Review: Regina Spektor Goes In Residence On Broadway

"Just another show, just another show, just another f-ing show, just another f-ing show," Regina Spektor repeated to herself as she sat center stage at a grand piano, about to begin her five-performance engagement at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

Indeed, a major theme of her patter to the audience throughout the evening was how overwhelmed she felt to be on (sung in a showbiz soprano every time she mentioned the word) Broadway. Her fans ate it up, with calls of "We love you, Regina," peppering her two-hour concert, the latest entry of the theatre's In Residence On Broadway series, presenting a variety of artists in short runs until TINA, the new Tina Turner musical, starts previewing in October.

Born in Moscow during its Soviet days, Spektor became a Bronxite at age nine when her parents migrated during the perestroika reformation. A classically trained pianist, she eventually became a mainstay of the East Village's anti-folk movement, playing her own style of story-telling and character-driven compositions that draw on musical genres such as punk, folk, jazz, rock and blues.

Several acclaimed albums later, Spektor maintains a warm intimacy in her performance at the large Broadway house, even when designer Mike Baldassari's dramatic lighting effects threaten to steal focus.

Joined by musicians Brad Whitely (keyboards), Mathias Kunzli (percussion), Rubin Kodheli (cello), Beth Meyers (viola and other strings), Monica Davis (violin) and Jack Dishel (guitar, vocals and percussion), her 25-song set (selections included "Grand Hotel," "Eet," "Folding Chair," "The Trapper and The Furrier," "Fidelity," "Hotel Song," "On The Radio" and "You've Got Time") was played near continuously, with very little talking between songs.

Charismatic dancer Caleb Teicher partnered with Spektor on several pieces, joined by Evita Arce for some swing dancing and with the star herself for a tap duet.

As a tribute to her father on World Refugee Day, she stepped away from the piano to display a fine expressive belt with Charlie Chaplin, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons' "Smile" and, in recognition of being in the space where Mary Martin opened in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, she was joined by Amanda Palmer and Lance Horne for an accordion-infused trio of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things" that occasionally delved into Berlin kabarett mode.

Like dog bites and bee stings, whatever nervousness Spektor may have felt at the evening's commencement was surely evaporated by the time the three of them ended the routine in a pile of giggles.