Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret in downtown Denver has become simply The Clocktower Cabaret. Entertainer Lannie Garrett has stepped down as the nightclub’s owner and manager.
Garrett founded the cabaret a decade ago and it became a home for burlesque, comedy, drag shows and musical variety events. Garrett says she sold her shares last April to her business partner Jefferson Arca, who took over as general manager.
“It’s not easy running a club,” Garrett says. “It’s takes a lot of time and investment.”
She says the timing felt right to move on. While the singer is uncertain exactly what moving on looks like, she says this is not a retirement.
“I love to sing too much,” Garrett says. “And I love performing ... I can’t ever imagine giving that up.”
Her final show at the cabaret was Sept. 10, completing her run of “Great Women of Song.”
An official statement from The Clocktower Cabaret says the club looks “forward to a continued relationship and we’re happy she is not retiring from performing. We have been very fortunate to have had her talent and skills over these first ten years of building the cabaret to be the successful and beloved venue that it is today.”
Garrett, who was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame earlier this year, says it does not look like she will continue to perform at the downtown nightclub. She hopes to find venues around Denver where she can host smaller weekend cabarets. Garrett also looks forward to some time away from the biz.
“I definitely want to travel and not have to answer emails,” Garrett says. “I’ve never experienced that. And I want to mentor another little girl through the Denver Kids, Inc. [volunteer mentorship] program.”
Guitarist and vocalist Adam Goldstein, who some Clocktower Cabaret regulars may know as “Denver’s Favorite Irish Jew,” has performed at the club for years and is grateful to Garrett.
“I cut my teeth on that stage,” Goldstein says. “I knew I'd made it when I earned praise and support from Lannie herself... She helped create a space where we, as performers, were free to grow and develop."
Garrett says she won't retire some of her onstage personas either, such as the leading lady in her country music parody “The Patsy DeCline Show.”
“I’m talking to a wonderful actor and producer about possibly doing ‘The Patsy DeCline Movie,’” Garrett says. “Patsy’s not ready to hang up her cowgirl boots quite yet."
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