Subtitled Classic Songs, Old and New, this third and last evening of the Convention spotlights a cornucopia of performers, material and eras. Exemplifying the point, Artistic Director KT Sullivan,
wearing her opulent velvet wedding dress, opens with James Lyman Malloy’s 1878 “Kerry Dances,” gravitas buoying her soprano. “Mabel Mercer used to sing that song,” she reminds us.

KT Sullivan

Direct from New Zealand, Ali Harper presents a gorgeous “Marieke” in English and Dutch. It’s a visceral appeal to the gods. Someone book this artist, please. (Jacques Brel) With admiration for Steven Lutvak whom he booked at Don’t Tell Mama, Sidney Myer offers the songwriter’s “Bagel Maker to The Czar” in
his inimitable, droll, totally unique fashion. An entertaining  storyteller to his toes. (Tracy Stark-Piano)

Ali Harper, Sidney Myer

This year’s winner of the Adela and Larry Elow High School Competition, Luz Velasquez, performs “Midnight Sun” cheered on by audience from Celia Cruz High School in the Bronx. The vocalist exhales lyrics with superb control and communicates with an audience. She’s ready for prime time.
(Lionel Hampton/ Sonny Burke/Johnny Mercer)

Luz Velasquez; Melissa Errico

At the request of KT Sullivan, Melissa Errico starts with a few (very funny) words academically dissecting her contribution, “The Lady is A Tramp.” Errico holds the microphone and dances, fully inhabiting classy, sexy Mrs. Simpson from Pal Joey, enchanting her audience.  (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)

“Some songs just never get old,” begins Robert Cuccioli. “In My Own Lifetime” from Jerry Bock/Shendon Harnick’s The Rothschilds in which the artist starred at the York Theater, is emotionally compelling from the first phrase. Cuccioli brings solemnity and hope to the weight-bearing song. I want to know we haven’t built on sand…arrives a prayer.

Robert Cuccioli, Amra-Faye Wright, Klea Blackhurst

Amra-Faye Wright can always be depended upon for show woman dazzle. “Where You Are” from
John Kander/Fred Ebb’s Kiss of The Spider Woman, is the song of a desperate prisoner who must
imagine himself in different  circumstances to survive, yet melody and performance are bright and unbuttoned. Wright moves like a dream commandeering the stage. Speaking of commandeering the stage, Klea Blackhurst erupts with a completely reframed “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (Bob Merrill/
Jule Styne). BIG voice, big personality, big determination. The hall sits up straighter. (Michael Rice-Piano)

Steve Doyle, Eric Comstock, Barbara Fasano; Lorna Dallas

Familiarly suave, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano present a Margaret Whiting Tribute showcasing individual as well as symbiotic talents. These two never flag. Performance is warm, respectful, lightly jazzy and authentic. Lorna Dallas’s “Here’s That Rainy Day,” unlike any other you’ll hear, is the original version from Carnival in Flanders, replete with monologue. Setting the scene, she emerges in ripe character, an actress as well as a vocalist. (Johnny Burke/ Jimmy Van Heusen)

At this point one can safely suggest Carole J. Bufford holds the crown for red hot mama cabaret. The performer sashays into “Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Woman” (Rowland Leigh/Richard Addinsell), a seductress
with a sense of humor. She teases, struts, undulates, seethes and lays siege to material. (Ian Herman-Piano) Alexis Cole concocts the dark version of a young singer’s dues-paying struggle with her reimagined “New York, New York” in sepia tones. It works. Drawing the title song, Peter Allen’s
“Everything Old is New Again,” Tim Connell taps (no pun intended) his theater training for jaunty dancing and old-timely inflection. Performance is frothy and charming.

Carole J. Bufford, Alexis Cole, Tim Connell

Also featuring: Rosemary Loar’s inspired combination of “People Will Say We’re in Love” (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II) and “Something to Talk About”(Shirley Eikhard), Julia Parasram’s clear, well calibrated pop song, Craig Pomranz’s wry, parlando “I Always Say Hello to A Flower” (Murray Grand; Michael Roberts-piano), Alex Leonard’s genial “Teach Me Tonight” (Gene De Paul/Sammy Cahn).

Marnie Klar with Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” missing its sass (Steven Ray Watkins-Piano), Stephen Sondheim’s “Ladies Who Lunch” by way of Deborah Stone, alas without sarcasm, Faye Cantaro’s well toned, but expressionless debut, Naathan Phan with magic and song, Celia Berk’s rendition of an Elizabeth Sullivan original (Seoyeon Im-Violin), Arbender Robinson’s deft, arresting “Make Them Hear You” (Stephen Flaherty/ Lynn Ahrens), Paula West with a deconstructed “Like a Rolling Stone” (Bob Dylan; Jerome Jennings – Drums).

See you next year!

Photos by Richard Termine

The 35th Annual Cabaret Convention: Everything Old is New Again
Host – Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation, KT Sullivan
Jon Weber – Piano, Steve Doyle – Bass, Daniel Glass – Drums

October 24, 2024
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall
The Mabel Mercer Foundation