The Song Is You (Really)
Reams have been written in this column on the subject of making your strengths work for you, recognizing those strengths, and choosing the right material. Therefore, I won't discuss the subject further except to make a few points through example, based on some recent shows I've seen.
The material must reflect who you are. It is your real introduction to an audience. This applies if you are doing a theme show, paying homage to a composer, or just offering an hour of good music. Some of the finest shows I've ever seen involved singers simply singing songs and bantering with the audience.
By the time Karen Mason closed her show at Joe's Pub on June 14, singing Brian Lasser's "Better Days," the cheering audience was well aware that it had been a witness to greatness.
This brilliant belter can do no wrong, whether on Broadway or in her own cabaret show. Having an impressive history on the Rialto, including performing in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" and understudying all the Norma Desmonds in "Sunset Boulevard," Mason has received enough accolades to make her a household name.
At Joe's Pub she glowed in an eclectic concert of show music and cabaret songs. There were endless highlights, including a dramatic "I Wanna Be Around" building to a fever-pitch finale that was awesome. Her interpretive abilities shined in this song-what was unsaid became as potent as the emotional lyric she delivered. Harnick and Bock's "Now I Have Everything," in medley with Kander and Ebb's "Married," was trenchant and joyful. Here she conveyed a gamut of emotional dimensions, from bittersweet remembrance to resolution, heartbreak, and, ultimately, happiness. She was also terrific on Brian Lasser's poignant "How Long Has It Been?," and his campy ditty about weight, "I Eat," was a riot. She mined great emotional richness from Lerner and Lane's "Hurry, It's Lovely Up Here."
There was more to her show than great singing dynamics. The point I want to make is that Mason is a singing actress. Like Streisand (whom she's often been compared to) she is totally in touch with who she is and in full command of her strengths. She is centered and entertaining. No gimmicks. Simply, Karen Mason is one of today's finest female vocalists.
Like Mason, cabaret favorite Claiborne Cary can easily run the gamut of many emotions, seducing her audience with her unique brand of humor and pathos. In her new show "Alive" at Danny's Skylight Room, Cary illuminates the stage in a way that few can today. She recalls salty theatrical greats like Rosalind Russell (hey, Mr. Producer-now, here's the perfect Auntie Mame), Carol Channing, Dorothy Loudon, Maureen Stapleton, and Gwen Verdon. Like them, Cary stamps everything she does with her own individuality. She remains one of a kind, carefully choosing material to match her inimitable style and seasoned voice. This was most evident on an unlikely trilogy of "The Tender Trap," "It Could Happen to You," and "The Folks Who Live on the Hill." To each, she brought strong emotional richness and a point of view. Singing Murray Grand's whimsical "Too Old to Die Young," she was ripe with pastiche and humor that suits her like a glove.
Over the past few years, Cary has developed a light jazz style, and punctuates her show with amusing anecdotes in a saloon style that works in spades. Too, she has a penchant for choosing songs that complement her quirky personality. This was most evident on her original "Couch Potato Patootie." Her trenchant reading of "Something Cool" has become a mainstay that slays her audience every time. It, too, is a perfect example of choosing material that works. (I've heard younger singers attempt this song with tragic results.) Whatever she chooses to do, Claiborne Cary eclipses most interpreters of a lyric because she is so in touch with herself.
This is a great show that neophytes can learn a lot from. With musical director David Berkman and her band, she's there Fri. and Sat., June 25 and 26, at 9 pm; and Sun., June 27, at 6:15 pm.
Things weren't as smooth for newcomer George Best. Choosing to do a theme show about his Greek heritage in his recent "Greek Gifts," at Don't Tell Mama, Best took on a lot. In the early stages of his career, he is very affable, with a warm baritone voice. Ultimately, the message of his show is that you can never go home again. In story and song, he tells about his Greek rearing, coming to America, returning, and coming back again. While sincere and theatrical, it was all Greek to me.
Best is very engaging, with a heartfelt passion for his roots. However, the songs need much more explanation to reach the non-Greek audience. He certainly worked hard at making it an intelligent mix of fun and pathos through his engaging patter. Yet someone so new to the scene limits his audience by singing so many foreign-language songs. No audience should have to work at trying to figure out what's being sung.
That aside, there were some memorable moments. His gentle phrasing worked best on the Greek songs, creating a Gypsy-like sound that was poignant. If heart and honesty count, George Best will make his mark. He certainly has both. For now, I might suggest a less-thematic show, with more English tunes. I look forward to seeing him grow.
Bubbly musical vamp Jodi Letizia is making big waves over at The Duplex these days in her new show "Big Girl's Blouse." Her energy is like a loose cannonball on acid. She's loud, bawdy, and very funny. Peppering her act with various original characters such as Aunt Rose, the loudmouth; Gretchen, the lovable, socially impaired charmer; and Golda, a Jewish mother looking for a wife for her gay son, Letizia was a riot. While the buffoonish characters were fun, she had her finest moments when she was vulnerable, as on Marvin Hamlisch's truly beautiful "Dreamers"-a rarity from "Smile." It all makes for a madcap evening of fun and tears by this sexy and outrageously talented gal who is the closest cabaret has to Judy Holiday, Jayne Mansfield and, yes, Marilyn Monroe. Jodi is at The Duplex, Sat., June 26, at 8 pm.
In the clubs: Stan Martin hosts "Cabaret on the Record: Volume 6," at The Triad, Mon., June 28, at 10:30 pm. The lineup includes Judy Barnett, Claiborne Cary, Barbara Fasano, Eric Michael Gillett, Jeff Harnar, Rick Jensen, Mark Nadler, and KT Sullivan. Wes McAfee is musical director, and the evening benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Reservations: (212) 799-4599.... Sean McDermott does one night only, at Joe's Pub, Mon., June 28, at 8 pm.... Susannah McCorkle returns to the Oak Room at The Algonquin, through July.... Gregg Rodeheffer reprises his great show "Do What You Gotta Do!" at Don't Tell Mama, Sat., June 26, at 6:15 pm. Also at Mama's, Matt Leahy's "Suite Dreams" plays Tues., June 29, at 7 pm.