Review: Macon Prickett Owns 54 Below During MACON: HIS OWN WAY!

It was the solo show debut for which everyone had been waiting.  For years.  And it finally happened when, on November 1st, Macon Prickett played 54 Below with MACON: His Own Way!  The fact that Mr. Prickett is a part of the 54 Below staff is not reflective of any kind of nepotism when it comes to his New York City debut show happening on their stage - it just shows smart programming.  Macon Prickett is a fine, a gifted, a talented performer who should be working in this medium (and who will, one hopes, continue to), and, factually, one who deserves to be on the 54 Below stage (starting this journey in a smaller room at a smaller club was never in the cards).  It just happens that he is already a member of the 54 family, so he had a built-in place from which to kick off his career in cabaret, including an audience that filled every corner of the venerated supper club.  The equation was equal parts talent, timing, luck, and family, all of which Macon Prickett has in abundance.

When I sat down at my table at 54 Below, I took a glance at the setlist I had been given.  Reading it, I said to myself, “This is the gayest setlist I’ve ever seen.”  Was I surprised?  No.  Macon Prickett is one of the lucky young people of the world who has never hidden who he is.  In past productions of 54 Does 54: The 54 Below Staff Show, he has sung songs like “Rose’s Turn” and “As If We Never Said Goodbye.”  A glance at his Instagram account shows a love of Broadway, of divas, of sequins, and of Pride.  Macon is a beacon of light for those who celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and their own queerness.  He is fresh and he is refreshing, and having a preview on a piece of paper of what was to come only whet my appetite all the more.  Truthfully, though, had I put even a moment of thought into it on my walk over to the club, I might have predicted songs that had, previously, been sung by Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, Laura Benanti, Gwen Verdon, Patti LuPone, Judy Garland, Kristin Chenoweth, and legendary male gay characters from the Broad Way, which is precisely what we all got, and we got them Macon’s Way.

Bounding into (and around) the room, Mr. Prickett belted his face off with a Kander & Ebb tune from the movie Funny Lady that was repurposed into the score of the Broadway musical New York, New York, and, right out of the gate, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand.  It was all smiles, all laughter, all cheers, and all larger-than-life, as the newly-minted cabaret star urged everyone, “Let’s Hear It For Me” while racing around the venue.  By the time his feet hit the stage, the energy was out-and-out electrifying.  For the next hour, Macon Prickett kept that energy going strong.  He is a born entertainer, a natural at this format, very much in touch with the members of his audience, and always comfortable with their relationship.  He speaks passionately and eloquently (if a bit volubly) on topics ranging from show business, world affairs, loved ones, and his personal history.  Everything he says is laced with strong senses of humor and family (mention of his mother being in the room brought cheers, as did the introduction of his twin brother, Mason Prickett, to the stage for a fraternal musical performance).  His crowd work is impeccable, and so is his storytelling, but moving forward it would be nice to see Macon take on a collaborator by way of a director, someone who can help tighten up the rhetoric (he says ‘um’ an awful lot) and focus the energy.  This is a loving suggestion to an emerging artist who is far ahead of the curve but who could benefit from another pair of eyes at the drafting table and out in the house.

Among the numbers performed during the program were a clever parody of the song “Roxie” (from Chicago) that made Macon the focus of the lyrics (self-penned, natch), the legendary Love medley from Judy Garland at Carnegie (which Macon honored properly while layering in his own stylings), and a “With One Look” that brilliantly poked fun of Macon’s need for high keys.  It was a great comedy bit that fed the evening because the gentleman is, indeed, a power tenor (it is, at times, unbelievable), and some of the low notes in some of the arrangements do sound a little uncomfortable for him - making the joke mid-number brought the issue into the room.  It’s not that he can’t hit the low notes but the higher keys definitely serve him better, while providing thrill after thrill for the audience, especially with “The 54 Below Diva Medley” during which he and Musical Director Canaan J. Harris pay tribute to the Ladies of 54B in epic, eye-opening style.   For this writer, though, the bona fide highlights of the evening came from the men.  Mr. Prickett’s back-to-back performances of the tender, quiet, near heartbreaking “She’s A Woman” (from Kiss of the Spider Woman) and the most joyful, celebratory “I Am What I Am” (from La Cage Aux Folles) ever witnessed weren’t just magnificent moments of cabaret performance - they were an open invitation for any producer to call upon Macon Prickett with an offer-only suggestion that he take some time off from his 54 Below duties to play Molina and Zaza.  Offer.  Only.  He's got this.  

As the (figurative) curtain came down on the evening, and the boisterous boy with the big voice took his bows with misty eyes, the die was cast.  He's in the light, now, and, there, he is going to stay... should stay.  MACON: His Own Way! is a winning combination of fashion sense, performance ability, musical back-up (please see the band members’ names below), tech (let’s hear it for Amanda Raymond and KJ Hardy), and absolute authenticity (including that infamous setlist) resulting in one of the most noteworthy nightclub debuts of this or any other cabaret season.  

And it was well worth the wait.

The MACON: His Own Way! band was Wyatt Tvenge on Bass, Ben Golder-Novick on Reeds, Nathan Repasz on Drums, Canaan J. Harris on Musical Direction, arrangements, and Piano, with special guest artist Mason Prickett on guitar for “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE

Visit the Macon Prickett website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

 

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