BWW Reviews: REBEKAH LOWIN Displays Her Talented New Voice In Uneven Eva Cassidy Tribute at Metropolitan Room

Rebekah Lowin is a pretty, personable young woman with a voice that, at its best, can be ethereal. A recent Columbia University grad, Lowin first made an impression on cabaret audiences in October 2013 with an appearance at the Cabaret Convention and a show at 54 Below. Her new offering at the Metropolitan Room, I Know You By Heart, is built around the songs of Eva Cassidy (photo below), who inspired Lowin's devotion when she was in the sixth grade and held steadfast for five years of repeated listening. Virtually unknown outside Washington, DC during her lifetime, Cassidy's posthumous compilation Songbird topped the charts in 1998. (Ms. Cassidy died of cancer in 1996.) Lowin looks rather like her subject and appears to have similar range, if a less mature voice.

Performances of "I Know You By Heart" (Diane Scanlon/Eve Nelson) bracket this evening. The first segues into a pristine rendition of Sting's "Fields of Gold." To the vocalist's (and director Lauren Fox's) credit, inherent meaning changes. What we initially hear as naive love returns with a richness implying experience, perhaps knowledge of imminent death. Brava to Lowin and Fox for eschewing piano in favor of Musical Director Peter Calo on guitar and the excellent Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf on cello. Arrangements and musicianship are exceptional.

Traditional folk sound appears to come naturally to Lowin. "Dark-Eyed Molly" arrives on textured guitar accompaniment. The fuller, looser vocal is able to hold its own against expert instrumentation. An unfussy "The Water is Wide" with superb cello and feather-light finish would be lovely were it not for phrasing that breaks expression: "I know not if-I sink or swim . . ." Similarly odd gaps appear in Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes:" Come--the storms of winter . . . This is a song that cries out for legato vocal flights unemployed here. The artist's inappropriate smile during . . . I have no thought of leavin' . . . makes one wonder what she thinks she's singing about.

Lowin effectively sells "Hallelujah, I Love Him So" (Ray Charles) as unguarded and ebullient. Calo's twangy guitar gives the song an appealing lilt. "Wonderful World" (Bob Thiele/David Weiss), evidently the last song Cassidy would sing, is extremely poignant, not the least because Lowin's phrasing here seems her own.

I thought this was also true for the highlight of the show, an almost classical "Autumn Leaves" (Joseph Kosma/Johnny Mercer/Jacques Prevert), only to find phrasing all but copied from Cassidy. An original version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" which extends selected lyrics into succeeding musical passages and darkens intention--shares the distinction. This doesn't diminish fine performance, but I admit to being disappointed that at no time did Lowin put a stamp on anything.

Two completely unexpected numbers are delivered with opposite results. An original interpretation of--wait for it--"Auld Lang Syne," with the excuse that Cassidy did a Christmas album, is simply gorgeous. Calo's duet contribution works wonderfully. "Blues in the Night" (Harold Arlen), on the other hand, has neither sufficient pith nor pain. It's simply the wrong material, at least at this point.

Rebekah Lowin possesses graceful stage presence and knows to make connections with her audience. Gestures are minimal. She's likeable, earnest, and sympathetic. The journey on which we're invited, however, is overburdened by detailed exposition best left to the written page and is padded with the insertion of four bar, a capella song snippets which serve no discernible purpose. Lowin is a talented, young woman at the inception of a career. She has the kind of voice rarely found on a cabaret stage and will hopefully capitalize on its parameters in the future. With that and editing, the next show is something to which I look forward.

A portion of the proceeds from each night of the show will benefit The Melanoma Research Foundation.

Rebekah Lowin will appear again at the Metropolitan Room with I Know You By Heart on August 7 and October 4 at 9:30 pm.

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