Gretchen Reinhagen first hit the professional music scene at the tender age of five, fronting for her father's band at the Cape Cod nightclub, The Farm, singing a cover of Karen Carpenter's “Sing” as well as that classic standard “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Yes, Gretchen delighted employees and their families at The Farm's annual staff holiday party, and a Christmas ham was truly in the making. The highlight of the evening for keyboardist Bill Deechan, was when Gretchen turned to him mid-song and said “TAKE IT!” The highlight of the evening for Gretchen was standing outside with Dad between sets, searching the skies for Santa's sleigh.
After those early days on the stage, Gretchen was hooked. Perhaps a bit too young to hanging out in nightclubs, she turned her attention to local and school theaters, first landing the title role in Annie. ( Interestingly, she grew up to play Miss Hannigan in multiple productions of the same show! )
A true Gemini, Gretchen has had many lives, not the least of which was as a teacher. She received her B.A. in Music from Pepperdine University in 1994, and went on to become a teacher in the California desert communities of Coachella and Salton City. While, neighboring communities such as Palm Springs and Palm Desert had flourishing performing arts programs in their schools, Coachella had virtually none. Gretchen began directing shows at Coachella Valley High School, and went on to develop a brand new music program for a smaller k-12 school in the district, Sea View West Shores School, in Salton City. In two years time she developed an Elementary School chorus, as well as Junior High & High School chorus and band.
After many wonderful years spent in California, Gretchen said a teary goodbye to her students and moved her home base to New York. She's since performed in a broad range of theaters and concert halls from the House of Blues in New Orleans to the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Scotland. A few of her favorite professional credits include Janis Joplin in Beehive, Louise Segar in Always Patsy Cline, Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the lead role of the therapist in the premier of Mother Me Therapy at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York, and the Queen Mother in European premier of Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
In recent years, Gretchen has launched a career in cabaret. Since hitting the New York scene with her debut show “Undefinable” in 2004, she’s enjoyed learning from and working with some of the best names in the business including Shelly Markham, Karen Mason, Barry Kleinbort and Steve Ross to name a few. She’s received rave reviews for her performances to date, including one from former Backstage and Citysearch critic Roy Sander who said, “Gretchen Reinhagen's shows are marked by intelligence, warmth, a lovely spirit of benevolence, and fine vocals. It is always a pleasure to spend an hour in her company.” And of course, the teacher in her lives on, and she still enjoys teaching voice as often as possible. Don’t you want to sing with her? Why haven’t you called yet? What are you waiting for?
