To Eyre is Human, To See Mary Stout is Divine
MARY STOUT, Jane Eyre's housekeeper, moonlights in cabaret, to the delight of Barbara & Scott Siegel.
Recently performed twice in the new club space Upstairs at Studio 54, Stout's show is cleverly titled Lighter Than Eyre. And it truly is buoyant, rising on the waves of laughter Stout elicits through her performances of musical comedy numbers like the virtually unknown "It's Not What You Weigh, It's The Way That You Throw It Around" (Wally Harper/David Zippel), the wonderfully offal "Garbage" (Sheldon Harnick), and the show-stopping "Alto's Lament" (Zina Goldrich/Marcy Heisler). Stout possesses a strong, rangy voice that has plenty of octane in more than one octave, plus she has the acting ability to really score with these witty numbers.
If the comedy songs raise Stout's show to great heights, the dramatic numbers give it depth. She displays another aspect of her personality with a beautiful Lucy Coolidge tune, "Dream Come True." Elegantly accompanied on piano by musical director Christopher Marlowe and on cello by Leo Grinhauz, Stout presents this touching song early in the program and thereby immediately establishes wide (or should we stout?) parameters for her show. She can be a wistful old maid aunt in "I Won't Mind" (Blumenkrantz/Kessler & Saines) or a lusty lover in "Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love" (Rose/Tobias). The point is, she's a "Character Gal" (Rybeck/Hayes), and she immerses herself in her material to the point where every song seems to be sung by a different person. Stout even tackles the feminist anthem "Back to Before" (Flaherty/Ahrens) from Ragtime, and it might have worked for her had she not set it up as an AIDS number at the show we attended, offered as a benefit for The Marcia Shew Fund for pediatric AIDS patients. Good cause, bad interpretation.