BWW Reviews: Eden Espinosa Charms Nashville Audiences...Cabaret Style

Come to the Cabaret...The Absinthe Cabaret, that is. Saturday night was the inaugural event of the newly formed Absinthe Cabaret in Franklin, TN. Executive Producer, Carolan Trbovich lined up a fantastic first event, with Broadway star Eden Espinosa headlining, and theatre and stage musician Johnny Rodgers hosting. Eden is best known for her roles as Elphaba in Wicked, for playing Maureen in the final cast of RENT on Broadway, and for originating the role of Brooklyn in the musical Brooklyn. Johnny Rodgers has toured with Liza Minnelli and appeared on Broadway with her during her show, Liza's at the Palace.

Johnny Rodgers started off the evening in cabaret style, getting us ready for Eden with some music, a brief history of cabaret and absinthe, and even showing us how, with the help of an Absinthe Fairy (played by Katherine Johns), to make an Absinthe drink. I'll admit to not knowing how to do this before the evening's demonstration. I always like learning something new when I'm not expecting it.

Eden sang many songs from her album Look Around, which consists mostly of her own take on different Broadway show tunes, including "I'm Not That Girl" from Wicked, "I Miss the Mountains" from Next to Normal, "Petrified" from Taboo, and "One Song Glory" from RENT. She also covered a lovely version of "Falling Slowly" from Once, performed with Johnny Rodgers. Some non-theatre related songs like the classic "Fever" and her own version of Eva Cassidy's cover of "Fields of Gold" by Sting made a lovely mix of styles for the evening.

One of the best things about seeing a Broadway star in a performance that isn't theatre related is getting to see them as a person and not as a character. Eden was charming, funny, and honest. It's refreshing to see she's every bit as nice in person as we want her to be. I loved hearing her talk about her friendship with actor John Bisom, and how after his death she was inspired to include the song "Look Around" on her album, and ultimately name the album Look Around because his own version of the song touched her so much.

Perhaps one of the most touching and entertaining parts of the evening was when Ms. Espinosa brought two locals onstage to sing with her. Apparently this is a regular part of her concerts, and what a treat it is. Both the young ladies who were invited to sing with Eden had submitted videos and were chosen by theatre, sang the Joanne to Eden's Maureen with "Take Me or Leave Me" from RENT. Miss Caitlyn Porayako, also a Belmont musical theatre student, sang the Glinda to Eden's Elphaba with the lovely "For Good" from Wicked. Both did a wonderful job, and it was such a great thing for Eden to do for those ladies.

If Saturday's entertainment was any indication of future events at The Absinthe Cabaret, I look forward to seeing what's to come. Living so far from New York City, it isn't often we're given the chance to see our favorite Broadway stars in person, and even more rare to see them when they're out of character. It was truly a lovely evening and I wait, somewhat patiently, for more. All, I have to say is "Welcome to Nashville, cabaret. Welcome to Nashville."

You can find out more information about The Absinthe Cabaret by visiting their website http://abcab.net/. For more information about Eden Espinosa, you can visit her website http://www.edenespinosa.com/. And additional information about Johnny Rodgers can be found on his website http://johnnyrodgers.com/wp/.

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