I’m assuming with a title like “Songs To Offend Almost Everyone” your latest show is not for the more “conservative” cabaret audience. What’s the show about and just how over-the-top is it?

It's about politics, sex, religion, controversy, patriotism, satire and parody. It's over the top compared to an evening of Rodgers and Hart, but I've been known to take chances now and then. "Conservatives" like to have fun and be entertained. I tried not to exclude any sexual-socio-pathic group. What kind of conservative would be my question? You can be conservative at the voting booth, but liberal in the bedroom. Due to the success of previous incarnations, I’ve kept adding new tunes. I've rejected ten times the number of songs I'm doing as they weren't strong enough.

You have been honored with several awards including the NY Nightlife Award for your captivating and unique cabaret shows. Explain how you got involved in Cabaret and tell us about your very first solo show.

I've been performing in music and dance since the fourth grade. In the late seventies, the scene was just starting in San Francisco. I was in a relationship that tanked so my nights were definitely free. I auditioned for a two night a week job to be the third person in a mini-variety show. Twenty dollars and dinner. It worked out well with my day job and when I got enough tunes and fans, I quit the day job and went full time. I knew I had arrived when I looked out at the crowd and I didn't know a soul.

You were Tony-nominated for one of the wackiest musicals of the 1980s, the intergalactic spoof STARMITES. For those not familiar with the show, give us some background and any anecdotes you’d like to share.

It was an evolutionary kind of show. I did the workshop at Musical Theatre Works in '87. A year later we were in New Hampshire for the out of town tryout, and a year later, Broadway. Dancing on a raked stage in high-heeled boots was O.K. when you're doing it for eight shows a week. After we closed, the knees "talked" to me for weeks. The most exciting part was seeing Al Hirschfeld sitting in the audience. His white beard glowed in the dark. I wondered who he was going to draw for the NY Times. It was me!!!!

In past shows, you’ve paid tribute to a number of entertainment icons including Sophie Tucker, Bette Davis and Mae West. Was it the fact that these women were known for their non-conformist attitudes that drew you or some other reason?

They all had long careers and fought the sexism of show business in their own ways. It's tough to be a broad, and I think that's the way they made it. Their love life suffered. I have a show called Betty, Betty, Bette about Grable, Hutton, and Davis. The similarities are uncanny. I just finished another tribute show Gone, But Not Forgotten to character women of song who have since passed. It was fun doing Hildegarde (who I knew personally) and then Ethel Merman followed by Pearl Bailey with Judy Canova the Ozark Nightingale.

Would your friends and family say you were as outrageous off-stage as you are on-stage?

Yes. What you see onstage is authentic. So there's laughter offstage too. I shoot from the hip wherever I go. I am a little shy offstage. I'm great at parties 'cause I would rather help in the kitchen than socialize. You'll want me for you next Thanksgiving dinner for groups of ten or more.

Any thoughts on the current crop of shows being offered on Broadway? Which ones have you seen and liked (or disliked)?

When I’m in NYC, I'm usually working so it's tough to keep current. I saw Grey Gardens and loved it. But I live in California and work wherever the "check don't bounce". I spent a month in Vegas which is a whole different side of show business. I'm trying to bring "Songs to Offend Almost Everyone" to Off-Broadway so that's why this three week run at the New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco is important.

Learn more about Sharon and her projects at her official website
www.sharonmcnight.com

Ticket information for "Songs To Offend Almost Everyone" available at the New Conservatory Theatre website: www.nctcsf.org