The fun in owning a cabaret

Born and raised in Chicago, Garrett moved to Denver in 1972, fresh out of high school, and started waiting tables. She made friends with popular frontman Ron Henry and before you could say, “A-one-and-a-two” she was singing in his band, Ron Henry and Pride. It was the house combo at the Warehouse, a nightclub in Glendale, where they opened for the likes of Ray Charles, Tina Turner and the Four Tops. She soon had her own band and filled the house at Basin’s Up and The Cabaret (both on Larimer Square), her own club, Ruby (with Thom Wise), an elegant showroom attached to Cliff Young’s on East 17th Avenue.

Nine years ago she opened Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret in the basement of D&F Tower, the landmark on the 16th Street Mall at Arapahoe Street. She packs the house with tribute shows, drag revues, traveling acts and Naughty Pierre’s Burlesque, produced and starring her business partner Jeffrey Arca. And it’s at the Clocktower where she’ll perform as Patsy DeCline, a popular country music spoof.