With David Maiocco and Bill E. Nelson
Don't Tell Mama's
Wednesday May 1, 2002
This is one of those shows were everything works to create a highly entertaining evening. Page is charming and warm with a voice to match and she has chosen material which suits her well. An added bonus is having David Maiocco as her musical director and accompanist along with Karen Mack's tight direction.
Page opens with the title song, "First Person Singular" which she and David wrote. It's country-pop flavor sets a nice energy which carries through the rest of the performance. There's a "strong woman" quality to her persona with a touch of humor and a good deal of energy.
Along with a number of standards, Page explores the music of new songwriters; a vulnerable but strong reading of Tim DiPasqua' "Maybe You Didn't Hear Me", an extremely funny "Haiku" by Mary Liz McNamara, an uptempo John Loudermilk's "You Call It Jogging (I Call It Running Around)" and an intense but humorous "The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis Of a Co-Ed" by Dar Williams. It's nice to hear Dar's songs turning up more often in Cabaret venues.
There are three more Wednesdays in May to, catch Page's show and I high recommend you see this show.
MJN On Line
=========================================================================
WALK THIS WORLD:
Don't Tell Mama's
Saturday August 10, 2002
with Guest Vocalists: Diane D'Angelo, Andi Hopkins, Anne Steele,
Jonathan Tomaselli, Steven Ray Watkins, Lennie Watts and of course Tracy
Stark. Directed by Lennie Watts
It seems in recent months, New York has been treated to cabaret shows which are "big events"! By this I mean, shows which are elaborate and theatrical, harking back to that glorious period of the 50's and 60's when revues were common place on the New York entertainment scene. Many of these current shows boast of large casts and of staging beyond just the traditional singer, mic and a spotlight. While not as quite as elaborate as Lenny Watt's recent GIVE MY REGARDS, Tracy's songbook show certainly makes full use of Don't Tell Mama's space and boasts of a large pool of talented singers, 6 in all.
The show itself is a wonderful overview of both some of Tracy's older songs and many of her more recent ones. Lenny Watt's has kept the pace smooth and moves the large numbers of singers easily around the backroom at DTM's. There is a wonderful energy to the whole evening and Tracy, bare foot and relaxed, makes a gracious hostess while intensely playing for the singers, many of whom have thrilled audiences with their own solo shows.
This is an excellent chance to hear new, contemporary songs which run the gamut from sweet, gentle love ballads to spirited gospel-like anthems, with a novelty or two thrown into the mix. The show moves with ease between these different styles and keeps the audience's attention through out. Each performer has their moment or two and Tracy shines as she pounds on the keyboard and occasionally taking the spot light to sing one of her own songs.
From the opening number, "Walk This Way", with the entire cast's high energy appearance, right to moving encore, "You Gave That To Me" sung by Tracy and the choir with Steven Ray Watkins taking ove the piano, there is not a misstep in the pace or direction. Earlier Tracy sang the intimate and beautiful "Portrait", which seemed so right after the powerful duet of "Child Of the Light" featuring the voices of Lenny Watts and Steven Ray Watkins.
Except for the encore, Steven was in front of a mic and out from behind the piano, showing he not only has legs
Ride".
Andi handled her songs with intimacy and grace and was especially warm, sitting on the front table, singing "Fluffy World". Diane D'Angelo and Anne Steele were both sensational. Diane has one of the most beautiful voice around and Anne can belt a song with such ease one wonders why she isn't seen more often. Diane brought a great deal of warmth and tenderness to "Let Love In" and "Memory To Wear" while Ann nearly brought the house down with her powerful "Woman On the Stage".
The vocal harmony of the singers were also used to great advantage, both as backup and in a couple of "trio" numbers, as in the "big-bandish" sounding "The Only One" with the women taking on an Andrew Sisters quality. The men had their moment with a highly entertaining novelty number, "Coffee", an ode to a caffeine attack, replete with those Greek coffee cups so often used in New York delis.
There is only one more performance on Saturday, August 17th - 7:30pm at Don't Tell Mama's. 343 West 46th St, New York, NY, 212.757.0788, $15 cover ($10 MAC) and 2 drink minimum. A MUST-SEE!!! Tracy did say she is hoping to extend the show into this Fall, but don't wait!!
Tracy's web site:
http://www.tracystark.com
MJN On Line
==========================================================================
Michael Vaccaro
with Tracy Stark
Don't Tell Mama's
October, 2002
For sheer fun and light hearted entertainment, very little would have beat Michael Vaccaro's BACK TO BROADWAY! With the able help of his musical director, Tracy Stark, Michael took his audience on a slightly skewed trip through the "not-so-hallowed" halls of the Broadway songbook.
Songs from many great shows, MAME, HAIR, THE WIZ, THE BEST LITTLE WHORE HOUSE, to name a few, were a backdrop to Michael hilarious patter... especially funny were the LA theatre ones or his "twisted crush on Debbie Reynolds" which led him to the edges of Las Vegas.
There were also wonderful moments of pure theatrics, such as the lighting for his Peter Allen moment, "My Name Up In Lights" or the rousing tap dance of the encore's "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat" from FUNNY GIRL.
Watch for Michael to return with either an encore of this show or very possibly, an all new show this Spring.
MJN On Line
=========================================================================
Lennie Watts
With Steven Ray Watkins David Maiocco and Joe Mowatt
Don't Tell Mama's
Sunday April 14th, 2002
www.lenniewatts.com
If I still did a "Top Ten" list of shows, this wouldm surely be in it. In fact at this point in the year, it would be Number One. Lennie Watts has put together a perfect blend of cabaret and theatrics into an evening filled with laughter, pathos and sheer entertainment, which never falters.
The show has real structure. It opens with a stirring Overture, which pays homage to a wonderful range of Broadway shows, played by his "orchestra", musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano, David Maiocco on keyboard and Joe Mowatt on drums. With Lennie, back to the audience, conducting them, the audience get a sense that this evening will be a little different. Soon Lennie turns and starts his opening Broadway medley, put together with 42ND STREET's "Lullaby of Broadway", GEORGE M's ''Give My Regards to Broadway" and SMOKEY JOE's "On Broadway".
Lennie's stories set-up each theatre song perfectly and while causing almost uncontrollable laughter, they are also heartbreaking. In lesser hands these stories could seem bitter, lost opportunities, but Lennie always keeps his sense of humor and he is realistic about life's disappointments. thus making some of the stories even more heartbreaking for the listener. So while laughing at the hilarious, the absurd and occasionally the wicked, there are real glimpses into his heart and soul.
With comparisons to Stubby Kaye, there are songs one would expect (ie. GUYS AND DOLL's "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat") but the evening is filled with the unexpected also. I imagine there were few dry eyes when Lennie finished "Something Wonderful" from the KING AND I nor who were not thrilled after a soaring "Circle of Life" from the LION KING, swelling with the voices of his six back-up singers, Julie Corbett Leon, Karen Mack, Anne Steele, Deb Rascoe, Eric Pickering, Amy Wolk and Randy Lester, who filled the room with harmony.
And his medley, OKLAHOMA's "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" surprisingly, and beautifully, coupled with PIPPIN's Morning Glow" is amazing. And his deeply moving "Human Heart" makes me glad there are two productions of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND happening in New York soon.
Lennie captures the frustrations of performers' auditions and translates his stories into a deeply moving "God Bless the Other 99" while sharing with his talented group of back-up singers which he uses to great effect through out the evening. And I do not think I've ever heard a funnier back-stage tale then that of Lennie's experiences with the American and Korean cast of THE WIZARD OF OZ in Korea.
This is one of those rare evenings when everything works seamlessly and one leaves the cabaret room knowing that this is what it should always be, a perfect cabaret experience which is also perfect theater. The final haunting image of the lights dimming with Lennie almost whispering "...I had a dream", lingers.
The show will be encored this Fall at Don't Tell Mama's. I would love to see this expanded slightly and moved to a small intimate theatre space and also recorded.
MJN On Line
