Review: The Mouse Sprouts Fangs For Halloween In SWINGIN' WITH THE MOUSE: VILLAINS! At The Green Room 42

Sea Witches, And Ghosts, And Snakes Oh My!

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

So my dearest fellow Disney-o-files, Sunday night's Swingin' With The Mouse: Villains! concert at The Green Room 42 (TGR42) gave us the Jazzmatize stylings of Pablo Rossil as he applied some real BeeBopADigity to great songs made famous by Disney Baddies. To help out, the arranger-conductor-orchestrator-musician-SINGER brought along a crackerjack 6 piece band and some voices with the power to put over his excellent arrangements - including an original "terribly misunderstood" hunter. Kicking off the evening as host-performer-hyphen-hyphen-hyphen sexy bear Pablo gave voice to his jazz version of THIS IS HALLOWEEN (NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) with the laid back ease and coolness of a true nightclub veteran, giving the number some swing, putting the gliss in his glissandos, and warming the room up nicely for the program to follow. The brainchild of Rossil, SWINGIN' WITH THE MUSIC began in 2016 and has been reimagining beloved and lesser-known songs with new jazz renditions. These concerts are a series of performances taking on a variety of themes all dedicated to Broadway, Pop, American Songbook, and Disney's precious memories in music in some danceable jive beats. An attractive idea, especially if you are as big a Disney kid as little Bobby.

The SWINGIN' WITH THE MOUSE: VILLAINS lineup on Sunday featured performances by vocalists Rossil, Janaya Mahealani Jones, Garrett Clayton, and BEAUTY's original Gaston - Richard White, all giving forth some of The Mouse's most famous tunes from the "dark side" with Pablo's fresh arrangements. Breaking with the usual (read snore-able) format of talking through the setlist and the singers, Bobby wants to start off giving some love to the band - and love it certainly was all evening long. The jazz-a-holics Pablo was blessed with on the night, brought real chops with their embrasures (What? Bobby knows music words too!), sticks, keys, and strings.

Jade Elliot (Tenor Sax/Clarinet)

Kellin Hanas (Trumpet)

Ilai Macaggi (Trombone)

Benjamin Rice (Piano)

Malik McLaurine (Bass)

Chris Latona (Drums)

All blended together effortlessly in combinations that define the word combo, and each and every one stood out brilliantly on improv solo moments that had the room swaying and applauding after each and every one. Of note here was Ilai Macaggi (Trombone) whose solo riff at one point had his fellow musicians visibly jamming to his sounds and joining the applause after. Also folded into the program were slots on the setlist just for the musicians. Jade Elliot used her snake-like Sax to swing and sway her way through Kaa's TRUSSSSSSSST IN ME from THE JUNGLE BOOK in ways so smooth and sexy sounding one would have to wonder, "This is for kids?"

Now to the voices... The four vocalists for the show were all terrific in their own rights, though their conductor leaned heavily on himself and Janaya Mahealani Jones to take on 6 out of 10 numbers leaving just 2 each for the Disney Legendary Mr. White and the influencer star, La Garrett - a young man that, if you are one of his 3 ½ MILLION followers on the TikClocks or his 1 ½ mil on the InstaPictoGrams (and Bobby certainly is), then you know his talent, his moves, his unstoppable vocal range and, of course, those eyes! (Le Sigh) Both of these gentlemen's performances, quite frankly, left yours truly wanting more from them. Jones, whose fantastic voice, rapport with Rossil, and hilarious stage presence had everyone loving her so much one could almost forgive her dependence on her cell phone crutch to keep up with her lyrics. That is... until... Richard White, sans any crutch "went up" while singing MINE MINE MINE from Pocahontas and simply made a charming and funny bit out of his struggle to get back on track and finished the number on his feet before a crowd that loved him even more for the gaff. These kinds of live performance missteps, handled with the aplomb of a veteran like White, show the crowds and the young'uns how it was done before digital assists became addictions. None of these minor points harmed the enjoyment of the night, but, for Bobby, it was a little disappointing that the company did not gather on stage for at least one group number. On a hilarious note, a gentleman in the audience who could not contain himself voiced his disappointment to Pablo at not hearing Garret Clayton's FAB-U-LOUS rendition of I PUT A SPELL ON YOU (if you haven't seen his Halloween video, then you MUST CLICK HERE NOW!) a song sung by Bette's baddie Winifred in Disney's HOCUS POCUS, but that was actually penned by Jay Hawkins in 1956 and as such is just Disney Adjacent. After taking on the camp villainess numbers CRUELLA DE VIL and Ursula's POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS, sporting fine, black lacquered nails and his new wedding ring, one does hope that TEEN BEACH MOVIE heartthrob Clayton will be able to fulfill his 2020 promise of a solo show in NYC... and the sooner the better.

All in all, it was an evening well spent, getting to hear some really kickin' jazz arrangements with loads of musical surprises that demonstrated Pablo Rossil's virtuosity at taking the familiar and making it his own.

And for all of that, we give SWINGIN' WITH THE MOUSE: VILLAINS! A Respectable ...

3 ½ Out Of 5 Rainbows

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All Photos By That Ever Lovely, STEPHEN MOSHER

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