Review: BENNETT AND BARTON SONG SALON At Pangea A Fun And Relaxing Open Mic Night

This is a true story about cabaret, a happy story, but a story that has a sting at the end of it. 

The truth:  Sometime in the late Nineteen Nineties, a musical theater proficient named Fred Barton was working in the downtown cabaret Eighty Eights (if you know,  you know, and if you do, you still miss it).  A Musical Director, a performer, a writer, a composer, an orchestrator, and arranger, Mr. Barton was well-known and well-admired for his skill at all things but, especially, at the piano.  While working at the Greenwich Village nightclub, Mr. Barton met a “chick singer” (people used terms like that, then) named Elena Bennett, and the artistic sparks flew.  They made a friendship and a partnership and it has lasted until today.  During those early days of their partnership, Bennett and Barton formed an open mic night called SONG SALON.  Mr. Barton proudly declares (in THIS Broadway World interview) that this was the first open mic night of this nature, and that is something about which Fred and Elena should feel pride because it’s wonderful.  It was a comfortable, casual, friendly and fun open mic where patrons could come and watch the twosome play out some of their favorite American Songbook and Broadway-themed sets, and where performers could bring their sheet music and work out some of their musical fantasies in front of a live audience.  It was sheer cabaret heaven and everyone loved it.  And although the years went by and Barton and Bennett did other projects together and on their own (like a much-lauded album available online HERE), the Song Salon remained an important part of their work model.  And earlier this year, Elena and Fred brought Song Salon to Pangea, where they have been playing the front room, free of charge (please, always tip the artists!) for two hours a set, to the great joy of the patrons.

The happy:  After months of hearing and reading about Song Salon, I was finally able to go down and see the twosome in action.  On Thursday, August 24th, I had a surprise night off from my bread-and-butter job (I work in a gym), so I took myself out into the balmy night air, caught the N Train down to the 8th/NYU stop, and had a pleasant stroll over to Pangea, the coziest club in town, where I found Elena Bennett dolled up in flowing trousers and robe and opera-length gloves, chatting with the crowd by the warm glow of the ambiance lighting in the front room of the always succulent smelling eatery (the food at Pangea is amazing).  The room was ready for the arrival of Maestro Barton, arriving from an earlier gig.  When Fred did arrive, he called out a quick apology: “The other show I was doing started late!”  Nobody minded the wait, it gave the young people sitting with Broadway actor Lance Roberts a chance to chat over drinks, and the table of gentlemen on the banquette an opportunity to enjoy one another’s company, as Luca served up the generous cocktails for which Pangea is known and adored.  And with the arrival of Fred Barton, the crowd was off to the races.

The concert portion of the Bennett and Barton song salon is cabaret in its purest form.  The two old friends had no real planned set - they have been together for so long that they speak a shorthand that doesn’t always require words.  Fred would start to play and Elena would know, inside of four notes, what he was playing and she would start to sing (in a way, it was kind of like Name That Tune for the nightclub set).  And the fact that they have been a work couple for so long makes everything that they do organic, authentic, and kind of perfect.  She is safe in the cradle of his piano and he is free to lift her up with his arrangements, and each song they performed stood on its own.  This isn’t a show, it’s a set, so there’s no arc, there’s no plan, there’s just one impeccable musical story after another, sometimes by surprise.  Elena Bennett is a brilliant singing actress who can embody, completely, each individual tale being told, in her voice, in her face, in her physicality, in all the parts of her storytelling self, and that’s not always what a person finds when they land in the club, especially these days when more and more people are doing their club acts with that dreaded ball and chain, the music stand.  Let it be known: this writer and cabaret frequenter has a deep distaste for people who perform while reading their lyrics - the words hack and disrespect come quickly to mind.  Fortunately, Barton and Bennett are not hacks and they do not disrespect their audiences, they are prepared.  They are, in fact, so prepared that when (after a four-song mini-set) they started the audience participation portion of their open mic, they were able to assist the performers testing the waters with their material.  A young actor stepped up to the piano to sing “On The Street Where You Live” and Mr. Barton needed no sheet music - he only needed to know the key.  Done and done.  Another young actor asked to sing “My Funny Valentine” and quickly learned that he didn’t know the words quite as well as he had imagined.  Not to worry - Elena Bennett was sitting nearby and fed him every sentence so that the crowd could enjoy his gorgeous baritone on the Rodgers and Hart classic.  This was the vibe for the entire night, which went by much quicker than it felt - I was shocked to realize that I had been sitting in the club for nearly two hours, enjoying the evening, one that I didn’t want to end, especially with Broadway performers like Lance Roberts and Michael Williams showing off the skills that have gotten them so much work over the years.  Put simply:  The Bennett and Barton Song Salon is a very casual, very professional evening of entertainment and relaxation.  

And now the sting:  It looks like I caught their last appearance.  A quick glance at the Pangea calendar shows no entries for the Bennett and Barton Song Salon during the rest of the 2023 year.  Of course, things do change, and maybe some new dates might magically appear on the calendar (one that is, by the way, rich with quality shows of all sorts, that people should look into), and when Fred and Elena do make their way back to the front room, where the drinks are great and the cover is grand (there is no cover), I can heartily encourage any and everyone to check out their open mic night, one that comes with absolutely no pressure, which cannot be said of every open mic night - some of them can be a really tense experience, both for the singers and for the audience.  Not here.  Not at Song Salon. This is a fun night, a social time, and a real delight, from start to finish.

The Pangea website is HERE.

THIS is the Fred Barton website and HERE is the Elena Bennett Facebook page.

UPDATE, 9/7/23 - NEW DATES ADDED, SEE GRAPHIC BELOW:

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