Review: FROM BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD at Oscars Cabaret & Nightclub

Nicolas Dromard & Desiree Davar premiered their cabaret show From Broadway to Hollywood Saturday night at Oscar’s to a packed and very receptive house. The concept of the show is literally their journey from Broadway to Hollywood, covering how they met, how he proposed, some terrific and appropriate songs along the way and a lot of tap dancing (more on that later).

The show begins with a video - the purported story of their relationship told through scenes from famous movies. They got me though. It was hot inside, and my brain was working slow so I didn’t catch on until halfway through what the what was, but when I finally did, it was cute. The couple then takes the stage and bust out with a big energy mashup of Top Hat/Puttin’ On The Ritz. Much tapping was to be heard! Then they did it again with a Mary Poppins medley. By the end of it, we were exhausted for them. Dromard goes on to explain that he was in the Broadway show Mary Poppins for a few years, and a little bit later we find out that he has recently recovered from tongue cancer, and his voice, he says, isn’t fully back. He is likely the only one that noticed - except maybe Davar, but she sleeps with the guy, so she has very intimate knowledge. But the rest of us didn’t have a clue.

Dromard has a beautiful voice, and has the same onstage energy as Hugh Jackman. That makes total sense because his bio tells me he shared the stage with Jackman in The Boy From Oz. But he also looks a bit like Neil Patrick Harris. I’m not mad at either one of those things.

Their love story heats up with Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, a few other mashups, and then some parodies roll in. My favorite bit of the night was Davar’s Liza impression. It wasn’t just an impression, it was a very clever bit with Liza singing and dancing to a couple of pop tunes. I won’t ruin the surprise as to what songs, but it was truly inspired. This bit, and her onstage banter show off some great comedy chops. She's like a big glass of Carol Burnett spiked with a little Lucille Ball. Davar also has a powerhouse voice, and knows how to use it. From belters to softer moments, she uses her big range in all the right ways.

We continue our love story with La Vie En Rose, the song Davar walked down the aisle to the day she wed Dromard in Sonoma. And when they dueted Being Alive from Company, it brought the crowd to their feet.

We get to know a little bit more about Davar who was the standby for West Side Story’s Anita on Broadway and has played the role around the world. West Side Story is the only musical I like on film, and I was very happy when she gave us A Boy Like That, and although I wasn’t a fan of the arrangement, Davar's voice made it all okay. Another crowd pleaser was All That Jazz from the musical Chicago accompanied by a story about performing the song for Chita Rivera. And she brings us the receipts in the form of photos.

There was a very sweet Mother’s Day song/skit/video featuring their six-year-old daughter who was also in the audience. Pretty sure the song was Meghan Trainor’s I’m Your Mother, and it was so darling we all giggled and squeed. Even me.

The bad stuff: I could only hear them tapping, from where I sat, I couldn’t see it - my view was about lower pelvis up. The stage is far too low, and the fit is too tight especially for tapping. Watching their feet while they give us that rhythm is like 95% of the fun. And those big turns looked great even from my vantage point, but I love tap, and I'm greedy and want it all.  

Technically speaking, the sound wasn’t great. There was some buzzing, vocals and videos didn’t come up on time, and you can hear the kitchen shouting to each other during the show. However Dromard and Davar are total pros and didn’t let one second of it phase them. (Some very good news on the dining front though, the new chef appears to be a great success based on chatter I heard after the show. And my date loved his arroz con leche.)

It’s a fun show, and they’re both hella talented performers. Hopefully someone will get them to come back and grace one of our taller, bigger stages so all of us can experience some great tapping along with those killer vocals. Bonus - how fun would it be to have both Liza (Davar) and Judy Garland (Michael Holmes) sing a duet one night with Peter Allen (Dromard) sitting in? I'm squeeing again...

Shout out to the smokin’ hot band:

Piano/Musical Director: Brett Rowe

Drums: Andy Fraga

Bass: Jordan Lamoureux

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