Review: Jeanna De Waal at Feinstein's At The Nikko Celebrates Life's Highs and Lows and Everything in Between

Jeanna de Waal is nothing if not a chameleon. Of course, she is best known for her recent starring role as the saintly Princess Diana, but she also created the role of the sweetly ditzy Dawn in Waitress pre-Broadway and played evil frenemy Chris in Carrie off-Broadway. As de Waal takes the stage wearing a simple black capri pants ensemble, her dark brown hair in a shoulder-length bob, she in fact looks nothing whatsoever like Diana. I had attended de Waal's new cabaret show at Feinstein's at the Nikko hoping to get a better sense of just who she is as a performer. Having seen her show, I have to say that I'm still not quite clear on that point. What I can confirm is that de Waal possesses a flexible soprano with a thrilling high belt, an ingratiating stage presence and a gleefully irreverent sense of humor.

She has also come up with an intriguingly original theme for her show - the realization that while life provides us with intoxicating highs and devastating lows, sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. As the titular star of the quickly-shuttered Diana, the Musical, which brought de Waal rave reviews on Broadway and a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress for the filmed version, the woman definitely knows whereof she speaks. Her theme is also one that we can all easily relate to these days as we toggle between joy at being able to attend live performances again and hopelessness as we witness the daily horrors being perpetrated against the people of Ukraine.

This is not a standard-issue recap of de Waal's career highlights or just a compendium of her favorite showtunes. Her opening number, a jaunty "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" gives a pretty clear indication of what the show's about, and her second number, "When I Get Low, I Get High," seals the deal. In her extensive between-song patter, de Waal revels in her recent Razzie nomination and shares various tales from her career with exceedingly good humor. She has a nice rapport with the audience and deftly trades quips with them on the fly. While de Waal deserves high marks for understanding the intimate artform of cabaret - this never feels like a staged concert - the show still seems like it's trying to find its way. Her anecdotes, such as a chance meeting with her Wicked director Joe Mantello, are often a little meandering and under-cooked, as though she's aiming for cheeky and dishy, but not fully prepared to go there. Perhaps she just needs more time to work out the material in front of a live audience.

Ably and unobtrusively accompanied by pianist Charlie Savage, de Waal covers a lot of musical territory, including some down and dirty numbers like "Wild Women Don't Get the Blues" that I'm not convinced are a natural fit her. She performs songs as varied as Queen's "Somebody to Love" and that ultimate anthem of showbiz survival "There's No Business Like Show Business" capably enough, but without making either song special or personal. The latter, in particular, would seem ripe for a unique take from de Waal given what she's been through in the past six months. Instead, we get just another pleasantly diverting rendition of a standard.

The most interesting songs in her set are an unexpectedly eerie arrangement of "Pure Imagination" and a down-tempo "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" that shifts from quiet introspection to celebratory anthem by the end. Both numbers are arresting in the way they allow us to hear familiar songs with fresh ears, but it also feels like de Waal is not yet fully connecting with the lyrics. Cabaret is a very tricky thing to pull off, as the forced intimacy of the room gives the performer nowhere to hide. We can tell when a singer is really digging into the emotions underlying their material and when they're just riding the surface.

For fans of her theater work, de Waal throws in an apparently last-minute addition of "The World According to Chris," from Carrie. And, of course, she includes her two best-known numbers from Diana, the Musical: "Underestimated" and as an encore, the 11 o'clock number "If (Light the World)." The latter, in particular, shows what de Waal can do with a song that is tailor-made for her and sits perfectly in her range. Yeah, the lyrics imagining a world where Diana lives on are pure hokum, but she invests them with total commitment. As she rides the ascending melody and soars into the stratosphere, belting out the high notes perfectly on pitch, the effect is absolutely thrilling. So, who knows? Maybe this chameleon of a performer really is Diana after all.

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