Review: Amy Beth Williams Transcends Her Own Simplicity To Deliver A BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY At Don't Tell Mama

Strength Under Control Is A Deceptive Power To Hold An Audience With, And This Lady's Strength Lies In The Most Understated Of Storytelling.

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick, your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

Well, my darlings, if you read Bobby (and we certainly hope that you do READ BOBBY!) you can easily guess that "Less Is More" is not a neighborhood we frequent in our life or our show going. Leaning heavily toward the drama and the clownery of more "out there" performers, Bobby likes the big and the loud and the colorful and the brash... if you read Bobby. Well, we got absolutely none of that Wednesday night at Don't Tell Mama when we found ourselves as a last-minute substitute for our lovely boss, Stephen Mosher, who got called to work all-of-a-sudden-like at one of his other hyphens and needed a rainbow review rescue. Going in totally blind with regards to Amy Beth Williams (ABW) and her work, and sitting with anticipation to hear the lady who, as it turns out, is a teacher/mentor of the dreamy Drinkwater twins, imagine our surprise when a petite, middle-aged "mom" with beautiful shades of silver and white to her hair stepped through the crowd in DTM's Original Room and onto the stage. Giving off the air of that kind of mother who, by the simple act of walking into a room, causes everyone to straighten up a bit, clean up their language and behave, NOT through intimidation, but by her very essence of quiet strength and sweet spirit. The kind of a LADY in whose presence one would not dare to swear or utter a dirty joke until and unless, if and/or when she did so first herself, and given the fact this LADY is a college theatre professor ... she just might do...

Starting off her salute to the late great Leonard Cohen with his BIRD ON A WIRE, the immediate feeling was reminiscent of a Malvina Reynolds (Little Boxes) gentle but folksy "message" music, but then something extra took hold; storytelling. "What story, Bobby?" I hear you ask and the answer is, ours. That is the beauty of the ABW experience. So simple and so nuanced was each tale she told, weaving them into a larger story portrait, song after song, of a brave woman who had been there and back again standing on stage telling us things we ought to know in order to get by. Or at least that's how she made us feel. Whether this was the conscious or unconscious internal life of this singing actress as she performed, one may never know and it would be untoward to ask. Whatever ABW's process may be of getting to where she needed to go in order to be where she was on the night, it translated into the simplest, most powerfully engaging storytelling to grace the cabaret stage. Never moving too much, never emoting beyond the feel of the notes and the phrases, no pyrotechnics nothing but her heart, her voice, the words, and the music... Oh and her nephew, John Henry Williams who provided excellent, subtle, grounded support to his aunt with his guitar and violin. Moving so smoothly from one song to the next, occasionally chatting to her people about Cohen, his 62-year career, and the eras in which each song was written she made us all think, laugh, sigh and think again. Tunes of the night for Bobby had to be the uber poetic BALLAD OF THE RUNAWAY HORSE, The haunting DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE - made all the more haunting by her nephew's violin - the love-lost ballad FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT and the really funny party ballad CLOSING TIME. Now, you may think a program consisting almost completely of slow melodic ballads (including Cohen's ubiquitous HALLELUJAH) might be a relative snooze-fest, but in the hands and voice of Amy Beth Williams, and her expert director - Tanya Moberly, each and every story told on the night engaged, fascinated and taught at just the right pitch. "How is this possible, Bobby?" we hear you ask... Well, it's something like this:

Moberly, a cabaret maven who knows her stuff on and off the stage, has wisely allowed the power of her star to shine by never overdirecting her and letting the thoughts, feelings, and emotions compel and overtake the room. "What is this power of Amy Beth Williams you speak of, Bobby?" We hear you ask. How to describe it... It's very difficult to capture in print, but sitting in a room while ABW performs conjures up an image of a woman from your village standing on top of a dangerous volcano with only the beauty and purity of her singing voice holding back the massive eruption. An eruption of emotions, not her own, because she has already felt them, experienced them, and dealt with them for herself. It is our emotions she is tending to with tender care and a loving heart and a gifted actor's ability to create palpable dramatic tension. In short, Amy Beth Williams is the real cabaret deal - and for all of that, and with the hopes that you will all keep her on your radar for upcoming performances, we give Amy Beth Williams A BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen our full...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

Amy Spins Her Website: HERE

Tweet Her Twitters: HERE

Ande Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

Performance photos snapped by Dorian Woodruff

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