Blacklisted: Songs McCarthy Didn’t Want You To Hear
Chicago, IL—Carla Gordon, Beckie Menzie, David Meulemans and Khnemu Menu-Ra, will present a one-night-only special presentation of Blacklisted: Songs McCarthy Didn’t Want You To Hear, written & directed by Carla Gordon with music direction by Beckie Menzie. The evening, to benefit Season of Concern, is Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 7:30pm at Columbia College Chicago’s Sherwood Recital Hall, 1312 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago.
Tickets, $50 VIP or $30 General Admission, are available here. All proceeds will benefit Season of Concern, a non-profit dedicated to providing financial assistance to all Chicagoland theater practitioners impacted by illness, injury or circumstance.
In the post-World War II years, many famous American singers and songwriters were denied the opportunity to make artistic contributions, accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee to be communists or sympathizers. They were silenced. Some of Chicago’s finest cabaret talent perform a concert of songs written or made famous by blacklisted artists such as Leonard Bernstein, Yip Harburg, Lena Horne, Zero Mostel, Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, and more!
Blacklisted has previously played to sold-out houses at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, Acorn Theater and the Skokie Theatre.
Carla Gordon (writer/director) is a singer/songwriter who holds Chicago Cabaret Professional’s coveted Gold Coast Award and the American Songwriter Association's Lyricist Award. The Chicago Tribune called Gordon, a “major player in Chicago Cabaret,” Cabaret Scenes called her a “honey-voiced wisecracker,” and Smash Magazine wrote, “You’ll love and want to hug her”. Gordon has appeared at Cabaret du Jour and The Palace in Ft. Lauderdale, The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, The Sheldon in St. Louis, and Metropolitan Room and Pangea in New York City. Gordon represented Chicago at the 25th anniversary celebration of the American Songbook Association. Blacklisted—Songs McCarthy Didn’t Want Us to Hear has toured to critical acclaim. carlagordoncabaret.com
Lynne Jordan’s soaring vocals dip effortlessly into blues, jazz, funk, rock and country while her personality wins over any crowd. The late Chicago film critic Roger Ebert declared her his “favorite diva.” She brought her special brand of storytelling, raw humor, and performance to New York, DC, and Atlanta with her sold-out show, “A Musical Tribute To Nina Simone.” She has recorded with Tom Waits, punk group Urge Overkill, Alligator Records Blues artist Toronzo Cannon, and was featured amongst Taj Mahal, Etta James, and Koko Taylor on Blues Down Deep: A Tribute to Janis Joplin, as well as releasing her own albums: Bit o’ Fun and Holiday Shivers. A career highlight was performing at Freedom Square in Kyiv, Ukraine before an audience of 250,000.
Khnemu Menu-Ra is honored & thrilled to take part in Blacklisted. Khnemu is an ensemble member with Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre, recently seen in the productions Drink the Past Dry and Alabama Story, as well as Holiday Spirits at the Driehaus Museum. His Shakespearean cabaret revival Origins of Love opened GET’s current season, with the companion piece Simple Love coming in February 2026. Khnemu previously produced this cabaret at St. Louis Fringe (2015, 2016, 2022), as well as the former Davenport’s Piano Bar in Chicago. Other favorite credits include: A Chorus Line (Madkap Productions, Skokie) Hair (Barn Theatre, Michigan) Pirates! (The Muny, St. Louis) plus Fugitive Songs, Six Degrees of Separation. TV: Chicago Med (NBC). He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from the University of Oklahoma. RIP Papa.
Beckie Menzie (music director) has appeared at the legendary Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Birdland in New York, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre and Ravinia Festival, as well as concert halls, art series, and with symphonies across the country and internationally. Hailed by Chicago’s WGN Radio as “indispensible to Chicago cabaret,” Beckie serves as a musical director for Michael Feinstein’s Songbook Academy. She performs regularly with Tom Michael, as well as the trio, GIRLS LIKE US. Beckie regularly teaches Master Classes internationally, coaching both young musical talent and national cabaret artists. beckiemenzie.com
David Meulemans is a well-seasoned artist with experience in classical, Broadway, and cabaret among his credits. From London to Miami, to New York and Chicago, David has shared his musical talents, humor, and storytelling skills on stages across the nation, and in the United Kingdom. He is a proud member of Manhattan Area Cabaret, Co-Founder and past president of South Florida Cabaret Singers, LLC, and honorary member of the Boston Area Cabaret Association. “David has a charm on stage that is infectious. He knows his way around a ballad equally as well as up tempo and comedy material.” – Bob Levy Silk River Music, ASCAP.
3-4 THE ROAD & FRIENDS are three guys and 2 gals who met at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and have been singing/playing around ever since. They have played at The Skokie Theatre, The Holocaust Museum, Acorn Theater in Sawyer, MI doing the show “Blacklisted: Songs McCarthy Didn’t Want You to Hear” as well as senior centers and private parties and events. They draw inspiration from folk, rock’n’roll (50’s-70’s), country, blues, and Americana (20’s-40’s), while adding a unique spin and interpretation to each song, and encouraging audiences to join along. It’s a mix of music history and a hootenanny of yesteryear!
Tickets Available Here