Review: Sue Matsuki Celebrates 38 SEASONS OF LOVE at Feinstein's/54 Below

It was a glittery, glamorous night at Feinstein's/54 Below Thursday night as Sue Matsuki took her solo show debut bow on the stage of Broadway's Living Room. After thirty-eight years of singing cabaret in piano bars, cabaret rooms, living rooms, and rooms of a more, shall we say, cozy nature, the woman nicknamed The Godmother of Cabaret dared to ask herself if she could fill the seats that stand between the four gold-gilt walls of the basement supper club. The answer is yes. There was nary an empty seat last night as Matsuki, elegant in head-to-toe Hollywood, joined her five-piece band (three musicians, two backup singers) for eighty minutes of music that has made a difference to her during her 38 SEASONS OF LOVE.

38 Seasons Of Love is Ms. Matsuki's celebration of being an active member of the cabaret and concert community and industry for nearly four decades. Having started her career downtown at The Village Gate, picking up Musical Director Gregory Toroian a few years later, and continuing to sing for her supper for all these days, Sue has pulled together numbers from each of her shows over the years (at least several shows, if not all) and, working backward from today to that first show at The Village Gate, performs them as the woman she is today. Working with standards, Broadway, and the occasional piece of pop music, Sue Matsuki was showing absolute confidence Thursday night, and that confidence is alluring, to say the least. Matsuki is a very appealing person to have on a stage in front of you. She is calm, she is excited, she is content, she is at home. Whatever she is doing on the stage, Sue Matsuki is unafraid of the moment. She has never looked better, she has never sounded better, and for the entirety of her program on Thursday, Sue Matsuki was living her best life. No nerves or intimidation walked up onto the stage with Sue because she knows who she is and what she is about - all of her, to be exact.

During her program, Ms. Matsuki went places, vocally, to which her audience has become accustomed, singing stylized arrangements like the "Too Darn Hot" number she performed at the 2020 Bistro Awards, a number that was good, then, but great at 54 Below. She also took the audience on audible jaunts that they don't get every time from the (frequent) jazz stylist, making use of seldom-heard gorgeous low tones on "Not Exactly Paris" and some bonafide belting worthy of a musical theater actress on "From This Moment On." It isn't just the music, though, where Sue shared all the parts of herself because her patter opened her up for absolute authenticity on a couple of stand-out stories. She may have been dressed like a Grand Dame of Cabaret but Sue Matsuki is also a gal. She's a dame, she's a broad, she's a lady with a sense of humor, and when she was working with script portions that gave her a chance to be the Grand Dame, she took them - but she wasn't afraid to shake off the sequins and talk like a girl in her blue jeans and t-shirt. Anybody who has had a great love (and, probably, even those who have dreamed of one) could relate to the story about her Amazonian honeymoon. And anyone who has had a wild and crazy youth (and even those who have dreamed of one) would get caught up in the gales of laughter inspired by the Alaskan adventure she and her girlfriend had before their marriages came along. Seeing Ms. Matsuki use all the parts of herself, as a woman and as a performer, was the foundation upon which the audience enjoyment was built.

Sue Matsuki is a very generous performer. For some eighty minutes, she provided her audience with seventeen different songs, tidbits about their origin, and stories from her personal life. Although Musical Director (and Matsuki longtimer) Gregory Toroian is a jazz specialist, the duo decided when it would be prudent to stay on a more traditional path (an "Autumn Leaves" dedicated to Julie Wilson, and an evening highlight, as was a gorgeous "I'll Close My Eyes") or when to go experimental (a reinvented "Moondance" that paid off in the extreme, or an "Anticipation" that this Carly Simon fan is still trying to decide whether or not he likes, although there is no denying that it was fascinating to witness). The Matsuki generosity that extended to the audience was not exclusive to the patrons, though, because her ardent devotion to Toroian and the rest of her colleagues led Sue into making some bold choices that some may question, but that this reporter does not. Although the name on the bill was hers, Sue opted to not make the show all hers, stopping frequently to announce the names of the musicians before stepping into the shadows to allow them extensive (and impressive) solos. There are those who would question the surrendering of her stage time to the musicians but Toroian, bassist Skip Ward and drummer David Silliman are like brothers to Matsuki, and it is absolutely within her brand to want their artistry up front, and not just behind, supporting her. The same goes for her backup singers, colleagues Maria Corsaro and Kati Neiheisel, whom Sue didn't just put right up front, she played with them during the show, in the same kind of way that Bette Midler might have goofed with The Harlettes. 38 Seasons of Love was sold as a Sue Matsuki show but it played like a family act. That's the act Mama wanted and that's the act Mama presented, and there will, surely, be cabaret traditionalists who disagree with the choice. Too bad for them. This writer supports Sue's choice.

On the topic of support, though, there is one thing that should be mentioned, by way of preparing the 38 Seasons Of Love team for future performances like this one. Perhaps it was being in a room that is larger than the smaller venues Matsuki and co. tend to play, but there were times when the band got on top of Sue. It wasn't all the time, certainly not when Matsuki was using that gorgeous belt-y chest voice, and not when her vocals were so perfectly placed up in her mask - it tended to occur when Sue was working with that breathy, reedy quality that she reserves for her jazzier stylings - not the time for the supporting musicians and singers to get on top of the voice of the star performer. Just something for the company and director (and Matsuki's spiritual brother) David Sabella to keep an ear out for in future performances in venues of this size.

And speaking of size - it was a real joy to see that Ms. Matsuki's debut performance at Feinstein's was a full house, and not only that but a house full of cabaret luminaries, there to support this Godmother who has spent the better part of the last thirty-eight years supporting other members of the community. If there were one thing this writer could wish for, it was a small change in the presentation that would have sweetened the deal for the audience. Twice during the evening, Matsuki made use of the 54 Below monitors to display photos of her mentor, Julie Wilson, and to flash one of the postcards used to promote an early show. Since this was a retrospective covering thirty-eight years worth of cabarets, it would have been nice to have the monitors showcase every postcard from every show, and the names of the clubs those shows played - it would have been a fun way to really take the audience on that journey (and to see all the hairstyles from over the years, though this writer prefers the silver tresses of the 2022 Sue). It's a tiny suggestion that this reporter thinks might make more replete the musical journey of the next time 38 Seasons of Love plays Feinstein's/54 Below, a room that Sue Matsuki, clearly, should have been playing sooner than her thirty-eighth year in the business.

But at least she's there, now. Finally.

The 38 Seasons Of Love personnel are Musical Director/piano Gregory Toroian, Bass player Skip Ward, Drummer David Silliman, and backup singers Maria Corsaro and Kati Neiheisel.

54 Below's Kris Umezawa was engineering sound for the show while 54 Below's K.J. Hardy was particularly en pointe with Sue's lighting. Amanda Raymond produced the live stream for the evening.

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

Visit the Sue Matsuki website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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