BWW Reviews: Kim Grogg Takes Cabaret Crowd 'Where the Love Is' Amidst Casual Elegance at Don't Tell Mama

One of the single most telling elements of multi-award-nominated cabaret chanteuse Kim Grogg, and her latest show Go Where the Love Is (which makes further appearances at Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues on Tuesday, November 18th and Friday, December 5th at 7:00 PM, as well as Sunday, December 7th at 5:30 PM), is that she along with band and technical crew manage to create a seamlessly-fine line between casual presentation and sophisticated elegance; this show easily could have taken its place among the acts at the now-legendary downtown clubs such as Reno Sweeney and The Bottom Line in the 1970s. As if that wasn't enough, Grogg manages to spin a glorious yarn on the hazards of love and dating, and does so with absolutely top-notch song selections.

Aided and abetted more-than-ably by Tom Hubbard on upright bass and Donna Kelly on percussion, as well as musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano and intrepid director Lennie Watts (both of whom provide supporting backup harmonies throughout), Grogg effortlessly breathes life into a marvelous combination of contemporary classics and the Great American Songbook. These include the title number by Edie Brickell and the Gaddabouts, Nellie McKay's "Dog Song" (featuring a cameo appearance by her cherished dog Cecil on photo-mounted cardboard), "A Torch Song" by Stephen Flaherty (about her move to Staten Island and feelings toward the Statue of Liberty.) But where she scores most mightily is with a rendering of "Sleepy Man" (with music and lyrics by Robert Waldman and Alfred Uhry, respectively) as well as Jason Robert Brown's "Always Better," and a tongue-in-cheek and faux-flirtatious tribute to her band, which includes such numbers as "Killing Me Softly With His Song," "Torn Between Two Lovers," "All About That Bass," "Turn the Beat Around," and "It's Better With a Band." And by the time Grogg is ready to wind up the proceedings, with Watkins' composition, "Give Me a Voice," it's clear that she's held the audience in the palm of her lovely hand throughout. Her command is simply that definitive, and it should be noted that the technical direction by Jason Ellis merely adds to what was already splendid.

Those familiar with Kim Grogg already know she's worth catching. Those unfamiliar simply must acquaint themselves with her talents.

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