2002 Chicago Cabaret Convention - Sunday Afternoon

CLOSING GALA AT THE CABARET CONVENTION
Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 3:00 pm
PARK WEST, Chicago, Illinois
by Todd Shuman

Please note: No "song lists" distributed at the convention, so some of the song titles in these reports may not be accurate and/or misspelled.

Despite the fact that the closing evening of the Chicago Cabaret Convention was competing with St. Patrick's Day, a nice-sized group turned out for this final convention event. Though not sold out as were Thursday, Friday or Saturday, Sunday's performance was still very well attended.

Sadly, the first act seemed to be a collection of hits and misses. While Lumiri Tubo got the afternoon off to a nice start with "Hallelujah I Love Him So" and Quincy Jones' "You Put a Move on My Heart," Hinda Hoffman, who followed, seemed to have an off performance. While her renditions of "Just a Lucky So and So" and "Daydream" were pleasant, she sang both songs with her eyes closed and never really seemed to connect to her song or her audience.

Next up was another hit - Chicago's own Kat' Taylor. Ms. Taylor performed a very funny new song from Chicago songwriters Chuck Larkin (who accompanied her) and Cherri Coons called "Morning Person" and followed that with "Autumn Leaves." This was a fine performance from the ever-talented Kat' Taylor. Ms. Taylor was followed by a near - hit in Mary Foster Conklin. Ms. Conklin performed a contemporary jazz song called "Sequined Mermaid Dress" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic "The Gentleman is a Dope." While I enjoyed the arrangement of her second selection, like Ms. Hoffman, Ms. Conklin did not seem to connect with the audience and much of the intimacy was lost.

The rest of act one was hit after hit. Chicago's Daryl Nitz was up next and his pairing of "Last Night I had the Strangest Dream" and "What a Wonderful World" was gorgeous. He followed this with a performance of "I've Got You Under My Skin" as Eartha Kitt, Bobby Short, and Mandy Patinkin. Mr. Nitz nicely showed the many facets of his talent in his 7-minute segment. Judy Barrett was next and her rendition of "Mr. Paganni" was nothing short of amazing.

Rounding out the first act were two legends. First was Rita Gardner, who is best remembered as the original "Girl" in THE FANTASTICKS. Ms. Gardner stopped the show with a medley of hits from that show, including "Try to Remember," "They Were You," and "I Can See It." Ms. Gardner got a well-deserved standing ovation for her fine performance. The final performer was none other than the incomparable Karen Mason. She performed "We Never Ran Out of Love (We Just Ran Out of Time)" and a pairing of "I Promise You a Happy Ending" and "Hey There Good Times." I don't know what else to say about Ms. Mason's performance, except that she too received a well deserved standing ovation.

Baby Jane Dexter opened the second act with some powerful music. While I'm not sure this is the correct title, her second number "Hold On" was brilliant. Another Chicagoan was up next, and Denise Tomasello performed very nice renditions "Could I Leave You?" and "I Don't Want to Know." Boston's Brian De Lorenzo was dazzling with "Who Will Buy?," and Chicago's Jennifer Chada was nothing short of amazing with her renditions of "Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind" and "The Girl Who Used to be Me."

Natalie Gamsu turned out to be the hit of the convention, and her renditions of "The Click Song" and a very funny "I Will Survive" stopped the show dead in its tracks. Craig Rubano closed the second act and the convention with two songs from his award-winning CD "Finishing the Act." First, he performed "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "Welcome to the Theatre," and he followed that with his very fine rendition of "The Impossible Dream." While I was hoping he'd perform "Sunday" (which seemed to be the natural choice since, well, it was Sunday and we were right next to a park!), he performed his two selections beautifully and it was a fine way to wrap up the convention.

After a break for dinner, I ran over to Davenport's Piano Bar and Cabaret for Julie Wilson's sold-out show. There was not a seat to be had in the cabaret room at Davenport's, and Ms. Wilson was stunning. Performing old favorites like "Can That Boy Fox Trot," "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love," "The Tale of the Oyster," and "Miss Otis Regrets," Miss Wilson proved yet again why she's simply the best at what she does.

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