2001 Cabaret Convention - Sunday Afternoon
FINAL GALA
AT THE CABARET CONVENTION
Sunday, October 28, 2001
Town Hall, New York City
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.
As mentioned
before, I was not able to attend the CABARET CONVENTION on Sunda for
the final gala show, but fortunately, one of the CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE
subscribers, Alan Kull, who attended all week, sent in a complete
report, from his own perspective of the show. A big thank you goes
out to Mr. Kull for this fine article. His report follows:
Some comments
and observations on Sunday's Cabaret Convention show. I hope this
helps. Feel free to use my name if you'd like.
The show was
of course introduced by Donald Smith with his usual rundown. It was
interesting to note that he said that people from 24 states and several
foreign countries had ordered tickets this year, and that none of
them had cancelled after the recent events. It's too bad that apparently
that could not be said about the performers on the agenda - there
were so many listed that never appeared. However, except for Julie
Wilson, at this show all performers listed on the program were there.
While the
published theme of yesterday's show was "The Irving Berlin Songbook;
A Celebration of the Publication of the Complete Lyrics of Irving
Berlin," the unpublished theme of the show seemed to be "How slow
can I make the tempo of this number." While I don't profess to be
a musicologist, I can't believe that all of these numbers were written
with the intention of being performed so slowly.
Opening the
show was the hostess Mary Cleere Haran, accompanied as usual by Sir
Richard Rodney Bennett. Mary has long been one of my favorites (particularly
when performing live - she doesn't seem to come across as good on
CD), and I thought that she sounded in top vocal form yesterday. She
opened with a song about "Pack Up Your Sings and Go to The Devil,"
followed by "Get Thee Behind Me Satan" and then began the slowness
theme with a slow tempo version of "I Got Lost in His Arms."
Daryl Sherman,
accompanying herself on the piano followed Mary. Daryl performed "Change
Partners" and a selection from "On the Avenue." While I normally like
Daryl, I found both selections to be too slow to keep my interest.
Ms. Sherman
was followed by Tom Michael. This Chicago based performer was accompanied
by Becky Menzie at the piano. His two numbers were some of Berlin's
better known tunes: "Steppin Out With My Baby" and "How Deep Is the
Ocean." He started the first song quite slowly, in line with the apparent
afternoon theme and then seemed to break free for a more uptempo finish.
But he then slowed down again for his second tune. He did demonstrate
an excellent vocal range and was one of the better voices of the afternoon.
Julie Reyburn
with Mark Janas on the piano followed with a more up-tempo "Let Yourself
Go" and followed with a slower "If You Don't Love Me, Why Do You Hang
Around?" Both of her numbers showed why she is on the rise in cabaret.
Mark Janas
stayed on the piano and was joined by the next singer, Boston based
singer Brian De Lorenzo. Brian noted that his CD is entitled "Found
Treasures" and that he likes to find more obscure numbers or numbers
that have been cut from shows before they opened. He did two numbers,
the first of which was about a "Once Upon a Time Today" and the second
"Maybe Its Because I Love You Too Much." Both were true to the theme
of "slow." Maybe it was the selections, maybe it was the tempo, but
I simply wasn't impressed by this set.
Finally, some
relief. Mark Nadler next appeared and did his trademark "I Love a
Piano," replete with all of his comedy and physical gags. This certainly
woke the crowd up and added some life to the afternoon's show. I have
seen Mark do this number several times before, both at the convention
and at Sardi's. Ordinarily I would like to think that maybe it would
have been time for Mark to roll out some new material, but after the
pace of the first act, this number really worked again.
Mark then
brought out KT Sullivan. KT sang a love song from the film "White
Christmas," "You Didn't Do Right By Me." This was followed by some
banter about what song she sang when she auditioned for Tommy Tune's
"Easter Parade." Then she and Mark did a duet of "I Love a Piano"
and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to end the first act. While I've always
been a fan of KT, this week something seemed out of sorts. I couldn't
quite put my finger on it, but throughout the week I thought that
she just wasn't at the top of her game.
Act 2 opened
with Mary Cleere Haran returning to sing a selection from "Miss Liberty"
"You Can Have Him." She then introduced a nervous Linda Emmet, the
daughter of Irving Berlin. After not being able to decide where they
wanted to stand on stage, they chatted for a few minutes about Miss
Emmet's role in putting together the new book of the collection of
Irving Berlin's lyrics.
Jeff Harnar
then came out for his third appearance at the convention. With Alex
Rybeck on the piano, Jeff did "Blue Skies." He then offered an anecdote
about not doing two ballads in a row and what Sylvia Syms had to say
about this traditional show biz advice. He then proceeded to perform
"Count My Blessings." Both numbers, along with Jeff's previous appearances
during the week, showed why he is one of the premier male vocalists
on the scene today.
Alex stayed
on to play for Maude Maggart, who I believe is currently based in
LA. She opened with an up-tempo "Everybody's Steppin Around" and then
slowed it down with "The Song Is Over, But the Melody Lingers On."
She sang in a thin, high breathy, voice which didn't particularly
win me over, but I think she showed some good potential.
Phillip Officer
was next and did "Shakin' the Blues Away" and closed with "Be Careful,
It's My Heart." I have seen Phillip numerous times at conventions
over the years, and while he has a good voice, its an act that I've
never been able to warm up to.
The young
man on the rise, Eric Comstock then made his second appearance at
the convention, opening with a slow but effective "What'll I Do,"
followed by a faster-paced "Puttin' All My Eggs In One Basket." Eric
continues to impress more and more each year and once again today
delivered a strong performance.
Wesla Whitfield
was next up for her second convention appearance this year, with Mike
Greensill. She started out by saying that she had just discovered
backstage that her opening song "Say It Isn't So" had an opening verse
which she had never seen before. As she started to read the verse
to us, I had bad flashbacks to Thursday night's "Reading Lyrics" show,
but I should have known better. This woman can do no wrong. After
a smart rendition of "Say It Isn't So," she followed with a well-paced
"Cheek to Cheek." Wesla is, year in and year out, one of the highlights
of the Cabaret Convention.
Mary Cleere
Haran then returned to do a number from the 1929 film "End of the
Road." To close the show, Mark Nadler returned to the piano, Linda
Emmet as well as most of the day's performers, all returned to the
stage to lead the audience in a group rendition of "God Bless America."
All in all,
a reasonably good day. Not the best day of the convention, -- Monday
and Wednesday take that honor this year for me, but not the worst
either. That honor belongs to the Thursday night show. There were
no acts that were painfully bad, but not all wanted me to sit up,
take notice and go running out to a complete individual show.
Alan Kull,
Oxford, NJ
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And that
is just about the way it was.
Hugs & Stuff,
STU
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