Donna Sachet’s 18th Annual Songs of the Season

The three night run of Donna Sachet’s 18th Annual Songs of the Season got off to a rousing start last Monday evening as the jovial crowd filled the RRazz Room with holiday cheer.. You could feel the love that the audience had for the quick-witted, warm and charismatic Ms. Sachet. Donna created the show eighteen years ago with friends singing around a piano. Someone thought to throw a hat on the floor to take donations for AIDS, and Donna’s annual event was hatched. This year Donna was able to raise over $50,000 for both the AIDS Emergency Fund and the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund through this event. Donna is a tireless fundraiser and charismatic performer in the great tradition of San Francisco personalities of years past. It’s a delight to be in her presence.

Gracing the stage this year as Donna’s guests were the warmly harmonic S.D.K Trio, the bluesy Vicki Shepard, Rrazz Room newcomer, Mr. Kelly Houston, the infamous Val Diamond of Beach Blanket Babylon fame, the angelic Abigail Zsiga, and the raucous Sharon McNight. The three piece band was a sheer delight with Michael Grossman on piano, Daniel Fabricant on bass and Randy Odell on percussion. In addition to Donna’s ability to charm an audience into submission, the highlight of the night was Abigail Zsiga. At the piano her style is reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones. An entire evening of Abigail at the Rrazz Room would be a fabulous treat. In addition to the actual stage show, the audience was filled with various San Francisco dignitaries. State Senator Mark Leno made a brief appearance on stage and seemed to love the show from his third row seat, and the beautiful and bountifully endowed, Cassandra Cass, one of the stars of the critically acclaimed film, Trantasia, worked the room taking sexy snapshots with various admirers in her super tight red Christmas red dress. Donna was beautiful as always as well. She changed costumes a few times throughout the evening The topper was a beautiful evening gown adorned with a white wig that made Donna look like a holiday version of the Good Witch of the North.

All in all the evening had the feel of the original gathering eighteen years ago: friends getting together and raising money for a worthy cause during the holiday season. Let’s hope Donna can keep doing this for another eighteen years.