Penny For the Evening

On an otherwise ordinary Monday night in March, The Birdland Jazz club managed to take its audience back in time with the one-night only cabaret style performance, An Evening with Penny Fuller, staring non other than Penny Fuller herself. 

A full house of hearts that were near and dear to old Broadway and the music of that era attended the intimate evening to hear Penny Fuller sing back to her heyday with hits from Applause and Cabaret among others as they were charmed by her witty yet sophisticated sense of humor.  Penny beautifully sang through an almost 20 song set list with musical director David Gaines accompanying her on piano.  Fuller and Gaines had paired up this past summer during the Eugene O'Neill Cabaret Conference to develop the act.  Fuller obviously enjoys having Gaines accompanying her through the song list and playfully includes him in the act further enhancing Fuller's warm and charming personality.  

To begin the evening, Fuller comes out on stage dressed in elegant black attire with just the right amount of diamonds highlighting the wrist, fingers and ears.  Her entrance is al la Frank Sinatra as he entered for "The Main Event" appearance at Madison Square Garden.  Both eagerly take the stage to the adorning crowd, Sinatra with only a microphone stand to accompany him on stage, Fuller with only the mic and Gaines beside her.   Once the spotlight hits, like Sinatra, Fuller seems completely at ease singing the songs that mattered to her the most. 

She opens with "Welcome to the Theater" from Applause which sets the tone for the rest of the evening with fun songs in a laid back atmosphere where the audience gets to hear the back-stories to their favorite Broadway hits.  As Fuller hits the last note of "Welcome to the Theater," she acknowledges to the audience with a guilty smile on her face that the song was originally sung by Lauren Bacall, yet obviously enjoys the "semi" role reversal this evening entitles her.  Fuller also throws in at this moment her signature style of humor as she leans on the grand piano in a like a seasoned lounge singer and says, "Yeah, Lauren Bacall sang a lot of songs to me in Applause…and I sure sang a lot of something ELSES back to her!"  Fuller also endears the audience as she tells a quick antidote before singing "Cabaret."  She recalls her role as a standby for the part of Sally Bowles.  With everyone ounce of pride still intact, Fuller, with schoolgirl-like silliness, admits that she learned early on a Saturday morning after a night of staying out late drinking with friends, that she was to play Sally Bowles for first time ever at the matinee.  Fuller obviously wouldn't be classified as a stand-up comic by any sense of the means, but her humor is very relatable and enables the audience to feel as if they are sharing old college stories over dinner with Fuller herself.  Without a doubt, this further enhances the intimate style evening that her act is intended to be.  Instead of listening to the continual liturgy of set-up/punch line, set-up/punch line as you would in a comedy club, An Evening with Penny Fuller feels exactly like that.

Fuller's classy persona is easily transferred from the stage into the audience.  She is real, appreciative, funny, talented and humble yet has a voice capable of tremendous vocal gymnastics that can rival any amateur on American Idol any day of the week.  Bravo to an evening well done.  We hope to see you back soon!