Review: THE MELODY LINGERS ON - The Mabel Mercer Foundation Salutes Irving Berlin at Rose Hall

There is no argument that Mabel Mercer was the most influential cabaret performer of the 20th century. Born in Staffordshire, England in 1900. Her mother was a popular music hall performer and her father was a traveling African-American musician who died before she was born. By the early 1930s Mabel Mercer was the toast of Paris nightlife, being feted by the likes of Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Cole Porter. During the Second World War, she emigrated to the States, where she became equally celebrated in New York. She influenced many of America's most popular singers. Frank Sinatra was quite open about saying he emulated most of her phrasing. She invented many of the conventions that still constitute American-style cabaret, including its stark intimacy. She played at all the finest rooms in America, Canada, and Europe, even running her own club at one point. Whether they know it or not, all modern practitioners of the art of cabaret owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mabel Mercer.

The Mabel Mercer Foundation is a non-profit organization that was established the year after Mercer's death in 1984. The group was formed to keep her memory alive and to promote the art of cabaret by bringing performances to audiences that wouldn't normally be able to attend cabaret. Their outreach includes a Young Person's Series that introduces young audiences to the classics of The Great American Songbook. Every year, the Mabel Mercer Foundation hosts several nights of concert events in their Cabaret Convention. After having a virtual event last year due to Covid, The Cabaret Convention is celebrating its 32nd edition this week at the Rose Theatre in Columbus Circle with a wonderfully live audience. I was lucky enough to attend the final concert last night, which celebrated the work of prolific composer Irving Berlin.

The event, THE MELODY LINGERS ON: A GALA TRIBUTE TO THE SONGS OF Irving Berlin was a gathering of some of the biggest names in the cabaret world. There's something a little odd about celebrating the intimate art of cabaret in a Broadway-sized theatre like Rose Hall, but to be honest it was one of the few venues sizable enough to hold all the cabaret fans who came to see this fine collection of talented artists. There were performances from Sandy Stewart, Jeff Harnar, Andrea Marcovicci, Eric Yves Garcia, Karen Oberlin, David LaMarr, Natalie Douglas, Stacy Sullivan & Todd Murray, Karen Akers, Steve Ross, Amra-Faye Wright, Klea Blackhurst, Billy Stritch, Aisha de Haas, Christine Andreas, Sidney Myer, Karen Mason, Nicolas King, Mark Nadler, and the Moipei Triplets. In addition to these wonderful performers, we were treated to some of NYC's best musicians including Ray Marchicka, Steve Doyle, Jon Weber, Bill Charlap, Darnell White, Alex Rybeck, Mark Hummel, Michael Rice, and Tracy Stark.

Two highlights of the evening were the presentation of some awards. The Julie Wilson Award was presented to David LaMarr for his tireless work on behalf of much-needed diversity in cabaret. The 2021 Mabel Award was presented to Karen Akers in recognition of her illustrious career. The evening was to have been hosted by the wonderful KT Sullivan, who also curated the entire concert. But due to an illness in the family, she was unable to attend. In her absence, Jeff Harnar brilliantly stepped in as the evening's host. In a very touching moment at the end of the concert, he asked the entire company as well as the audience to join him in Irving Berlin's patriotic anthem "God Bless America." He took out his phone and filmed the event to send to KT Sullivan so she could see how her concert affected the audience. It was a beautiful moment of live theatre.

There were too many performers for me to describe all of the lovely moments. But at the risk of offense, I'll mention some of my very personal favorites. Karen Oberlin gave us a very sassy performance of "Pack Up Your Sins." Karen Akers told a lovely story about her mother singing lullabies to her as a child. She sang one of Berlin's lesser-known tunes "Russian Lullaby" as an example. Not only was her performance terrific, she sang one of the verses in Russian. The arrangement by Alex Rybeck was quite haunting. Natalie Douglas gave us a beautifully acted scene in "You Can Have Him." Amra-Faye Wright gave us a very sultry "There's No Business Like Show Business."

In Act 2 (yes, there was an intermission) Klea Blackhurst gave us a rousing rendition of "Alexander's Ragtime Band." Billy Stritch created magic with "Let's Face the Music and Dance." Aisha de Haas brought the low-down Berlin to the fore with "Harlem on My Mind." My favorite moment of the evening was Christine Andreas' performance of "I Got Lost in His Arms" from Annie Get Your Gun. Her patter was perfect, her singing was stellar, and she looked like a million bucks. Sidney Myer gave a fabulously tongue-in-cheek reading of "I'm a Bad, Bad Man," also from Annie Get Your Gun. Karen Mason brought her trademark passion to "How Deep is the Ocean?" And a delightful surprise was a performance by the Moipei Triplets, who brought beautiful harmonies to "Count Your Blessings" and I Got the Sun in the Morning."

If I was being nit-picky, I would have preferred fewer ballads and a brisker pace, and Mark Nadler's ill-chosen patter made his wonderful performance of "I Love a Piano" less brilliant. The joy of this concert was the person who didn't appear onstage. The real star of the night was Irving Berlin. The variety of his prolific catalog is a marvel. Hearing nearly 3 hours of his music at once is a lesson in the history of American music. Berlin was not only an amazing writer, he was a living example of the immigrant experience, like Mabel Mercer herself. Many thanks to KT Sullivan and the Mabel Mercer Foundation for choosing such an American icon to salute.

To make a donation to support the work of the Mabel Mercer Foundation, please go to mabelmercer.org.

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