Review: MARSHALL JENNINGS' BEFORE THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON Presented by The Tesseract Theatre Company

There are many opinions about cabaret performing and what it takes to create a compelling performance. Broadway veterans employ directors and music arrangers to craft a show that is engrossing, filled with humor, and builds an emotional bond with their audience. These performers have the luxury of visible professional careers with built-in fan bases who relish hearing the back stories of their work, and clamor to hear the songs from the shows they’ve performed in on Broadway. At a minimum, a cabaret show must be more than a set with random comments in between the songs. In this intimate setting, a compelling and interesting story that connects the audience to the performer is a requirement. Which begs the question, can a performer without a vast resume of renowned professional credits build the type of performance that will connect an audience leaving them with a visceral emotional reaction? That answer is yes! 

On Saturday evening, St. Louis professional actor Marshall Jenning took the stage at High-Low Literary Arts Cafe to debut his one-man show “BEFORE THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON.” Collaborating with his music director, arranger, and accompanist Zach Neumann, and The Tesseract Theatre Company’s Kevin Corpuz and Brittanie Gunn, Jennings has built a show that is charming, side-splitting, and completely relatable. “BEFORE THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON” is one Millennial’s coming-of-age story that has multi-generational appeal. Even this stodgy baby-boomer critic found himself laughing aloud and singing along with Jenning’s carefully selected song set that fit seamlessly into his story.  

Jennings took the stage and playfully launched into an extended version of the Toys ‘R Us jingle to establish the decade of his childhood. He told stories of his friendships, his favorite childhood TV shows, his first crushes as a boy, a magical first kiss (at least for him,) and the maturation that resulted in his growing appreciation for his mother. Every story had the audience reminiscing back to their childhood as Jennings walked the room down his personal memory lane with sharp comedic timing.  

Jennings is an artist; his carefully crafted narrative was supported by unexpected arrangements of music from a variety of genres. His song set included showtunes, pop music and rap. Highlights included a lush rendition of “For Forever” from DEAR EVAN HANSEN, Tina Turner’s “The Best,” and Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” Jennings told the audience, “I’m singing Prince because he was my Momma’s favorite.” But it was his magnificently arranged melancholic delivery of Walk The Moon’s “Shut up and Dance with Me” that proved Jennings can hook an audience and break their heart all at the same time. It was the moment of his show that was, to borrow the lyrics from Tina Turner’s song, simply the best.    

BEFORE THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON was a grand surprise. It is a polished solo show with a lot of laughs and an immense amount of heart. Jennings’ completely original take on cabaret performing is part storytelling and part standup comedy, that was supported by precisely arranged music that perfectly fit his narrative. This coming-of-age cabaret played more like a carefully crafted musical with a cast of one. Let’s hope that there will be encore performances of BEFORE THE STREET LIGHTS COME ON so this wonderful show can find a larger audience.