Jacques of All Trades
Rick Berlin
Where: Monday nights at Jacques Cabaret, 79 Broadway, Bay Village, Boston;
617-426-8902
Age: 55
Years playing Boston: 30
Biggest gig: His band Berlin Airlift opened for J. Geils Band at the
Worcester Centrum in the mid-’80’s.
Favorite song Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Most common request: “May I Have This Dance,” an original.
For the multi-talented Rick Berlin, what began as a chance one-night stand in 1994 has turned into seven years of regular Monday night gigs at the sole survivor of Bay Village’s drag scene.
It’s a long way from his hometown of Sioux City, and hardly the fate one would expect for a Yale architecture grad.
Berlin’s broad smile and twinkling eyes make him a natural emcee. And when he gets behind the keyboard, he uses his boyish charm and stage smarts to ignite the room.
And what a room it is. With its rainbow-backed beer signs, de facto unisex restrooms, and the featured poster for cult flick “The Next Best Thing,” Jacques is not your every-night corner bar.
The doorman in jeans and baseball cap seems a bit out of place amid the high heels and wigs, but nobody seems to mind. Though newcomers are eyed with casual salaciousness, patrons usually go back to their own business after a quick once-over.
After passing the billiard table and the drag hall of fame, which frames the bar mirror, you follow neon lights to the back room. There, Mylar curtains and vintage can lights give the stage a theatrical air.
Berlin sits behind the keyboard in T-shirt and jeans, his long fingers thumping out the chords. He sings about his own life, stories of loss and rebound often mournful and comically encouraging at the same time. He sings of personal heroes ranging from Larry Bird to his own father. In between numbers, Berlin keeps up a steady patter with his fans.
When it comes to Berlin’s guests, nearly anything goes _ from early gigs with a karaoke-ing drag queen to new bands who perform in various states of undress. But whether they come in tiaras or towels, all of Berlin’s guests appreciate the local legend who gives them their time to shine.
“We wouldn’t have gotten together had it not been for Rick Berlin,” says Paul Hough of The Collisions, which was just formed by members of pop faves Garage Dogs, Make Lisa Rich, and Big Gladys.
Berlin’s latest and, he insists, favorite band is the Shelley Winters Project, an adventurous pop combo that combines players on a typical rock kit with a classically trained violinist. Berlin is on keyboards and
vocals, fronting a band whose members are half his age.
“If you spend enough time on it, there’s a lot of talent in town, most of whom have played with me at one time or another,” says Berlin, who before coming to Boston performed with Jim Steinman, Andy Warhol, and Patti Smith.
“I like to stay busy,” Berlin says with a smile.
And you never know where you’ll find him. Some nights he serves drinks at Doyle’s in Jamaica Plain (the must-stop pub on the campaign circuit is a bit of change from Jacques). Or he may be at Cambridge’s Lizard Lounge,
reviving vaudeville with his madcap “Marlena Loses it at the Lizard” revues at Cambridge’s Lizard Lounge.
But Berlin always comes back to Jacques.
“It’s cool to have a place to play and to let other artists play,” he says.
“Besides, it’s a thing to do on a Monday night. It’s a huge incestuous nest of performance.”
