Review: CADY HUFFMAN & MARY ANN MCSWEENEY Are Everything Cabaret Should Be at The Green Room 42

Throughout her show last night at The Green Room 42, Tony Award winner Cady Huffman kept insisting "This is not a cabaret." I would never want to be argumentative, but her show with bassist Mary Ann McSweeney, IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR: SONGS INSPIRED BY A PANDEMIC was a cabaret in every way. It was an eclectic look at the past two years through music that utilized both of these multi-talented women in a very intimate way. Sometimes with nothing more than a bass and a voice, Huffman and McSweeney created fully theatrical monologues that cut to the heart of the human experience. If that's not cabaret, I don't know what is.

The real star of the evening was the musical arrangements that Huffman and McSweeney created themselves. They reimagined some wonderful classics by artists as diverse as Ann Margaret, Nat King Cole, Jimi Hendrix, The Pointer Sisters, Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell, and Peggy Lee, utilizing only bass and voice with a little sprinkling of piano, violin, and Ms. Huffman's "Low G" ukulele. The sparseness of the ensemble was a huge asset, focusing attention on the lyrics and the performances themselves. And the performances were lovely. Ms. Huffman is a gifted and versatile actress and Ms. McSweeney is a truly soulful jazzwoman.

They opened with the Ann-Margret classic "Thirteen Men," which Cady Huffman performed with her trademark sensuality. They breezed through a fast chorus rendition of Nat King Cole's "Straighten Up and Fly Right" before putting a bluesy spin on Cole Porter's "Take Me Back to Manhattan. Ms. Huffman used her ukulele to great advantage in that 1930s anthem of optimism "The Sunny Side of the Street." This was followed by two delicious monologues. First Huffman gave a beautiful reading of the Frank Sinatra hit "It Was a Very Good Year." The stillness of her performance was electrifying. Mary Ann McSweeney was equally magnetizing when she soloed on "The Corner of Sin," a piece from her collection of Portuguese Fado music. The riffs she created were pure magic.

They next presented three wonderful medleys. First, they combined Cy Coleman's "Hey Look Me Over" with "Everyday People" by Sly & the Family Stone. Then in a very clever arrangement, they joined Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" with "Fire" by the Pointer Sisters. They followed this with Joni Mitchell's wonderful "Chelsea Morning," which Huffman dedicated to the great Patti Smith. The highlight of the evening was a beautifully acted combination of "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins and "Please Don't Stand So Close." It was a powerful reimagining of this tune by The Police that cast Ms. Huffman as so many women dealing with unwanted male attention. The monologue was so good it really should have a play written around it.

The last section of the evening began with Peggy Lee's biggest hit "Fever." Mary Ann McSweeney savored every note of the smokey bassline and Cady Huffman found every double and triple entendre in the lyric. She next shared some of her Fosse background in an almost whispered "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries." To wrap up they turned again to Peggy Lee's " I Love Being Here With You." I'm always interested when I hear the same song turn up in the shows of several artists at the same time. This tune seems to be in the zeitgeist right now. As it should be. It's a great song.

And this was a great show. It was clever, well-arranged, intimate, inclusive, and straight from the heart. All apologies to Ms. Huffman, it has all the makings of great cabaret. Kudos to all involved.

To learn more about Cady Huffman, follow her @CadyHuffman on Twitter or @cadyhuffman on Instagram. For more about Mary Ann McSweeney, go to her website, maryannmcsweeney.com or follow her @maryannmcsweeney on Instagram. Ms. McSweeney's album of Fado music, Urban Fado is available on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. To check out more great artists at The Green Room 42, go to greenfignyc.com.

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