Society Cabaret in the Hotel Rex is fast becoming a prestigious cabaret room featuring local talent and occasionally national celebrities trying out their new productions.

Singer, recording artist, stage and television actor Jai Rodriguez made the debut of his new show titled Dirty Little Secrets at Society Cabaret on September 26 and 27th. During the 85-minute performance he entertained his fans with interesting stories of his life and belted out songs pertaining to his life.

Jai Rodriguez is probably best known for the American reality television show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and more recently the ABC sitcom "Malibu Country," in which he played record industry executive Geoffrey. He also appeared in the Toronto cast of Rent as Angel and the Off-Broadway musical Zanna, Don't!. He has been a guest star on many television shows and is in the cast of Direct TV's new series "Kingdom" which begins this week.

The performer told of his life and struggles to come out as a gay man to his family of strict Catholics. He related how he was picked for the "Queer Eye" show and the Canadian company of Rent. He hilariously told of being seduced by an older person when he was 18. He talked about being in a relationship for two and half years with a therapist, which ended several years ago. He said it was more like an aggression situation with no love. Today, the 35-year-old artist is comfortable with his lifestyle.

Rodriguez interspersed his patter with ten songs that included snippets of Broadway songs, including "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl, "America" from West Side Story, and "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin. He showed a powerhouse voice that had pitch perfect resonance. This was brought out in the songs "One Song Glory" and "I Can't Make You Love Me." He also did a great rendition of "Gravity" and, for his encore, "Superman" which rocked the house.

On the whole, for Jai Rodriguez' first time out before a cabaret audience was a little rough around the edges. I would have liked more songs and less patter since he has a very good, vibrant and powerful voice when singing. Also I might add that the sound system on the first night was a mite too loud for such a small room. There were times when the audience could not understand him, especially in the opening minutes of the act.

To see the schedule of upcoming Society Cabaret performances, visit www.societycabaret.com/calendar/.

Cheers - and be sure to Check the lineup of great shows this season in the San Francisco area

- Richard Connema