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Mention the word “Cabaret” even to people who don’t frequent cabaret rooms, or drop the word into the search box at YouTube, and the first thing that comes up might simply be the song “Cabaret” by Kander and Ebb. I guess I shouldn’t exactly be surprised that I heard it twice within a few minutes, in two different rooms, near the end of a marathon Saturday night I spent at the West 46^th Street cabaret/piano bar/restaurant Don’t Tell Mama.

 

After more than three hours of unflagging good spirits (including the kind they pour), it was, appropriately, the very last number of dozens played and sung by a delightful performer-host named Colte Julian, who has great musical chops and charm galore in Our Way, Your Way, Broadway, the show-tunes-only piano bar festivities held in the back room on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Two distaff staff sang as well, and were well worth the listen. Audience members are welcome to get up on stage, or to sing along from their seats. Many did, happily and heartily. Once I emerged, I heard the same song in the front room, where they mix plenty of pop and rock ‘n roll with the show tunes. On the stage, was a well-dressed, gray-haired man named Harry, who I’m told is a regular doing his irregular regular routine, extolling the virtues about how “Life is a cabaret, old chum, come to the cabaret.” Nearing 2am, there the super-energetic, wide-eyed fellow was, literally jumping up and down, waving his arms like a man possessed, and dropping to the floor at the point where the lyric refers to death, acting out the song and going for broke. It made Liza Minnelli’s vibrant performance of it in the film and decades of concert versions, seem almost mellow.

It was a night of not quite six degrees of separation, when KT Sullivan was singing a few songs Liza’s done, including one from The Rink, where Chita Rivera played her character’s mama. But this was Don’t Tell Mama, where Liza’s real mama, Judy Garland, is brought back to sequined life by veteran impersonator Tommy Femia, and KT was the latest in a series of guests. Of course, the club itself was named after the title of a song in the original Broadway score of Cabaret, though “Don’t Tell Mama,” about the girl “working in a nightclub in a pair of lacy pants” didn’t make it into the movie. The closest thing I saw to lacy pants was longtime DTM staff member George Sanders, trading his apron with the notorious painted-on member, for a tutu (yes, a ballerina’s tutu and orange boxer shorts) for one of his own outrageous naughty bits, specialties for cavorts. The wonderfully strong-voiced David Foley, Jr., who is often the co-host for the show tunes piano bar, had remained in the front room.  He was behind the bar looking wide awake when I left, just as he was when I arrived around 8pm and caught his impressive, vigorous and energizing rendition of “Walking in Memphis.” It was a cool detour on my way to Memory Lane, via a certain yellow brick road, to get a gander at Garland.

“JUDY”

Imagine, if you will, that Judy Garland drops in from “The Other Side,” every other Saturday night to revive several of her famous songs, and herself and her adoring fans. The amusing shenanigans of her fellow dearly departed famous folk are described in the “Home Sweet Heaven,” a wit-filled delectable from the musical High Spirits. It brings a whole new meaning to that last line in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” The stage at Don’t Tell Mama has been home for this artist for a long time now. Tommy’s been doing this for twenty years (!), which is half the length of time the real Judy’s been gone-but-not-forgotten. If he keeps it up, he may be Judy Garland longer than Judy Garland was Judy Garland. And why not? It’s a crowd-pleasing mix of mocks, moxy and Xerox. You get the signature songs and the absorbed tics and tricks, applied to material written after Garland died. Trotted out to good Garlandized effect, are latter-day numbers like “The Greatest Love of All” and Follies’ “I’m Still Here.” It’s the real litmus test of someone in this field who can go beyond being a copycat or just catty with the quips.

With knowing humor, pathos and trademark gestures and vocal mannerisms, Femia does his take on the legend. Early on, with a verbatim Judy interview bit, he dissed one of the pesky, horny Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz and groused about a special mini-Oscar (Munchkin-size) awarded. Later, without jokes, perhaps inevitably, there was an affecting version of the movie’s “Over the Rainbow,” including the introductory verse the real Garland includes neither in her original, nor many later renditions. In between, Judy alternated between razzle-dazzle and frazzled nerve endings. Spoken asides were often a hoot, entering with a second, darker shiny outfit in contrast to the earlier bright red one, the comment was, “This was once part of Liza’s communion dress.” A brief problem with the microphone and a waiter bringing drinks to a ringside table were smoothly incorporated into the act. Talk and powerhouse vocals were appreciated by a responsive crowd. By chance, I ended up at the table next to a smiling, attentive trio, who turned out to be the performer’s brother and parents, very proud and very entertained.

As an extra added attraction, KT Sullivan graced the stage with vivaciousness and versatility. After the comical “My Husband’s First Wife,” and remarking that her own husband had one, she shared the memory of Femia singing at her wedding reception. She did some songs that Liza Minnelli fans know, crossed her musical paths. But KT didn’t mention that, she just sang sublimely. Liza-philes know that early on she played the female character in The Fantasticks, and KT did a medley of that score’s “Much More” and Kander and Ebb’s “Colored Lights,” which Minnelli sang on Broadway in The Rink. It was a sublime performance, full of yearning and wistfulness; a touch of regret mixed with determination.  Tech director Randy Lester, doing an excellent job throughout the show, added real visual theatricality with just the right amount of stunning, flashing real colored lights at just the right climactic times. The two performers then took on the contrapuntal duet of “Get Happy” and “Happy Days Are Here Again,” memorably done by Garland on her TV show when an early-career Barbra Streisand was the guest, and soon after used in the duo concert by Judy and Liza at The London Palladium. KT, who has a new CD coming out, Timeless Tunes: Etched in Granite, seemed game for anything in this game of pretend banter and real talent. And speaking of being game, there’s skillful, ready-for-anything Christopher Denny at the piano, smiling as the star keeps calling him by the name of the longtime Garland conductor, Mort Lindsey. It’s all a playful, savvy, dishy, perhaps Twilight Zone-esque, but ultimately affectionate trip to another time and place.  Upcoming guests are Chuck Sweeney as Peggy Lee and Time Out New York’s sly, smart writer, and occasional singer, Adam Feldman.      

AND NOW, MORE ABOUT THAT SHOW TUNE-FILLED SATURDAY & TUESDAY OPEN MIC/PIANO BAR

One can’t “review” a piano bar where the singing customers and “requests-welcome” staff are ready to wing it. That’s a big part of the appeal. Here are just some impressions of one particularly enjoyable night, January 16. You’ll find different Don’t Tell Mama musical employees holding down the fort and entertaining. The amount of audience participation and their experience/comfort level will vary. It’s the luck of the draw, but it’s becoming a pretty big draw! Those who prefer musical theatre material more than anything, should head for the back room on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

It doesn’t take a detective to figure out pretty quickly that host Colte Julian (a new talent to me) is far, far more than some casual ivory-tickler who can sing and knows a lot of songs and can sight-read others. I wasn’t surprised to learn that his training and experience are in musical theatre performance and acting. He’ll soon be going into a regional production of Rent. He’s tops. Though never intrusive, and knowing how to vary the energy and types of songs and eras, he doesn’t coast or show off, but he hits those notes and sings without fuss, so that no one gets lost if they know how the number goes on the cast album. Like KT Sullivan, he hails from the state of Oklahoma, and sang the title song from the musical called…well, you know. Instantly likeable, Colte put patrons at their ease when they wanted to sing, and obligingly was ever-ready to pinch-hit when they forgot some words. No big deal for this supportive fellow who knows his job and knows his stuff. He has a few funny anecdotes about performing on cruise ships, and it was smooth sailing with him all night.

The other staff there, multi-tasking as singers and providing drinks (as in the front bar), were the warm, winning, oh-so-right Angie McKnight and Kristina Culotta, with a lotta good brass in her belt. All three ended up singing something from the pen of Jason Robert Brown, who, once upon a time, was house pianist at this venue.

Throughout the attitude-free evening, we got a mix of everything from old classics to recent fare like Wicked, to old pop hits that were included in jukebox musicals like Jersey Boys, from the staff and willing customers. Some were chattier in the beginning, and at times it got a little noisy with all the conversing as the room filled up. But it’s always so interesting to watch how a mixed group can suddenly quiet down when they realize what’s there is too good to talk over. Watch a crowd quickly hush and lean in when someone has an especially captivating voice, song or personality. Ya never know. Many stayed for a very long time. That tells you a lot.

By the way, I didn’t see any of the “usual suspects” I run into at other open mics, plugging their upcoming shows, not that there’s anything wrong with that!!! There were some who were probably theatre students with numbers they’ve auditioned with, and clearly some “normal people” who kind of like Broadway and sort of know some of the stuff, willing to chime in, ready or not. Some needed a little coaxing, and got up to put the “your way” in Broadway. After witnessing Colte’s big glass tip bowl being passed around for paper money in thanks, a plucky fellow named Adam jokingly held up his small drink glass and asked the others to throw in a coin because he had tolls to pay on the long drive beyond Manhattan. At the end, I would not have flinched if the seemingly tireless staff or lingering listeners called out the aforementioned Judy Garland’s concert comment when multiple requests also flew through the air: “I’ll sing ‘em all, and we’ll stay all night!”

VENUE WEBSITE:  www.donttellmamanyc.com

Tuesdays, show tune open mic begins at 9:30P.M.; Saturdays at 10:30. But every night is piano bar night in the front room with a mix of genres, so anything can be on the bill… like songs that might have been sung by Billy Joel or Billy Bigelow, Billy Elliot, Billy Eckstine, Billy Corgan, Billy Idol or maybe even some hillbilly.

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