Into The Weeds: Bloomin' Clever

Giving each cast member a bouquet of weeds as an opening night present may sound like something out of The David Merrick Book of Etiquette, but they're a bloomin' perfect choice when you're Bill Weeden and the new cabaret revue celebrating your forty years of songwriting is aptly titled Into The Weeds. 

Playing late Saturday night performances at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Cafe, Into The Weeds, conceived and directed by Jeff Cohen, is a welcome throwback to the type of simple, sophisticated musical revues featuring clever, intelligent lyrics that used to provide fizzy nightcaps for post-theatre crowds.  Some of the songs were written as solo efforts and some were collaborations with David Finkle, with whom he contributed material to acclaimed revues by Julius Monk, along with material for the likes of Carol Channing, Dick Shawn and Stiller & Meara.  Other songs are with Finkle and Sally Fay, who, as the performing trio of Weeden, Finkle and Fay, contributed to Martin Charnin's The No-Frills Revue and wrote a career's worth of special material entertaining employees of Fortune 500 companies. 

Playing his own whimsically melodic tunes at piano, along with Ethan Fein on guitar, Weeden is joined by a large and loveable cast of fresh, perky talent (Ted Anderson, Melissa Center, Grey Garrett, Hilary Mann, Kristen Rozanski, John Paul Skocik, Michael Vaccaro, Eddie Varley, Amanda Weeden – yes, his daughter – and John Weisenburger) that will have you thinking you've stumbled into (Mostly) New Faces of 2006.  The gang sounds great under music director George Andrews, with much of the evening featuring ensemble work with a minimal number of solos. 

"Keeping your house in order sure takes its toll / That cute suburban lawn / Send it to hell and gone / Let it get overgrown and out of control."  So sings the merry, happily disheveled looking songwriter opening with the show's title tune.  Before long, John Weisenburger's easy light baritone reminds us "Nothing falls in your lap if you don't sit down."  This kind of relaxed philosophy permeates throughout the all-too-short hour. 

Ambition is lightly mocked in both the Weill/Brechtian "Every Harlot (Wants to be a Starlet)", which Cohen stages with a wink to Bob Fosse, and "My Reunion Prayer", where the boys ask to the one above, "At this heavy-duty celebration / Let me have the best and brightest spouse / Let it please come up in conversation / I'm about to build a second house." 

Though he admits to being a Mets fan, when the opportunity came to write a nostalgic tune to accompany a video for the 1988 Yankees old-timers game, the resulting "One Big Team" imagined every great Yank playing together, each in his prime.  Ted Anderson and Hilary Mann warmly sing an updated version that envisions "Yogi, Munson, Posada – they were all behind the plate / With Whitey, Catfish and Gator sharing the mound / In the bullpen getting' ready / I saw Sparky and Righetti / Yes, and Mariano whippin' the ball around." 

In "I've Seen Shakespeare", Eddie Varley, Amanda Weeden and Michael Vaccaro all put in funny turns as playgoers frustrated with high concept productions of The Bard's plays.("I've seen Falstaff in a business suit / I've seen Shylock work on Seventh Avenue / Caught Friar Lawrence as a psychoanalyst / And Portia as a television panelist.")  Varley later suffers from comic schizophrenia in a high-energy ode to low self-esteem, "Any Way You Want Me."(music by Ethan Fein).  Another comic highlight is Grey Garrett's stylish rendition of the uniquely New York love song, "Bloomingdale's or You."("The Café Wha? I long ago outgrew / But how could I leave Bloomingdale's or you?").

A medley of corporate pep songs and selections from the Weeden, Finkle and Fay musical, Move It & It's Yours round out this jaunty, witty set.  Into The Weeds is only scheduled for a limited run (Saturdays in August at 11PM) so audiences looking for hip lyrics and catchy melodies will want to take root at the Beechman for the next few weeks. 

Photos by Jeff Cohen: Top: Bill Weeden

Center: Melissa Center, Grey Garrett and Kristen Rozanski

Bottom: Ted Anderson, Eddie Varley and John Skocik

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