Two Ladies

Have Cold, Will Exit

Linda Eder had a bad cold on her opening night at Feinstein’s at the Regency last Tuesday. Complaining often and warning the audience that she might not sound too great, she plunged ahead. It was a mistake, but not because she couldn’t hit the notes. Her error was in revealing the naked truth about her talent: She is nothing without her pipes.

Eder got about halfway through her program before she reached a song that, given her condition, was too vocally challenging for her. Rather than act her way through it, she simply quit: She let the band finish the song as an instrumental, announced that she was through for the evening, and left the stage. It wasn’t as if she sounded awful; in fact, for someone with a cold, she sounded pretty good. We’ve heard other folks sing in far worse upper respiratory shape; for example, Keely Smith, was very ill for one of her shows at Feinstein’s. She honked out some crazy notes but stuck it out; people had paid good money to attend her show, and she was professional enough to give the best performance she could under the circumstances.

Eder’s acting was non-existent, her patter lame. She clearly had nothing else to give but her voice; take that away and the Empress had no clothes. To make matters worse, the show she’s offering at Feinstein’s through Saturday, April 8 is jazz oriented rather than theatrical. She doesn’t even try! This woman can really thrill an audience with her voice; you can forgive her lack of acting ability because she makes your eyeballs pop with her vocal prowess. But who wants to hear her pseudo-jazz versions of “Almost Like Being in Love,” “This Can’t Be Love?”, and other musical theater classics? Eder should be all thunder and lightning in “Stormy Weather” but all you get is a little sun shower. And her version of “Smile” must be frowned upon for its lack of emotional content.

Early in the show, she admits, “I’m not a cabaret singer.” So true! Someone like Julie Wilson, with no voice at all, can make you cry in your beer. That’s what a cabaret singer can do. It’s not about the voice, it’s about making people feel the meaning of the songs. We’re sorry that Eder was sick but even sorrier for the people who paid a $60 cover and a $40 minimum for about half of a bad show. Hey, at least the dinner was great!

Please note that, as of this writing, Eder had canceled at least one subsequent performance at Feinstein’s. If you have a reservation, we advise you to call ahead and confirm it. Also note that Eder has added two makeup performances, on May 24 and 25.

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You Gotta Have Hart (and Rodgers, and Porter, and Berlin)

Filling in at the last minute for Eartha Kitt at the Café Carlyle, singer and raconteur Mary Cleere Haran settled in this week for a month-long run at the swanky Upper East Side nightclub. Give her credit: She has exquisite taste in material, pays great attention to lyrics, and entertains with witty patter. If Mary Cleere Haran had Linda Eder’s voice, she would be the greatest nightclub star in America. As it is, she has a serviceable vocal instrument that allows her to do justice to the lyrics but is musically middling. Still, this seasoned performer is usually smart enough to stress her strengths and stay away from songs or arrangements that make untoward demands upon her voice.

In her current show at the Café Carlyle, running through April 29, Haran does a lot of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and Irving Berlin. She’s in her element, singing songs that live in their lyrics — e.g., Porter’s “Let’s Do It” and “It’s De-Lovely,” Rodgers and Hart’s “Way Out West (on West End Avenue).” In addition to her always amusing, self-deprecating humor, she sparkles with amusing anecdotes about Bobby Short — but she’s a little bit out of her element when performing songs associated with that icon, such as “Harlem on My Mind.”(Haran is way too Upper East Side, white, and Irish to sing that!) Her only other misstep was an odd arrangement of the beautiful Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer ballad “My Shining Hour.” She set it up as a wartime love song but then jarringly performed it as an up-tempo, jive jazz number, complete with riffs for piano and bass.

More often, though, she charmed and enlightened. The rarely performed Rodgers and Hart number “A Tree in the Park” was a treat, as was her poignant rendition of Irving Berlin’s “You Can Have Him.” A cabaret mainstay, Haran is beloved by many who work in the field; for example, Michael Feinstein was in the audience on the night we attended her show, this despite the fact that she had played his namesake club in the fall and is now appearing at a competing boite. Pretty classy of him; but then, Mary Cleere Haran is a classy performer.

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[To contact Barbara & Scott Siegel directly, e-mail them at siegels@theatermania.com.]