Review: Marissa Mulder's THIS IS 40 at Green Room 42 Was a Pleasure

It’s been rewarding watching singer Marissa Mulder’s career from her neophyte cabaret experiences going back to those two consecutive years competing in the Metropolitan Room’s MetroStar talent contest for which I was one of the judges (she won the second year) and her early solo shows and CDs. As almost a decade and a half has gone by, she has retained the endearing qualities of taking in the world with a mix of wide-eyed unjaded joy, sensitivity, and smarts that made her seem like an old soul inside a girlish Alice wandering through Wonderland.  So it was sort of strange to accept the fact that her show on the night of February 6th at The Green Room 42 took place on her 40th birthday. But, in thinking it over, her persona and attitude represent the best of both worlds: the youthful optimism and older-but-wiser perspectives that deepen her interpretations of songs. The repertoire this night is eclectic, two songs by each of these writers: Stephen Sondheim, Joni Mitchell, Sara Bareilles. There were pieces presenting a sense of being on shaky ground as well as the solid ground of confidence we were able to hear in “You’re Gonna Hear from Me” and the comic relief of “Good Thing He Can’t Read My Mind” by Christine Lavin, who was in the audience.  Also present was the man who literally wrote the book on cabaret (Intimate Nights) James Gavin, who has the same birthday as the lady on stage.  

Spoken comments included references to confronting her milestone age, amusing remarks, some off-the-cuff, as well as heartfelt ones (particularly when it came to discussing memories of the music-loving grandfather she was so close to and the recent unexpected death of fellow entertainer Danny Bacher). Also interspersed were pithy quotes from famous people as diverse as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Zsa Zsa Gabor (who shared M.M.’s birthday of February 6, too).   

Accompanying the singer were two top-drawer musicians who seemed to help her relax into a comfort zone: pianist Nate Buccieri (whose joining in on vocals on a few numbers was also a plus) and veteran bassist John Miller.  This Is 40: Songs and Stories with Marissa Mulder was a down-to-earth show showing many sides of the vocalist, and included numbers from various past shows and recordings, ending with a representative of the work of a writer she dedicated a full act and CD to: Tom Waits. She gets deep into some selections, acknowledging an attraction to wonderfully sad, depressing, gloomy songs that can bring a tear, but promises pieces that will make the audience feel better. “Better” by Ed Kleban is the panacea after some heavy stuff. That delight was heard in the musical about that writer, A Class Act.  Marissa Mulder is quite the class act herself.

---

For more upcoming shows at the Green Room 42, see their website at www.thegreenroom42.com

See www.marissamulder.com to learn more about the singer and where to follow her.

To post a comment, you must register and login.