Quince Productions is gearing up for its seventh annual Full House cabaret series Nov. 18-22, launching it with one of their favorite performers.
Singer Deborah Billups has participated in the popular annual series of cabarets almost every year since it started and setting the tone and pace for the event.
“I’m opening night every year,” she said. “I insist on that. I like the edginess of the cabarets. It opens you up and allows you to go where you want to go.”
This year she’s going to the latest chapter in her “I’m Just Sayin’” series.
“‘What Was I Sayin’?’ is going to be the finale of my Sayin’ series,” she said. “The first year I did ‘I’m Just Sayin.’ The second year I did ‘I’m Still Just Sayin.’ The third year I did ‘I’m Forever Still Just Sayin.’ Then I skipped a year and now it’s ‘What Was I Sayin’?’ It just makes sense. This is just the end of this series and next year I’ll have to come up with something spectacular.”
Billups said that while the show changes from year to year, her shows follow a unifying theme of being about whatever is on her mind at the time.
“I came up with the title because with that title I can talk about whatever I want,” she said. “This year is going to be a culmination. I’m going to give people the highlights of my other shows and some bonus attractions. This is kind of like Whoopi Goldberg meets Liza Minnelli. My first show talked about love and loss. The third show, which to me was my best to date, was about a long-distance blind date in Fort Lauderdale with my girlfriend’s father. This show is going to be a culmination of all of it. It’s about how things change when you get older. I talk about my adventure into being an entertainer. I’ve been singing all my life but I waited until I was 40 to get the balls to get professional training. And this is about what happens when I get some cojones to get some professional training and live my dream.”
Billups also stays busy with various other musical projects, which might see her traveling globally if she has anything to say about it.
“I have a couple of bands. I have a jazz band, 4 A.M. I have a blues band called Blues Tattoo. Also I have a friend who is going to get me up in Europe singing. I’m going to be singing in Switzerland. You heard it here first.”
Deborah Billups performs “What Was I Sayin’?” as part of the Full House cabaret series, 8 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Skybox at Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. For more information or tickets, visit www.quinceproductions.com/fullhouse.html.