As you pull open the heavy wooden doors of O'Shaughnessy's Song Hall and Supper Club at 2200 N. Camino Principal, you might just hear former Broadway performer Bobby Curtis singing "Cabaret."
Come inside and enjoy what owner Sam O'Shaughnessy calls "a remarkable and unforgettable dining and musical adventure." In other words, leave your reservations or bad day behind and dive right into a night of good fun.
The singing staff will be having a good time right along with you because, as Curtis says, that's what it's all about.
"When you're working in a job like this, you've got to have fun," he says, "Otherwise there's no sense in doing it. The audience won't have fun if you're not."
At age 17, Curtis performed in a Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls." He sang in nightclubs in New York City and Chicago before coming to Tucson in 1982.
People are also reading…
Today, 50 years into his performing career, not even a bout with throat cancer can keep Curtis from singing Broadway show tunes and "all the old standards."
Like Curtis, much of the O'Shaughnessy's staff has either known or worked with the owner for at least 25 years. Additionally, like the famous Sly and the Family Stone song, the business is a family affair. Three married couples work at O'Shaughnessy's, doing everything from serving to singing to cooking.
O'Shaughnessy started the supper club bearing his name at the height of the disco craze.
"In 1978, I got tired of the disco scene and country and Western, so I opened up a piano bar," he says. In only 11 days, he converted an existing building into a song hall and supper club, a combination that has attracted a number of Tucson's "greats."
"We've been fortunate to work with Tucson's great legends," O'Shaughnessy says, referring to musicians such as Bob Linesch and Mickey Greco. "These are the people who made Tucson musically what it is today," he said.
The wine list at O'Shaughnessy's was inspired by another Tucson legend, Charles Kerr. "The man was the epitome of the business," O'Shaughnessy says of the the famous maitre d'.
From 1978 to 1990, O'Shaughnessy's served Tucson first on Tucson Boulevard and Grant Road and then on Tanque Verde Road. After being closed for 15 years, O'Shaughnessy built the song hall's current location at 2200 N. Camino Principal.
The first slab of concrete was put down — appropriately — on St. Patrick's Day 2005. A year later, on St. Patrick's Day, O'Shaughnessy's served 700 pounds of corned beef to a full house.
However, though you can come to the supper club for traditional Irish fare on St. Patty's Day or to hear Rick Porter singing a rendition of "Danny Boy" that would warm any lass's heart, don't think of O'Shaughnessy's as your typical Irish pub, the owner advises.
"The Irish and the English are known for singing, but it's international," O'Shaughnessy says. "We sing songs from 27 different countries in 11 different languages."
The menu has an international flair, too. From Greece, you can enjoy chicken breast Dionysus, a half-pound of chicken breast marinated in Greek dressing and cooked over an open mesquite flame, for $11.
You can take your "dining and musical adventure" one step further by ordering French favorites such as frog legs ($18) or escargot bourguignonne ($8).
If you're seeking something more familiar to the American Southwest, O'Shaughnessy's has a 16-ounce, mesquite-seared T-bone steak, served with pinto beans, for $19.
And, if show tunes aren't your style, bartender Tom Baile can sing a lounge version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
If the staff's singing inspires you to raise your voice, you just might find yourself standing up from your table, microphone in hand, ready to sing your favorite tune. As April DuBoce can tell you, sing for your supper in this song hall and you just might be offered a job.
DuBoce came into O'Shaughnessy's one night with a group of friends. After she sang songs from the Broadway musicals "Oklahoma" and "Cats," O'Shaughnessy hired her on the spot. She's been working at the supper club since January.
If you go
● What: O'Shaughnessy's Song Hall and Supper Club
● Where: 2200 N. Camino Principal ,
● Hours: O'Shaughnessy's opens at 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sunday (it's closed Mondays). The kitchen doesn't open until an hour later, but you can enjoy happy hour while you're waiting. Music starts at 6:30 p.m.
● Contact: 296-7464 (296-SING).
