The Music of McNight Continues Brilliantly

By now it’s no secret that cabaret goddess Sharon McNight always has another show to do somewhere; this weekend, audiences in Los Angeles will be treated to her latest one-woman offering A Night With McNight at the M Bar, 1253 Vine Street at the corner of Fountain Avenue, on Friday the 29th and Saturday the 30th at 8 PM. Those further north can enjoy her appearance in Divas and Dames, a benefit concert for the Richmond-Ermet AIDS Foundation at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco, 609 Sutter Street at 7:30 PM, where she’ll make what is sure to be a stellar appearance alongside such personalities as Valarie Pettiford, LaToya London and Lisa Vroman. And this is but three nights out of three-hundred-sixty-five within this year alone, in which she’ll have a chance to delight audiences as only she can.

More notable than this, however, is the most recent appearance she made at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in late winter. McNight, who has been a longtime reigning empress for innovative theme shows, chose for this performance to go completely against the grain and unleash what she referred to as, “strictly variety…there ain’t no theme,”  and was a combination of her very greatest hits as well as a bit of uncharted territory. And not once, either for longtime fans or those just getting to know her work, did any moment not work to the hilt.

Oh, sure, certain Sharonesque elements were in place as always; there was her customary entrance from the back of the house sans microphone, this time on the captivating “Chloe.” And Ian Herman once again assumed his divine and rightful place at the ivories. But by the time she tore into the second number, a rendering of  “In the Meantime” that could very possibly only be rivaled by such an artist as Lotte Lenya, the small but powerful crowd (including Julie Wilson, Miles Phillips, Bobbie Horowitz and Dana Lorge) were eating out of the palm of her lovely hand. An exquisite version of Amanda McBroom’s “One of Those Days” is somehow miraculously trumped with “Put the Light Out” by Joe Cocker, proving that she’s as always at the very top of her game with a ballad of any genre. And a moment barely passes before she swings the pendulum back to comedy with the marvelous “Elf Song.”

Mary Liz McNamara’s “Christmas in Michigan” is nothing less than a thrill for spectators who’ve never heard the song before, and after a delicious “Rumble, Rumble, Rumble,” McNight pulls a comfortable rabbit out of her formidable magic hat with an ever-excellent rendition of Craig Carnelia’s “Just a Housewife,” in a version as always virtually unequaled by any other vocalist in the history of the song. She starts to wind up the evening with the chestnut “My Simple Christmas Wish” by David Friedman, performed so effortlessly as to make it apropos for any time of year, and then slam-dunks the crowd one last time with her now-famous Oz medley, always a delight for those familiar and a true laugh-riot for those uninitiated.

The simple truth is, the lady will always be unstoppable. Those reading these words in the great state of California MUST make it their business to catch Sharon McNight this weekend. And failing that, well, mark the words of this writer that there will be another opportunity very, very soon.

Hail! Hail! Kat’s Gang’s All Here…at the Plaza!!

By the time it closed in 1975, the Persian Room at the Plaza Hotel had featured a luminous roster of stars on its stage over the decades; these included Liberace, Carol Channing, Burl Ives, Eddy Duchin, Kitty Carlisle, the Mills Brothers, Bob Fosse, Victor Borge, Marge and Gower Champion, Eddie Fisher, Xavier Cugat, the McGuire Sisters, Dinah Shore, Vic Damone, Bob Hope, Robert Goulet, Frankie Laine, Ethel Merman, Eartha Kitt, Henny Youngman,  Liza Minnelli,  Peggy Lee, Andy Williams, Kay Thompson, Vikki Carr, Julie Wilson, Diahann Carroll, Hildegarde, Lisa Kirk, Celeste Holm, and the first and only club act by Elsa Lanchester, among others. Since that time, it has metamorphosed into the world-famous Rose Club, a perfectly elegant space identified by the marble staircase leading to it from the lobby and the plush couches upon which to enjoy a cocktail or a nibble. As such, the spirits of entertainers and performances past linger throughout the space. Which, as it happens, only serves bandsinger Kat Gang in greater stead as she appears there every Wednesday night at 9 PM for an open-ended run, even though she hardly needs any assistance to shine as a nightlife standout.

In her show, entitled An Evening of Elegance, the stately and nearly-heartbreakingly-beautiful Ms. Gang is joined by the jazzy trio of Joe Young on guitar, Julian Smith on upright bass and Shawn Balthazor on drums, and never once does the group disappoint for an instant. After the combo sets a musical tone for the evening with a very impressive rendition of “I Remember You,” Gang assumes her rightful place at the microphone and bewitches the crowd with “Cheek to Cheek,” and the dazzling lilt possessed by her vocal pipes is never anything less than utterly enchanting. She proves equally impressive with two Gershwin numbers performed back to back, namely “They Can’t Take That Away” and “Embraceable You,” and when she tears into Arlen and Mercer’s classic “That Old Black Magic,” she clearly establishes herself as one of the finds of the season. There are moments where she’s oddly reminiscent of Sylvia Tosun, a cabaret chanteuse of similar physicality who scored a triumph at Eighty Eight’s in the mid-1990s, but Gang seems to have more than that, namely an indescribable charisma. She only serves to top herself further with “Sway” by Pablo Bertran Ruiz and a scat-laden “All of Me,” and by the time she’s extricating herself from the stage with “My Baby Just Cares” by Walter Donaldson, it’s clear that the audience (which that night included Jamie deRoy, Terese Genecco, Roy Sander and Ward Morehouse III) know as one that they’ve just witnessed the breakout performance of a serious contender.

Kat Gang and An Evening of Elegance seem to have no plan to vacate the Rose Club anytime soon. A more pleasant diversion from life’s hardships couldn’t possibly be had (or so thoroughly savored) by anyone in the New York area.

Forever Kirsten! From “Breakfast in Bed” to “Dinner with Dusty”

The opus of Dusty Springfield has always occupied a special place in the cabaret arena; Heidi Mollenhauer was known for her exquisite rendering of “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” while a staple of Joel Silberman’s act was the original Italian, “Io Che Non Vivo.” Even this past season, chanteuse Kim Grogg executed an evening of Springfield songs and garnered a MAC nomination for Best Female Debut in the process. But easily trumping them all, and firmly pushing any other interpreters of the lady’s work far from the collective memory, is Kirsten Holly Smith. Her shows in March, at both Joe’s Pub in the East Village and Bob Egan’s New Hope in Bucks County, PA, were absolute smashes, and she has the chance to re-create that success this evening at 8:30 and again on May 3rd, in Dinner with Dusty, at the tony eatery Duane Park in Lower Manhattan, 157 Duane Street between West Broadway and Hudson Street.

Smith professes such an affinity for Dusty Springfield that she even put together a one-woman show with theatrical aspirations, entitled Forever Dusty! The show is angling for a run in a professional house, and seems a sure-fire winner, as much for the timelessness of the material as her uncanny physical and vocal resemblances to the late pop icon. Until that time, the club act more than suffices. Suffusing the packed house with energy just from the word go, Smith grabs the audience by the collective throat while warbling “Just a Little Lovin'” by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, followed by the Top Ten hit “Wishin’ and Hopin’.” “Tell Him” is a bit of a surprise, and evokes shades of the old Motor Town Revues of the early 1960s, and she truly hits her stride with a flawless rendition of “Breakfast in Bed.” The highlight of the evening comes in the form of Tony Joe White’s funky story-song “Willie and Laura Mae Jones,” and of course “Son of a Preacher Man” is never anything less than supreme. And by the time Smith winds up the evening with the high-powered “Don’t Forget About Me” by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the audience is hers forevermore. A top-notch quartet provides deft musical support, headed by the marvelous Michael Thomas Murray, and Smith couldn’t possibly have chosen two finer backup vocalists, namely Lindsey Holloway and Sasha Sloan.

Until Forever Dusty! finds its way to an Off-Broadway theatre at the very least, it couldn’t be more highly recommended to visit Duane Park this evening to catch Kirsten Holly Smith and Dinner with Dusty. There’s no cover, but dinner reservations are recommended, and can be had by calling 212-732-5555. You will ‘only want to be with her.’