There have to be a lot of interesting stories about what many of us did in those first few years after high school, but I’m not sure how many could match Shaya Gardner-Hayum’s. (In our school days, she was known as Loretta Quicksey.) Always musical, from 1972 to 1974 she parlayed that talent into performing as a singing, dancing cocktail waitress.
One of her gigs was as “Baebae”, at Pierre’s Show Club on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It attracted some well-known visitors. “One exciting night, Billy Preston and his entourage came through”, Shaya remembers. You’ll recognize the names of a couple of other musicians who were closer to home. “Dion Jackson came in one time. He called me ‘Loretta’, and the girls I worked with got puzzled looks.” And another night “Bill Kirchen popped in”. Their revues changed every three months and “Those Were the Days” was a favorite.
In the photograph, Shaya is the one on the far left of the top row with the dazzling smile.
Shaya also worked as a Gaslight Girl at the last of the posh members-only group of Gaslight Clubs that recreated the ambiance of 1920s-era speakeasies. It was open to keyholders only and she was one of its beautifully costumed servers.
The Shaya we know today still loves to wear striking outfits and to sing. And she still has that smile.
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