A lightly-packed house can go one of two ways for a cabaret artist; at best it can either cause a groundswell of enthusiastic support from the small crowd gathered, or it can become a virtual snoozefest for all. Given the ghastly and snowy weather pounded forth upon New York several days prior to this writing, it was unsurprising that vocalist Wendy Lane Bailey did, in fact, have an audience that was far below capacity, at the Metropolitan Room on February 27th. However, both she and her self-titled show, though not completely without scant shortcomings, proved that the lady is nothing if not a consummate crowd-pleaser.

The legendary folk-comedy duo of David Buskin and Robin Batteau have, for nearly four decades, captivated all manner of audience in every venue imaginable, up to and including their unforgettable appearance in the late Mary Travers' folk music seminar at the New School For Social Research in 1986, which also featured Odetta, Richie Havens, Judy Collins and, of course, Peter Paul & Mary. It was, therefore, no surprise to the capacity crowd that gathered at the Metropolitan Room on January 22nd to see the team as part of the Jamie deRoy and Friends series, that the two still manage to assume their place on each and every stage, regardless of size, as though they were about to appear before half a million spectators at Woodstock.