BWW Reviews: Piano Girl ROBYN McCORQUODALE's Cabaret Debut Alternates Between Smooth Sailing and Choppy Seas at the Laurie Beechman

To paraphrase a Peter Allen song, she could have been a sailor. Instead, she chose to sail the open seas. And now she's singing about it. It all made for a promising theme for the Manhattan cabaret debut of Robyn McCorquodale and her series of four April shows, Diary Of A Piano Girl, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Pert, lively and totally likable, she shared her stories fused with original songs about wanderlust in which all roads eventually lead back home. From the opening number to closing with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," her only familiar entry, she took a circuitous route with visits to numerous ports of call. New to our local cabaret shores, but no stranger to entertaining, she's made her mark in the Big Apple with this outing.

Finding success on the high seas and sharing that journey with an audience made for an interesting and lively set that had its share of pearls. While her show might not have been the perfect, slick cabaret act that New Yorkers are accustomed to, McCorquodale's a lovely lady with a lot to say. And she crammed it all into her show. She also proved she was quite the pro coping with an uneven sound system. At times, it was difficult to understand her due to the erratic audio levels. That, and an often-voluminous band that needed to be a bit subtler in spots, made for some iffy moments in this ambitious show. To her credit, she rose above technical glitches and never missed a beat in this cabaret concert. And in spite of the volume issues, her musicians--Peter Calo on guitar, Chris Marshak on drums and Ritt Henn on bass guitar-were terrific.

Many of her songs were inspirational, uplifting, and filled with profound observations on nature and life. McCorquodale is not your everyday chanteuse in a pretty dress. She is engaging and intelligent and conveys a can-do attitude. Most of all, beneath all the banter and drawn out stories, she has depth. That counts for a lot these days. And, through it all, the stage was alive with a colorful visual show of photos and video footage from around the globe. This is a lady working very hard to entertain and to share her pieces of dreams.

She opened sitting at the piano lip-syncing a track of her original song "I Still Got the Dream" while a fantasy-like video of her seemingly floating through a bucolic forest projected on. Ultimately, it merged in sync with her live voice without missing a note. It was a sweet touch and set the stage for what was no ordinary show. She then began an entertaining, yet lengthy, set of story-patter followed by a song that is, at times, too detailed. Throughout the show, she accompanied herself from the piano along with the loud band. She would often run to center stage to tell more tales and then skip back to the piano for her next song. This formulaic sprint repeated itself throughout the travelogue of photos and videos. For the most part, this was done earnestly and she worked hard. However, after awhile, these overlong setups clouded the effect of the song she was leading up to. Some occasional editing was needed. An experienced director would have tightened the structure.

Quibbles aside, McCorquodale had some special moments. Her wacky tale of an engagement to perform for the Sultan of Brunei was a riot. She dealt with bizarre circumstances including an awkward marriage proposal and a harem of ladies who serviced the Sultan. There was another story about singing for a politician in Borneo and a silly riff about getting lost in Venice. All of this scripted patter was modestly clever and repeatedly accompanied by a song. Consequently, each story predictably setup the next ditty and so on.

As anyone who has heard her exceptional CD, Sleep With Angels, can attest, McCorquodale is quite the songwriter. She also has a sweet voice that echoes a poignant yearning to celebrate the beauty she has seen. Like Sarah McLaughlin, her strength is being a conduit of the human heart in song. Particular highlights included heartfelt readings on "Shining Star," "Dance In The Sun," "Destiny," and "Sleep With Angels." The word heartfelt plays an important role is this lady's presentation, her songs and her talent. Her songs are a mix of gentle jazz, pop and country fusions. While some verbal editing was clearly needed, never once did her heart leave that stage. Robyn McCorquodale is a poet and a word slinger of the human heart--even when it sails away.

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