Review: Matthew Scott's THE JESUS YEAR: A LETTER FROM MY FATHER is a Sensational Show Packed with Emotion

The artists who are skilled at cabaret solo performing can string together songs and stories that will keep an audience entertained and laughing throughout their show. Many Broadway veterans have built charming and amusing shows with memorable tunes from musical theatre. Some artists will throw in cover versions of favorite rock, pop and soul songs. Storytelling between the songs is critical to the genre. The artists share anecdotes about the productions they have been in and people they have worked with that are funny, heartwarming, and of interest to their fans. 

On Saturday night at Blue Strawberry Showroom and Lounge, Broadway’s Matthew Scott elevated solo cabaret performing to a new level. In his show, THE JESUS YEAR: A LETTER FROM MY DAD, Scott wove together a tapestry of songs to create the fabric of a story that had the audience hanging on every lyric. He turned a cabaret performance into the equivalent of a one-man operetta as he talked about the letters his father wrote to his four sons prior to his untimely passing when Scott was just 13-years old.  

Scott recounted the life experiences we share with our parents that illicit feelings of happiness, joy, sadness, and grief. While telling his story, Scott shared all the emotions he experienced with his dad in just a single decade. The songs he selected from artists such as Billy Joel, Cat Stevens, Stephen Sondheim, and Ruby and The Romantics were so perfectly aligned to the narrative that one would think they were written specifically for his show.  

Scott was magnificently supported by Vadim Feichtner on piano and guitar. Feichtner’s credits include music direction for productions of FALSETTOS and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNT SPELLING BEE on Broadway. He seamlessly moved from song to song, allowing Scott to drop a bit of narrative both mid-verse and in between songs. His virtuosic performance almost seemed as if he had arranged an entire original score of a new musical. Feichtner even took the opportunity to playfully sing back up on one of Scott’s up-tempo numbers.  

Scott closed his show talking about the responsibility he now feels after becoming a father to his two young boys. This full-circle moment was beautifully capped off by his splendid rendition of “Children Will Listen” from Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS. By that time, the audience had been captivated by the tenor’s perfect pitch, marvelous voice, flawless diction, and masterful storytelling. Matthew Scott’s THE JESUS YEAR: LETTERS FROM MY DAD is a sensational show that is packed with emotion and serves as an outlet for the grief of a man who lost his father at much too young of an age.  

Scott’s recording of THE JESUS YEAR: A LETTER FROM MY DAD is available for purchase as a CD or digital download from PS Classics.  

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