway” Dick Wilson, Bay Weekly, recently wrote “Clare O’Shea establishes herself as a sole occupant of the cabaret niche in Calvert County, where the big city star now makes her home.”

Clare’s show will offer Intensity! Commitment! Glamour! Great music! Variety! Up and down mood! Laughs and tears! It will make you think and make you feel! And most importantly, it will fill you up and leave you with HOPE!!!

A reviewer from the Los Angeles Times wrote that “Clare is a combination of Bette Midler, Andrea Marcovicci, Maria Callas and Jessica Rabbit.”

Everyone knows who Bette Midler is. When you see Clare perform, you can obviously see and hear her likeness to the Divine Miss M. Like Midler, Clare dazzles you with a bit of bawdy banter and has the mouth that roars. She can magically shift moods in a blink as she performs her monologues and songs. Clare acts out her words and songs with gusto and enthusiasm and then suddenly mellows it down to an emotional, heart rendering performance.

You may not know who Andrea Marcovicci is, but Sheridan Morley, theater critic of The Spectator and The International Herald-Tribune, called Marcovicci “the greatest cabaret star of her generation.” In an article written for The New York Times, Marcovicci defines cabaret today as an “intensely personal evening of song and stories delivered in a simple, honest way”. Marcovicci is honest, so is Clare O’Shea, heartbreakingly so!

Maria Callas, one of the great operatic voices of our time, was also one of the great divas of the 20th Century. She was an accomplished actress who drew on the work of Sarah Bernhardt. Clare is often likely to include an aria in her shows. She says, “I hate opera, but I love singing the hits, the arias. They are funnnn!!”

In comparing Clare to Jessica Rabbit, the femme fatale, cartoon wife of the title character in the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"…let’s just say Clare is visually stunning, ‘over-the-top’ voluptuous and also funny!

“On stage, Clare O’Shea is a nonstop surprise: imposing, confident, self-contained, even brash,” wrote Dick Wilson, reviewer for the Bay Weekly.

Another newspaper reviewer Pat Ullberg, The Calvert Recorder, wrote that Clare “radiates energy that circulates around her like a neon aura. Clare O’Shea, a force of nature who has fortunately landed in Chesapeake Beach, is no stranger to theatrical stages, large and small.”

Clare has been a professional actor, singer, writer and producer in Los Angeles and New York for over 25 years. She has acted in films for Academy Award winning director, Ron Howard (SPLASH), and Academy Award nominated director Andrew Davis (ABOVE THE LAW), plus TEEN WOLF with Michael J. Fox and Walt Disney’s MY SCIENCE PROJECT among many other major feature and independent films. She has performed in national network television shows such as MURPHY BROWN, LA LAW, NYPD BLUE, as well as theatre in Los Angeles and Off Broadway in New York. Her most recent role was starring as “Sister” in the Off Broadway one woman interactive comedy hit, LATE NITE CATECHISM. Clare’s awards include the Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for Best Actress and the Los Angeles Ovations Awards for Best One Person Show for “LOVING OUT LOUD”. She is currently happy to be living in Maryland with her husband, David.

Join us for a truly special evening with all of its secrets, magic, mysteries, lights, and shadows of intimate musical theatre like you would find in New York City while helping raise funds for the United Way of Calvert County.

Show date: Saturday, January 31, 2009 at Fridays Creek Winery, 3485 Chaneyville Road, Owings, MD 20736. Get your tickets early. Cost is $50.00 per person with all proceeds going to benefit the 40 United Way of Calvert County partner programs that improve lives and create lasting change in Calvert County. The best chances for tickets in advance are: 1) call Clare O’Shea at (301) 873-5885.

Type Of Music: Cabaret (Broadway Showtunes)

Date, Time, Location Of Performance: January 31, 2009, 7 pm, Fridays Creek Winery

For More Information, Please Contact: Clare at (301) 873-5885, 2) Jennifer (with your credit card) at (410) 286-0100, or Patricia at (410) 414-9576