Confessions of a karaoke queen
Wendy Casebier sings her heart out every week and she thinks you should too
By Lindsey Ramsey, Jayplay writer
Flashing red lights zoom across the makeshift stage. A motley crew of patrons sip beers at the bar, mildly interested in what is about to happen. Dressed all in black, Wendy Casebier, known to regulars as "Ducky," puts down her tray and takes a deep breath. She walks slowly to the DJ and makes her song selection. The TV with the words to her song is behind her but the crowd is in front, so it becomes a delicate balance between facing her audience and taking refuge in the words behind her. The music thumps out of the speakers and amidst one of the most eclectic audiences in town, she begins to wail "Let's Hear It For The Boys," from Footloose and the audience is enamored. The Topeka senior has won
them over. Just another Monday at Duffy's Lounge, where karaoke rules the night.
Ducky does Duffy's
By day, Casebier already has a KU theatre degree and is working on a teaching degree. But by nightfall, she retreats to the Econo Lodge and to Duffy's Lounge, the oft-overlooked hotel bar. Complete with pool tables, TVs and a wooden bar. It's a little gem hidden off 6th Street.
"Duffy's attracts all sorts of people. Since the bar is in a hotel we get anyone and everyone
Karaoke Do's and Don'ts
with, which is important to him because he doesn't want someone stiff. He wants someone who can have fun at work and, in turn, make the customers have fun, especially with Duffy's diverse crowd.
"We have a wide age range, anywhere from 21 to 71. Sometimes we get old ladies out there dancing to hip-hop. The bar is just really laid back so we will try to do whatever a customer wants," Noble says. As for Casebier, karaoke is the one thing she will usually oblige the customers with.
"I usually start busting it out when we are slow and the current guests want a good laugh. However, I end up surprising them a lot and sometimes myself," Casebier says.
Do choose a song you know back ward and forwards
here.The nice thing is that all of them can sit in the same room and enjoy," Casebier says.
Do not choose a song that is too long (hello, Meatloaf)
Do dance along to the song while singing; otherwise you will just look awkward
Do not perform a dance you made up to the song in middle school
Casebier began working at Duffy's six months ago but she wasn't always the go-to karaoke girl. She mostly works as a bartender but since her former job at Jackpot Saloon included singing karaoke, she couldn't resist the chance that Duffy's Monday nights provided. Steve Noble, manager and bartender at Duffy's, says Casebier is one of his best bartenders. He says she is friendly and fun to work
Do choose a song that will make your friends laugh
Do not choose a song that will alienate the entire audience with its inappropriateness or obscurity
Duffy's affords Casebier a chance to brush up on her love of singing, which began with her high school choir. She started formal training during her undergraduate work and she now has four years of training with a vocal coach. She's also sung as a beer wench at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Casebier's friend, Lara Mann, Hays senior, says she first saw Casebier sing when they both auditioned for a Hashinger Hall production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
"We all were out in the hall when she went in for her audition. When she started we all stopped talking and listened to her sing. She blew us all away" Mann says.
Casebier says Duffy's diverse crowd often brings in customers of a different breed. One positive trait of the Duffy's clientele is that sometimes after customers hear her sing they will offer her money to sing more. She recalls one funny moment when a customer offered her $50 for a dance. She ultimately obliged just to get him off her back.
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