Review: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN Revives Classics at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Reviving, recycling, remembering, and refreshing the songs from past decades is part of the agenda of the Cabaret Convention music nights.  When handled with care, material with mega-mileage doesn’t seem moldy or dusty, but can even feel like a discovery.  Instead of tired, the tried and true truly shine when reborn.  So, the chosen title for the last of the three consecutive soirees (October 24), Everything Old Is New Again, reinforces the point.  The nostalgia-embracing pop confection of the same name — first recorded 50 years ago by Peter Allen, co-written by him and Carole Bayer Sager — was, naturally, on the set list and it was handled with ingratiating charm by singer Tim Connell.  

There was plenty from the ‘70s and the decade before that.  Recalling 1971 was the inclusion of “Anticipation,” which Carly Simon wrote while experiencing that state as she waited for a date with another music star of the era: Cat Stevens.  “Anticipation” had a later life in a TV commercial for ketchup, with the visual of the red stuff not coming easily when the bottle is turned upside down.  Marnie Klar – with additional vocals and piano by the accompanist and music director of her Simon tribute show, Steven Ray Watkins – paid respects to this (the original record, not ketchup) and brought bright energy to this item from yesterday’s hit parade.  Speaking of parades, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” started off the post-intermission parade of performers when Klea Blackhurst burst forward with a supremely confident delivery of the Funny Girl number from the 1960s. 

And the whole long evening was topped off with another ’60s memory and memorable appearance: Paula West from the West coast holding attention and focus with Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”  Earlier, another Stone – Deborah Stone (I can’t resist the segue) – rolled out a classic Stephen Sondheim piece with a well-received piece from the 1970 score of Company, “The Ladies Who Lunch.” There was even more from that decade, with the John Kander/Fred Ebb theme from the movie New York, New York (the old favorite recently “new again” to title a Broadway production).  Alexis Cole rewardingly brought a new perspective to the old favorite by slowing it down and bringing a more mature, pensive flavor.  

But the repertoire certainly wasn’t restricted to the aforementioned decades.  Another Kander & Ebb treat, “Where You Are” from Kiss of the Spider Woman from the 1990s was sung (and danced!) with panache by Amra-Faye Wright, who’s spent many years in productions of K&E’s Chicago. Also from musical theatre of the ’90s was “Make Them Hear You” from Ragtime, giving first-time Convention participant Arbender Robinson a powerhouse moment. Distinctively, Rosemary Loar combined different eras and styles with two pieces concerning folks who might be too concerned about a couple who might be romantically connected — Bonnie Raitt’s hit “Something to Talk About” and “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma!  Also from Oklahoma (the state, I mean) is KT Sullivan who hosted the evening and offered its oldest ingredient, dating back to the 1800s – something of Irish descent, like herself.  Evoking another time, singing the lines “O, the days of the Kerry dancing/ O the ring of the piper’s tune,” had her lovely soprano voice ring through the Rose Theater, everything old was new again. The selection was one favored by the influential artist for whom the Convention’s sponsoring foundation (headed by KT Sullivan) is named: Mabel Mercer.  I like the choice by our dressed-to-the-nines hostess to be on stage to do all the spoken introductions, as opposed to just being an offstage voice in the dark, the way hosts of the preceding nights did most intros after an initial greeting in the spotlight.

Another Sullivan was represented when Celia Berk gracefully turned our attention to “Turn It Around,” a moving piece by Elizabeth Sullivan, the songwriter mother of... guess who. Everything Old Is New Again was a fine finale, filled with successful turns by those new to the Convention stage, but not to cabaret and theatre (witness Melissa Errico’s star power with a strut through “The Lady Is a Tramp”) and those who were “old hands” at turning on the charm for the loyal audiences that have turned up for this series year after year. In that category, we get such welcomed “usual suspects” such as skillful Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano with a mega-medley of standards and the irreplaceable, irrepressible Sidney Myer with his character pieces.  

This year’s three nights of music included many names not even mentioned in my three separate reviews — singers and instrumentalists, including such marvelous musicians who’ve been so crucial to cabaret acts in clubs for years, like keyboard kings Jon Weber, Christopher Denny, Alex Rybeck, James Followell, and Christopher Marlowe, plus bassists Tom Hubbard, Steve Doyle, and Ritt Henn, with drummers Sherrie Maricle, Daniel Glass, etc. And the audience was full of cabaret-going familiar faces, too.  There were a few there in the crowd whose own work made me more aware of cabaret and its singers before I became a regular attendee and reviewer.  I first saw some of the performers sing and interviewed on Jamie de Roy’s cable TV program, with excerpts from her (still ongoing) live variety shows. My ticket for the first two nights of the Convention had me assigned to seats near James Gavin, author of the definitive book about cabaret’s history, Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of Cabaret, all about everything old, filling me with new information and perspective.  And when I came to this night called Everything Old Is New Again, I had a seat in the very first row, and just behind me was the cabaret champion David Kenney, whose radio show is also titled “Everything Old Is New Again” and uses the song as its opening and closing theme.  I became acquainted with numerous cabaret artists and songs initially by listening to his valuable broadcasts that have been on the air for 46 years — heard now on both WBAI FM and on the internet radio site thepenthouse.fm. 

I’m so glad that everything old is new again – again and again, at events like those sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation. For appreciation and knowledge, they give us all a good foundation.

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Header photo credit: Conor Weiss

See www.mabelmercer.org for more about the Mabel Mercer Foundation

See www.jazz.org for more upcoming shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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