FOUR MALE PERFORMERS ARE DOING NOTE-worthy work at the moment--one making his solo cabaret debut, one a longtime favorite, one a favorite of more recent vintage, and the last a rising new artist. I'll discuss them in that order.
Having impressed me in the revue "Three for All" last year, and in the single number he performed in the Eighty Eight's summer marathon in June, Tony Chiroldes proves conclusively in his debut solo show, "Cabaret Caramba!," that he is a musical comedy performer of considerable verve, talent, and charm. Originally from Puerto Rico, he makes capital use of his dual-culturalship, especially in a very funny bilingual version of "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"; and while "Latins Know How" is not one of Irving Berlin's best efforts, Chiroldes' comedic skills make it good fun. A "medley from hell," filled with delightful improbabilities, hilarious visual schtick, and a Jennifer Holliday impersonation, is terrific. And he can handle more serious numbers, as in his beautifully focused interpretation of Kurt Wieting's "How Am I to Love You" (very effective mysterious/brooding arrangement by musical director Patrick DeGennaro).
Now we get to the constructive feedback. Several songs don't follow from their set-ups. For example, after commenting that "sometimes you look at someone and you know you're in it for the long haul," he sings "My Favorite Year," which is a bittersweet recollection of a past love; and "She's a Woman" sits uncomfortably upon a context-setting reference to his mother (though he gives the song a strong, dramatically centered performance). Further, while his autobiographical patter is generally funny, it reveals an exaggerated view of our interest in him. Finally--and this is most important--though he has come a long way in making the transition from theatre to cabaret, he needs to bring in his gestures and temper his dialogue. The show, which was directed by Erv Raible (yes, Mr. Eighty Eight's, himself), returns to Eighty Eight's, Sept. 18-25, Fridays, 11 pm.
BY THE WAY, NOTE THIS INTERESTING POINT: While theatrical techniques generally don't work very well in cabaret, cabaret techniques translate extremely well to the legitimate stage. Perfect your cabaret artistry, and your stage work will be more authoritative.
I COULDN'T POSSIBLY COUNT THE NUMBER OF happy hours I've spent listening to singer-pianist Larry Woodard. He has the rare gift of making everything sound better than one would have thought possible--material one may have dismissed as being only fair suddenly becomes beautiful, and beautiful music becomes rapturous. At the FireBird Cafƒ, he's delivering an hour that is as entertaining as it is lovely. True to the range of his artistic vocabulary, the program is remarkably varied--from a beautiful rendition of John Denver's "Perhaps Love," to a heartfelt performance of the anthem "Without a Song," to an exquisite interpretation of "Night Song," from "Golden Boy" (note how expressive his lushly impressionistic piano accompaniment is), to a gorgeous and affecting "Wien, Wien, Nur Du Allein." Woodard is doing two separate one-week engagements; the remaining week runs Sept. 1-5, Tues.-Thurs., 9 pm; Fri. and Sat., 9 and 11 pm. Highly recommended.
IT'S JUST ABOUT FIVE YEARS TO THE DAY SINCE I first saw tenor David Gurland, and I've been a fan of his ever since--and during this time, he's become one of the leading singers on the cabaret scene. At Eighty Eight's, backed by an excellent quartet of musicians headed by musical director John Smith on piano, he's doing a fine show of old and new material. By Bob Halligan, Jr. and Linda Halligan, "Love Travels" tells of loving someone from a distance; Gurland practically rides the strong rhythms of the arrangement, using them to make his point. Very striking. His rendition of Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler's delicious "Taylor" is pretty wonderful, and he matches the appealing eccentricity of Naomi Kukoff and Jason Moscartolo's "Bored" with his own antic sense; with both numbers, he illustrates a point I've often made: It's not enough to do a funny song; you must be funny. It's a joy to watch the inner energy and total commitment he brings to "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," and his interpretations of "Where've You Been" and "Not That Different" are as lovely and touching as ever. Strangely, Julie Gold's "Goodnight New York" didn't seem to sit beautifully in his voice, though he connects with it very affectingly. Remaining performance: Mon., Aug. 31, 8 pm.
SINGER JACK DONAHUE HAS GROWN considerably since I reviewed him in December, as evidenced by his recent show at Eighty Eight's, which had musical direction and accompaniment by Paul Trueblood. To cite one telling example, he performed Francesca Blumenthal's "A Gershwin Tune" with exquisite sensitivity, phrasing, and timing--a stark contrast to his previous rendition. An a cappella rendering of "The Water Is Wide" was very pretty, "I Don't Remember Christmas" was strong, he used his personality and acting approach to good advantage in "Out of Fashion," and "Times Like This" suited his sense of humor well. His performance of "A Lover of High Wire" was eloquent vocally and visually--but he made one mistake: He delivered the phrase "the thing with the spangles" comically, giving the audience the wrong signal and prompting laughter. The song is not funny. Wry and stylized, yes; funny, no.
There are other things still to be worked on. Several numbers were self-conscious, eccentric, mannered, and/or overly punctuated with gestures ("Cockeyed Optimist," "A Fellow Needs a Girl," "I Can See It," "Close to You"). "Come On, Come On," which had been his best number, was now undermined by excessive use of whispering; once might be effective, repeated it becomes a gimmick. He needs to guard against lyric changes, and he should be aware that he licks his lips a lot (not an artistic failing, but a distraction). Finally, his song list had a number of errors and omissions. But I'll repeat two sentences from my previous review: Arguably, I'm being a little harsh, but I want to give him as much detailed feedback as possible. He has a lot of talent and potential--I think he's worth the effort.
Bravos to Barbara Lea for her recent Johnny Mercer show, at Danny's Skylight Room. Although she's one of the few artists who could pull off an evening of nothing but Mercer's greatest hits, she opted instead to limit the program to songs Mercer wrote for Broadway. Since many of these Broadway offerings were not raging hits, we got to hear a lot of very obscure selections. As a result, not only was the evening a treat (Lea is one of our best singers, and Wes McAfee's accompaniment was splendid), it made an important contribution to our musical knowledge. Clearly a lot of research and effort went into putting this show together, and they paid off handsomely. That's the way to do it.
AROUND TOWN: Through Sept. 5, the Algonquin's Oak Room presents "Social Notes: An Evening With Dorothy Parker," featuring a cast of eight and Mrs. Parker's stories, poems, reviews, and musings. Showtimes: Tuesdays-Thursdays, 9 pm; Fridays-Saturdays, 9 and 11:30 pm . At Rainbow & Stars: "An Evening With James Beard," a theatrical presentation saluting the great culinary expert, Sun., Aug. 30-Thurs., Sept. 3; show at 7:30 pm, three-course Beard-inspired dinner at 8:30 pm . D.C. Anderson is at Don't Tell Mama, Thurs., Sept. 3, 9 pm; Fri. Sept 4, 11 pm; and Sun., Sept 6, 4 pm . Jane Scheckter returns to Eighty Eight's with a new show, Sept. 2-23, Wednesdays, 8 pm . Deidrie Henry is back at The Duplex, Sat., Aug 29, 8 pm . Michael Vaccaro's "The Life and Times of Billy Rae" bows at Don't Tell Mama, Wed., Sept. 9; Tuesdays, Sept. 15-29, 9 pm . Lori Fischer performs her one-woman/multi-character show, "Barbara's Blue Kitchen," in the York Theatre Company's Developmental Reading Series, Theatre at Saint Peter's Church, 54th and Lexington (free; phone 212-935-5820).
John Hoglund is on vacation this week.