From Big Rooms to No Room
For pure showmanship — and we mean that in oh so many ways — James Naughton’s galvanizing take on Tom Waits’ “Step Right Up” might well be the most exciting performance of a single number you will hear in a cabaret club this year. Happily, it’s part of a show that is also one of the most winning of the year. With a single exception, Naughton’s act at the Café Carlyle leaps from one highlight to the next.
Okay, let’s get the exception out of the way right now. Naughton returns to his youth to perform “Some Enchanted Evening,” which he sang when he was 16 years old in a high school production of South Pacific. Simply put, this is not a song for a crooner, but take it out of the show and Naughton’s act is flawless. Possessing a deep voice that has more character than a Dickens novel, this two-time Tony winner and Nightlife Award recipient provides a pensive “Blame it on My Youth” as readily as he mocks romance with “You Would Rather Have the Blues.” Though we’re stumbling into the 21st century, Naughton still scores with a retro rendition of “Lean Baby.”
His patter is sparse compared to that of his first cabaret act, but he’s in great voice and has chosen a program of exceptional songs that he’s mastered line by line. Naughton’s readings of tunes like “That’s When the Heartaches Begin” and “These Foolish Things” are emotional seven-layer cakes but, ever the King of Cabaret Cool, this performer cuts each slice of cake with the knife of understatement. He knows what he’s doing, and he does it well with the help of a terrific four-piece band led by John Otto. James Naughton’s show at the Café Carlyle continues through April 12, then has a brief hiatus before continuing April 22-May 3.
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If there is one contemporary link to the composers of classic Broadway musical theater, it has to be the songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. They write with melody, wit, and style, their approach to music and lyrics very much in the grand tradition of such masters as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, and Frank Loesser. Quite appropriately, the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center, sponsored by AT&T, recently honored Ahrens and Flaherty on the occasion of their 20th anniversary as songwriting collaborators. And what better way to honor them than have them perform their own material with the help of the excellent singer/actors LaChanze, Judy Blazer, Eric Jordan Young, and Steven Pasquale?
Some of the most charming numbers of the evening were delivered by Ahrens and Flaherty themselves, such as “Nice” (from Lucky Stiff) and “Close But No Cigar” (from the unproduced Bedazzled). The American Songbook concert at Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse had a casual air about it; it was more a party than a show, which only heightened the sense of celebration. Songs from the team’s illustrious career were performed in no particular order but most of their shows (produced and unproduced) and film scores were represented, including Once on This Island, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, Ragtime, Anastasia, The Glorious Ones, and a work in progress titled Dessa Rose.
The highlights included Stephen Flaherty’s solo piano version of Ragtime‘s title number, Steven Pasquale’s performances of “Streets of Dublin” from A Man of No Importance and “I Was Here” from the unproduced The Glorious Ones, and the LaChanze-Eric Jordan Young duet on “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime. Speaking of a dream, here’s to another 20 — make that 40 — years of collaboration between Ahrens and Flaherty.
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The fallout from the sudden closing of Judy’s Chelsea was readily apparent in the scheduled run (or lack thereof) of cabaret artist Lucille Carr-Kaffashan. She was supposed to open her new show, Young at Heart, at Judy’s but, by the time her opening date arrived the club had already closed its doors. She managed to move her first show to Don’t Tell Mama but the rest of the engagement has just now been rescheduled: The new dates at Don’t Tell Mama are Wednesday, May 14 at 6 pm, Saturday, May 24 at 4:30 pm, and Friday, May 30 at 8:30 pm. She’s also added two dates at Odette’s in New Hope, Pennsylvania: Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7, at 8 pm.
We’ve given you the dates and times because Carr-Kaffashan’s show is very much worth seeing. A beautifully crafted act in which songs are smartly set up and then intelligently sung, it’s an hour of cabaret that is as satisfying to the mind as it is to the heart — and let’s not forget about the ear. The singer has a pleasing sound, especially in her lower register. There is a break in her voice when she leaps up to her lyric soprano notes but that’s only evident in a couple of songs in her program, “I Have Dreamed” and “So In Love,” both of which she’d be better off dropping. They’re the only jarring moments in an act that otherwise offers sophisticated phrasing of “Have You Got Any Castles, Baby” (Mercer/Whiting), an exuberant interpretation of “Flair” (Maltby/Shire), and a heartfelt rendition of “My Father” (Judy Collins).
Carr-Kaffashan also makes elegant connections between songs, like her pairing of “Two for the Road” (Bricusse/Mancini) with “La Chanson des Vieux Amants” (Brel/Jouannest). And those are just a few of the highlights of her collaboration with the talented musical director/pianist David Brunetti. A further dividend is the fact that Bobby Kneeland has rarely been better on lights and sound.
