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The ballot is getting shorter and shorter at the MetroStar Talent Challenge. We now have our Top 5 finalists: Alison Nusbaum, Amy Beth Williams, Cindy Marchionda, Janice Hall and T. Oliver Reid. This week their test was to sing three songs, with patter, like a little piece of a show. One of these songs was to be a selection they had performed in the contest before, one was to be a new song and the last was a common song. The common song each performer was to arrange and make their own, was the Beatles’ tune "All You Need Is Love."
Nate Buccieri is the musical director for most evenings of the contest, although he did get some breaks as the singers brought in their own music directors in several cases. They could sing the three songs in the order they thought would best get their story across, with patter, to the audience.
Our regular judges, cabaret reviewers and annual cabaret awards judges Roy Sander and Rob Lester, welcomed our new guest judges for the evening. They were another longtime music journalist, David Hurst, and singers Baby Jane Dexter and Klea Blackhurst, both of whom have Metropolitan Room runs on their resume. That brassy belter, Klea Blackhurst, started off the show with a bang, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer’s 1951 Academy Award-winning "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Then she went on to impress me with Gypsy’s "Everything's Coming Up Roses." Having played Mazeppa, the “bump-it-with-a-trumpet” gladiator stripper three times, I know my Gypsy, and I know how hard those songs are to sing, and they fit absolutely perfectly into her range. I'd love to see her Mama Rose! She delivered her songs with ease. Baby Jane Dexter did not sing, but every time I see her, I just want her to sing my favorite arrangement of hers, "Everybody Hurts" to me.
Every single one of the contestants seemed nervous this week. I tried not to bother them too much before the show with my questions. 
They were vocalizing a little more than usual, they were going through lyrics over and over again in their heads. Alison Nusbaum admitted to me she was worried about remembering her words. Learning two new songs this week was a lot of pressure. Alison has a dry, laid-back and subtle type of humor that really translates well on stage. She came on this week acting as if she were drunk, and sang "As We Stumble Along" from The Drowsy Chaperone. She even brought a drink with her up to the piano, took a break in between rhyming words, and drank the entire thing. She had the audience rolling with laughter. In her patter, she talked a lot about having jobs in piano bars, and how partying used to be a big part of her life, but now, she has stopped drinking as much, and is getting healthy. She has recently lost over 30 pounds! I asked her what her secret was, and she told me that she used ediets.com. Fresh Direct sends you food and it is delicious. Now, she does Weight Watchers and loves it. Maybe I should try some of that. You can never be too healthy! I thought she did a great job with focus and connecting to the audience this week, especially on her common song. Then she did "Change It" from 9 to 5 as her new song. Rob Lester commented that she personalized the songs and told the story. David Hurst said he liked the way she approached the common song, adding an underscoring of John Lennon’s "Imagine" in the piano line.
Janice Hall looked absolutely gorgeous this week. She came in wearing a burgundy-colored velvet gown, and burgundy rhinestone heels, looking elegant and refined. Her attire went perfectly with her song selections, and Klea Blackhurst mentioned that she “fit the genre” of her song selections well. Baby Jane Dexter loved the “colors” of her voice. Janice brought along the lovely and talented Mark Janas, who helped to arrange her Beatles song, to play for her. She started out with "When the World Was Young" (“Ah, the Apple Trees”), and then followed it by a very clever arrangement of a French song, with her pianist speaking line-by-line English translation for comic effect. An opera singer, Janice lived in Europe for years and is used to singing in various languages, but sometimes in the cabaret world, it is difficult to hear music in a foreign tongue. Then, “All You Need is Love” was bookended by "Happiness Runs." It made the song very fun and I wanted to bounce up and down in my seat.
This week, the person who made me cry was Amy Beth Williams. She actually opened the show this week, and she said it was kind of a
relief, as in the past few shows, she has been near the end and having to wait around was stressful. She was excited to be first so she could enjoy an adult beverage and listen to her fellow contestants. Amy Beth is really great at thinking on her feet. She came on stage right after Klea had performed her number from Gypsy and referenced the often-repeated line from the script, saying, "Hello, everybody! My name is Amy Beth. What's yours?" We all got a good laugh out of it. She said she had patter prepared, but she just couldn't resist. She started by singing, "Why Can't I Forget?" which was beautiful. And before going into “All You Need is Love,” I thought it was nice that she acknowledged Metropolitan Room for showing all of the contestants so much love. I know every time I go in there, they make me feel special and welcome. And then, she had to sing a song that makes me cry EVERY TIME I hear it, "I Won't Mind." It was touching, moving, endearing, and tender, loving and sweet. Roy Sander said that he really enjoyed the fact that he could see her thinking and experiencing everything as she was singing it in the lyrics, as if for the first time. She really touched me this week.
You've got to love spicy Cindy Marchionda. This petite flower, always decked out in a fabulous pair of heels, can sing like she's ten feet tall and has a personality to match. She opened with Randy Newman’s "Short People," her repeat song, which is hilarious. She then went into a sensitive and kindhearted arrangement of the assigned Beatles piece, then wrapped up the evening by telling us a story about going to the dentist. Cindy explained to us that she had gone to her dentist for a routine check-up and discovered, by the time she left his office, that she was in need of a huge amount of dental work. "Long John Blues" was the double entendre story of the perfect and very tall dentist she found to fix her mouth, shoot her up with Novocaine and make her feel oh, so good. Cindy is so comfortable on stage, it is like she's just sitting there, talking to you in your living room. Roy Sander said that for her Beatles song arrangement, he wished she would have focused on the verse more than the "love" chorus, because the lyrics in the verse had more meaning. Klea Blackhurst said that she loved Cindy's energy and sense of fun, and that she thought she had good exciting changes in the common song. As an audience member, I liked it because it was different than the others before it, and also because she was very connected to the lyric.
The last man standing is T. Oliver Reid. I walked into the Metropolitan Room, and there he was, with his hot tea and banana from Starbucks.
This past Sunday, the night before the Monday competition, was T's birthday. I asked him if he had had fun and what he ended up doing to celebrate. He told me he had spent the day with friends and went out for a nice dinner and tried not to drink too many margaritas. Every year, his grandmother, who is now 86 years old, calls and leaves a message on his phone, singing her little Timmy a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday." He played the voicemail message into the mic. Musicianship runs in the family. He spoke about how important family is, how growing up in the South, he was taught to say please and thank you, and how special those times were for him. He performed an excellent arrangement of "All You Need is Love," which his musical director Larry Yurman helped him to arrange. It had a really powerful build and Rob Lester had said that he’s always shown a great command of his vocal instrument, but tonight was by far the night he connected most with the audience. He was more relaxed and more himself. Then, he did one of my favorite arrangements of "I Can't Make You Love Me," written by a different Mr. Reid – Mike Reid—with Allen Shamblin, and popularized by Bonnie Raitt. He did it in MY key, again. His falsetto just floats above the room, and his use of musicality and dynamics really helped show his emotion. Klea Blackhurst said she loved him and he had great arrangements. T talked about turning the Big 4-0, and said he looks good because he moisturizes (me too, T!). He wrapped up the show with "Feelin’ Good" by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, and by the end of the night, we all were.
I loved seeing each artist’s take on the common song this week. It is such a learning experience for me to see how many different ways a song can be performed and made new again. That's what cabaret is all about. Don't miss next week! Make your reservations early for the final night of the MetroStar Talent Challenge, this coming Monday, August 30 --- when we crown the 2010 MetroStar! That winner gets an all-expenses-paid run at the club, recorded on CD, with the second and third-place contestants providing an opening set. Good luck, everyone!
SEE www.MetropolitanRoom.com for info and reservations for all the shows at this popular club on West 22 Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. For more on our writer, a MAC-nominated singer and former MetroStar contestant herself, see www.KathleenFrance.com
CATCH-UP ON CABARET is made possible via the generosity of Jamie deRoy and friends
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