Standing in the middle of the Algonquin Hotel's famed Oak Room in a slinky red dress, there's little question how far Lari White has come -- physically and musically -- from her home base of Nashville, where she has gained fame as a Grammy Award-winning gospel and country singer. So even when she hits some pockets of turbulence in her ambitious, mostly enjoyable new cabaret show, Love Letters, we can at least take pleasure in the journey.

To be sure, Love Letters lives up to its title; not only is the Victor Young-Edward Heyman standard among White's varied vocal selections, but she pauses between songs to feelingly read the amorous epistles of everyone from John Adams to Dylan Thomas to G[...]