The Cabaret Chronicles: Christine Lavin at Birdland, another great Cast Party, and Elaine St. George at The Metropolitan Room!

Happy Saturday!  Well, it's been another busy week in the world of NYC nightlife!  I kicked things off this week by going to another terrific doubleheader at Birdland.  First up, it was my favorite folk diva Christine Lavin (and friends!) in concert.  Although she maintains a busy schedule performing around the country, Ms. Lavin's NYC concert appearances are rare, so this was a must-see for me!  For this show, she assembled a program of her most-requested songs, as well as performance by some very talented friends!  Towards the top of the show was "Air Conditioner," which was laugh-out-loud funny (and recently recorded by Sutton Foster!), and this was followed by "Amoeba Hop," an entertaining ditty about amoebae going to a dance.  It's a fun, wildly imaginative, and educational song - in fact it was actually turned into a book, which was beautifully illustrated by Betsy Franco Feeney. And as luck would have it, Betsy just happened to be on hand on Monday evening to assist with the song!  As Christine performed the song, Betsy and her daughter turned the pages of a gigantic version of the book so that the entire audience could see!  A few songs later, Christine called her good friend, Grammy Award-winning songwriter Julie Gold, to the stage to perform her mega-hit "From A Distance."  Seated at the piano, Ms. Gold told the touching story of how that song likely would never have been heard if it wasn't for Christine's insistence on sending it to radio stations across the country!  Other friends of Christine's that joined in the show included actor/singer/songwriter Jeff Daniels, who performed two great original songs, Colleen McHugh who sang Lavin's beautiful ballad "The Kind of Love You Never Recover From" and songwriter Ervin Drake, who delighted the audience with his performances of two of his biggest hits, "Good Morning Heartache" and "It Was a Very Good Year."  And if that didn't make for an amazing enough show, Christine put on quite a finale - not singing or playing the guitar, but by doing a baton-twirling act, complete with glow-in-the-dark batons!  For her first encore, she invited her male guests for the evening, as well as any males in the audience who wanted to join, up on stage for a sing-a-long on her tribute to the modern male, "Sensitive New Age Guys," which was followed by a beautiful rendition of Tom Paxton's "Peace Will Come," for which she had the entire audience sing along.  Top to bottom, a simply terrific show!

After Christine's fabulous show, I stayed right at Birdland for another terrific round of Jim Caruso's Cast Party.  This weekly open mic, hosted by the witty and charming Jim Caruso, is THE place to be on Monday nights, and this past week was no exception!  The lineup of talent included Cortes Alexander performing a great "Don't Go to Strangers," singer/songwriter David Goldman performing his catchy and enjoyable original song, "I Remember You," Broadway veteran Clarke Thorell showing off his ukulele-playing skills, and a VERY special performance by Nichelle Nichols.  Ms. Nichols rose to fame through playing Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek.  However, she revealed to the audience that her first love was musical theater, and she brought the house down with "Summertime" and "There's A Small Hotel." It was a truly special moment, and I was thrilled to be there to witness it!  Of course, host Jim Caruso was as entertaining as ever, and the "Cast Party Symphony Orchestra" (Billy Stritch on piano and Steve Doyle on bass) was terrific!

On Wednesday evening, it was off to The Metropolitan Room for Elaine St. George in InsipiRAYtional: The Musical Legacy of Ray Charles.  Joined by David Epstein (subbing for musical director Tedd Firth) on the piano and Adam Armstrong on the bass, Ms. St. George put on a terrific show.  Thoughtful, engaging, informative, and beautifully executed, the show covered a wide variety of the material performed by the legendary performer.  From the expected ("Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Hit The Road Jack," "Georgia on My Mind") to the unexpected ("Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "Crying Time," "How Long Has This Been Going On") Ms. St. George assembled a program that was truly representative of the incredible spectrum of material recorded and performed by Mr. Charles.  From musical theater to blues to standards to country, he dipped his talented toes in just about every genre he could.  Ms. St. George did a wonderful job of presenting the material in her own way; she wisely never tried to imitate Mr. Charles or do his exact arrangements but she let herself be inspired by his recordings and found her own way to do justice to them.  Patter was kept to a minimum, and the anecdotes about Ray that were shared were small, entertaining snippets from his colorful life.  Throughout the show, Ms. St. George's warmth, intelligence, and wry sense of humor shone through, making it a highly enjoyable evening!  The show will be returning to The Metropolitan Room this spring - be on the lookout for dates to be announced soon! 

That's about all for this week, but check back for another article soon!

Pictured: Christine Lavin 

To post a comment, you must register and login.