Chicago Tribune

This club makes afternoon swing

Andy Argyrakis
March 12, 2004

The room is candlelit, the dance floor buzzing, and the band is mixing swinging standards and jazzy classics. But there's no sign of smoke, tipsiness or excessive background noise, and outside there isn't a hint of darkness.

Though the atmosphere of "Nightclub in the Afternoon" may resemble a swanky supper club, it's without the bar scene's inconveniences. "I've talked to enough older adults to find out they miss going to clubs and that most of them don't drive at night," says "Nightclub" organizer Mary Anne Riehl of Morton Grove. "Music is such an integral part of our lives, so I decided to create a show that puts people in that old-time spirit and makes sense with their schedules."

Founded last year, the program features Riehl doing renditions of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald or Tony Bennett favorites, accompanied by a live band, lunch and vintage ambience.

Her program stemmed from her decade-long role in retirement services at Mather LifeWays in Wilmette. While coordinating resident leasing and programming, Riehl volunteered her vocal talents after hours. "I transformed from a gerontologist into a glittered-up entertainer," she says. "I first started entertaining them with cabaret songs and then I worked a professional piano player and bass player in the budget." The resulting act "got so popular it's traveled to all sorts of venues as 'Nightclub in the Afternoon' and became my full-time profession," Riehl says.

Riehl's musical passions date to the mid-1950s and 1960s, when she was a professional singer. She spent five years with Don McNeill's "Breakfast Club" on ABC radio. "I'm always surprised at just how many people remember me from the program, but I'm glad because I'm so proud of that period." she says.

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