Charmin Michelle

Come dance the night away with Charmin Michelle and the Jerry O'Hagan Combo. Swing, Cha-chas, West Coast Swing, Waltzes and many more. Dance lesson from 6-7PM Cost: $15 General | $12 Member | $8 Young Adult & Youth (Ages 10 -21)

Traditional Jazz, Bossas and Ballads. “Swing and savoir-faire. Grace and grooves.” – Star Tribune

“Taste and understatement. Swing and savoir-faire. Grace and grooves. Intimacy and panache. Singer Charmin Michelle delivers all of the above and more.”

This is what the Star Tribune had to say about this charismatic chanteuse whose conversational style recalls the late Billie Holiday and other legendary ladies of jazz. And, yet, her music is free of tiresome camp and easy nostalgia. She’s a savvy songstress and, while putting her own imprint on a melody, is always respectful of those who first inhabited it. She has performed at jazz festivals throughout Europe with pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kirk Lightsey, and saxophonists Harry Allen, Grant Stewart, organist Jack McDuff, and others.

Guitarist Joel Shapira is an internationally acclaimed musician residing in the Twin Cities. He’s a leader and/or member of multiple top jazz ensembles, as well as a master of the demanding discipline of solo guitar. He performs regularly with world-class musicians and has numerous recordings to his credit.

A Musical Revue written and created by Dan Chouinard in collaboration with T Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus, and Charmin Michelle.

With its four musical hosts, Rondo '56 paints a portrait in music and stories of St. Paul's thriving Black neighborhood in the decade before the freeway sliced it down the middle for the sake of progress.

Brimming with the iconic R&B favorites from the ten years following World War II, "Rondo '56" captures the heart and soul of the two-mile long neighborhood on either side of Rondo Avenue, just west of the Minnesota State Capitol, that was a vibrant and tight-knit community – home to most of St. Paul's Black population. Streets and schools were crowded. Businesses thrived. Doors to homes were left unlocked and the kids all knew they were being watched by everybody else's parents as well as their own. Stepping into the nascent Civil Rights era with dignity and determination this community would find itself targeted -- like so many other Black and poor neighborhoods of the mid century -- by massive government road and housing projects touted as urban renewal.

"Rondo '56" features the songs of such revered stars of the '40s and '50s as Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson and many more. A stunning and timely evocation of a community decimated by the powers that be, and revisited from our own time of hope, protest and civic renewal.

Rondo '56 was created in 2010 by Dan Chouinard with the help of the MN Historical Society, Rondo elders, and performer colleagues who lived in Rondo. This new edition of the show for Crooners is substantially updated in collaboration with co-hosts T Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and Charmin Michelle.

1. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and Charmin Michelle: vocals and narration

Dan Chouinard: piano and narration

A Musical Revue written and created by Dan Chouinard in collaboration with T Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus, and Charmin Michelle.

With its four musical hosts, Rondo '56 paints a portrait in music and stories of St. Paul's thriving Black neighborhood in the decade before the freeway sliced it down the middle for the sake of progress.

Brimming with the iconic R&B favorites from the ten years following World War II, "Rondo '56" captures the heart and soul of the two-mile long neighborhood on either side of Rondo Avenue, just west of the Minnesota State Capitol, that was a vibrant and tight-knit community – home to most of St. Paul's Black population. Streets and schools were crowded. Businesses thrived. Doors to homes were left unlocked and the kids all knew they were being watched by everybody else's parents as well as their own. Stepping into the nascent Civil Rights era with dignity and determination this community would find itself targeted -- like so many other Black and poor neighborhoods of the mid century -- by massive government road and housing projects touted as urban renewal.

"Rondo '56" features the songs of such revered stars of the '40s and '50s as Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson and many more. A stunning and timely evocation of a community decimated by the powers that be, and revisited from our own time of hope, protest and civic renewal.

Rondo '56 was created in 2010 by Dan Chouinard with the help of the MN Historical Society, Rondo elders, and performer colleagues who lived in Rondo. This new edition of the show for Crooners is substantially updated in collaboration with co-hosts T Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and Charmin Michelle.

1. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and Charmin Michelle: vocals and narration

Dan Chouinard: piano and narration