Review: Carole J. Bufford Brings The Jolly To 54 Below With YULETIDE CAROLE

Early on, during her recent holiday cabaret at 54 Below, Carole J. Bufford explained to her audience that she had created a show for the occasion that was “a little eclectic.”  She certainly did succeed at that, but also at creating an evening that was a little electric.  This need surprise no one, since there is an energy, an electricity, any time that Carole J. Bufford steps onto a stage, whether it is one of her sophisticated and mischievous solo shows, an appearance in a Scott Coulter concert, or a benefit for a worthy cause.  She is, unquestionably, one of the most exciting artists working in cabaret and concert these days… or, more precisely, for the entire length of her career.  For this writer, in fact, Carole J. Bufford is the woman working in clubs today who most embodies women from the heyday of nightclubs and club acts, women like Lola Falana, Mitzi Gaynor, and Juliet Prowse.  She is every inch a star, and audiences should flock to every show and every appearance that she makes available to the public.

For her eclectic holiday outing, appropriately titled Yuletide Carole, Ms. Bufford appeared (alarmingly) at the top of the evening in candy cane-decorated onesie footie pajamas.  It was a clever entrance Bufford made, through the audience and singing about seeing Mommy kissing Santa Claus, but this Bufford buff felt his heart drop because I don’t go to see Carole Bufford not be glamorous.  I appreciate themes and sight gags and being in the moment, or the season, but if Carole Bufford isn’t going glam, nothing in the world is going to be right.  Audible sigh of relief, Carole completed her kiddie carol by climbing down off of the stage and through the audience, on top of chairs and tables, to leap her way into the kitchen while (magnificent) band members Daniel Glass (Drums), Jerry DeVore (Bass), and Ian Herman (Musical Directing from the Piano) offered a kind of overture to the evening, allowing La Bufford a lightning-quick change so that she could appear fresh as a sprig of holly in skin-tight sparkling green with silver accents at the ears and the feet.  Audible sigh, indeed.   Seventy-five minutes later, Carole offered a deep curtsy to an audience that was on their feet, cheering joyful tidings of appreciation for that eclectic program, one that was completely in keeping with the Carole J. Bufford brand.  One of the people cheering the loudest was the gentleman (a stranger to me) who was seated with his date at the same table as I.  Through his cheering, he turned to me to say, “I don’t know what’s better - the singing, the talking, or the research!”

“All of it,” I told him.  “That is part of what makes Carole special.”

There is not a single show that Carole J. Bufford does that hasn’t been given the CJB treatment, not a song sung that hasn’t been deeply delved into, not a story under a stone overturned that doesn’t get shared.  Carole J. Bufford is that winning combination of information nerd and artistic aesthete that makes such special evenings out possible, and it is this way with every musical cabaret she puts on… even with every musical story that she tells during the cabaret.  She has mastered the mutual arts of backstory and subtext and brought them together in spectacular onstage storybooks, with many chapters, from the creation of songs like “The Man With the Bag” to musings on why certain songs are accepted as Christmas songs even though they are NOT.  The latter was an ongoing series of presentations throughout the performance, and an exceptionally well-executed way to sing songs like “California Dreamin’” and “Once Upon a December” that one would not, normally, find in a Christmas show.  This is the kind of varied storytelling one can always expect at a Bufford show.  But the stories that bridge the songs, like family tales pitting Bing Crosby against Mariah Carey or sibling stories about the terror of the Tooth Fairy are, in Bufford’s hands, ideal setups for “Miss You Most at Christmas Time” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (the latter defies description but was an evening highlight of hilarity).   With eyes wide and eloquent hand gestures, Carole Bufford shared trivia about the creation of holiday classics from Elvis and Louis Armstrong before performing her own stellar and stunning versions of the songs (“Blue Christmas” for Elvis and “Christmas in New Orleans” for Armstrong), all the while looking her audience members in the eye so that they know she and they are all in on some astonishing and unbelievable inside joke.  Carole J. Bufford has the ability to take an audience by the hand and lead them down storybook lane like the most bewitching Pied Piper of Cabaret they’ve ever become besotted with.  They fall in love with her every time - just like my two table mates who chose the show, randomly, as a holiday outing, and who are, now, on the Bufford train.  That’s the character of Carole - she has come to entertain, to connect, and to shine a special light into peoples’ lives by putting new spins on old chestnuts simply by opening minds up to historical facts, different ways of looking at things, and new arrangements (courtesy of Mr. Herman) of old classics.   It’s what cabaret is all about, really.  There isn’t anyone like Carole, and her two nights at 54 Below were a gift to anyone present: an eclectic, electric, eccentric night of the Bufford benevolence by way of perfect storytelling, cabaret or otherwise.  

Visit the Carole J. Bufford website HERE.

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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