Review: Jane Lynch Makes 'Em Laugh with SEE JANE SING! at Joe's Pub

At the top of her show, See Jane Sing!, Jane Lynch jokes that she always wanted to be the kind of TV celebrity that held an audience hostage for an hour as she dabbled in the art of cabaret. Luckily for us, deft comedienne Lynch surprises the audience by being a fantastic singer, leaving the audience begging her for more encores. With indefatigable charm and her infectious smile, Lynch, her guests, and The Tony Guerrero Quintet make See Jane Sing! one hell of a fun cabaret event.

To warm the audience, Tony Guerrero and his jazz quintet take the stage with style. They set the mood with a brightly hued, jazz rendition of "When You're Smiling" (Larry Shay, Mark Fisher, and Joe Goodwin), featuring Guerrero on trumpet/vocals and Mark Visher on saxophone/vocals. Matt Johnson on drums, David Siebels on organ/piano, David Miller on bass, Guerrero on trumpet/keyboards and Visher on woodwinds keep the music dazzling and delightful for the remainder of the evening, letting the audience get lost in the often humorous vocal performances of the show. Likewise, Tim Davis, who arranged the music for Fox's Glee, wows the audience with comedic chops and a warm spin on "Fly Me to the Moon" (Bart Howard), yet again stalling the anticipated entrance of Lynch.

With two numbers already performed, Lynch takes the stage and the audience couldn't be more enthusiastic. She quickly explains that a theme for the evening eluded her as her muse ignored her requests for help in programming the set. However, it seems Lynch's favorite music is a panoply of hit novelty songs that span decades and age demographics, ensuring that every audience member has something to enjoy. Her first song, "If Wishes Were Rainbows," is a hilarious send-up of nonsensical metaphors that abound with laugh out loud worthy lyrics like "If wishes were rainbows, so am I." In the same vein, she performs a delectable jazz version of "Slappin' the Cakes on Me" (John Pizzarelli).

Next, Lynch offers a rousing version of "Mr. Monotony" (Irving Berlin). The song, originally performed by Judy Garland exists as a deleted scene from the film Easter Parade. Similarly, Lynch and Matthew Morrison were filmed performing the song for Glee, but the moment was cut from the third episode of the fourth season. Now, Lynch brings it to wonderful life and even has Kate Flannery join in on the fun. Following this musical thread, Lynch and Flannery jump into a sprightly and fast paced iteration of "Far from the Home I Love" (Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick), truly turning this Broadway classic on its head and redefining the well-known song with pizzazz and expert showmanship.

In 2000 Jane Lynch was cast in Christopher Guest's Best in Show, and she worked with him again in 2003 for his film A Mighty Wind. Certainly she was gaining notoriety on her own, but these two cult classic comedies widened her fan base, so it is no surprise that "The Skeletons of Quinto" (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) and "Blood on the Coal" (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) find their way into her set. Lynch, Flannery, Davis, and The Tony Guerrero Quintet bring out the laughable absurdity in these songs, ensuring that they are wild rides, especially as Flannery dances inappropriately to "Blood on the Coal."

Keeping the laughs coming, Lynch, Flannery, and Davis perform a charismatic version of "Mairzy Doats" (Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston), showing off vocal prowess with complicated harmonies and pristinely sung syncopations. This is chased with the affectionate love song "Rose Marie" (Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II). Not to be too sentimental, Lynch decries the saccharine, anti-autonomy messages of 60s era love songs, singing a medley of romantic hits and pointing out the problems with the subtext of the lyrics.

Still lodged in the mod era, Lynch powerfully belts "I'll Plant My Own Tree" (André Previn & Dory Previn), written for the film adaptation of Valley of the Dolls, and leaves us hoping that we will see her play Helen Lawson in a remounting of the work. After all, her stunning performance made us forget all about Susan Haywood and the vocals provided by Eileen Wilson and Margaret Whiting. Without warning, Lynch switches the trajectory of the show by launching into "Anaconda" (Onika Maraj, Jamal Jones, Jonathan Solone-Myvett, Ernest Clark, Marcos Palacios, and Anthony Ray), leaving the audience rolling in the aisles with a breathtaking version of the club anthem made famous by Nicki Minaj. Lynch, brings us back to Broadway and closes her set with "The Party's Over" (Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green).

Her vivacious and fun encores start with a medley of songs that made her, her guests, and each member of her band cry. It is both heartwarming and awkwardly funny to see her choke herself up singing the final verse of "Puff the Magic Dragon" (Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow). She then reminds audiences of her stint in The Real Live Brady Bunch by signing a version of "White Rabbit" (Grace Slick) where the lyrics are changed to describe humorous scenarios featuring the Brady family and their housekeeper Alice.

Jane Lynch's See Jane Sing! continues at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003) through August 19, 2015. For tickets and more information please click here or call 212.967.7555.

To post a comment, you must register and login.