BWW Reviews: SONGS IN A SILKEN SKY

You have to hand it to Carolyn German - the woman is always busy, there's always another theatrical project on her schedule, another show to focus on, more actors to benefit from her expertise. Earlier this season, her new play about legendary Nashville civil rights figure Z. Alexander Looby, Signs of a New Day, helped shed light on his unique story, adding illumination for a new generation of Nashvillians, and her work as director of Metro Parks' Music and Theater gives a budding performers the opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade, as it were, from one of the region's most talented and most accomplished entertainers.

When I ran into Carolyn one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, she invited me to attend Songs in a Silken Sky, a cabaret performance by participants in Metro Parks Theater and Music Department's Young Performers Program. Presented at historic Two Rivers Mansion, the production "offers these talented young vocalists a chance to learn and to perform a wide variety of music in a cabaret setting," including songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Robert Brown, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz and David Friedman.

And because I adore Carolyn - and I love cabaret - I made the most of a recent Sunday afternoon with a visit to Two Rivers for the closing performance of Songs in a Silken Sky. Carolyn had assured me I would have a good time, so I was hopeful, if a bit skeptical, of what I would encounter

My skepticism was very quickly laid to rest by the performances of some of Nashville's most promising young singers. Self-assured and poised beyond their years, Carolyn German's young proteges delivered a program that was as entertaining as anyone could have hoped and the skill with which these youngsters (ages 12-17) performed was laudable and, quite frankly, very impressive.

From the very first song ("Romantic Notions," performed by Anastasia Tell, Elizabeth Cameron, Delaney Amatrudo and Mariah Parris) to their last ("We Can Be Kind"), the musical program featured a number of standards ("At Last," performed with aplomb by Morri Corbett, "At Long Last Love," sung with style by Audrey Smith, and Delaney Amatrudo's rendition of "La Vie En Rose" was lovely), showtunes (Smith's "Tell Me on a Sunday" and Emily Adams' "They Say It's Wonderful" were most noteworthy) and contemporary theatre songs ("Home" from Beauty and the Beast was exquisitely and hauntingly sung by the ethereal Teel, and Cameron's fun and funny "Blue Hair" was a grand choice, and the winsome young quartet's "The No-Princess Medley" was delightful). Sara Johnson gave a fresh take on "Put On a Happy Face" and German's son, Victor Phelps (whom I last saw as a toddler playing on the floor of my music room - wow, how time flies!) showed that he got the family's good genes with his comically wry performance of "Please Don't Feed Me."

The tremendous grace and amazingly poised performances on display in Songs in a Silken Sky show that musical theatre in Nashville has a wealth of young talent from which to draw and German's sure-handed direction - coupled with accompanist Steve Willetts' music direction - resulted in a program that entertained the audience while giving her cast new challenges to surmount. The consistency of her young charges is perhaps the most noteworthy achievement of Songs in a Silken Sky, but special attention should also be paid to the fact that they all looked like a million bucks - and they were dressed in very age-appropriate clothes that were fashionable and stylish without being at all flashy or faddish. It's a fine line to be walked in that regard and German and her performers did so with extraordinary confidence.

Another cabaret, this one focusing on music from the '60s is planned for later this summer, with another holiday season offering in November/December, giving audiences a chance to see some budding talent on the rise in Music City.

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