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Lynne Halliday at the Laurie Beechman Theater
A whole show of torch songs? You might think it sounds ultra-depressing,
but there’s no need to come to the Laurie Beechman Theater early and scout for
the seat nearest the emergency exit because you are afraid it will be
unbearably maudlin. Not to worry. It won’t drive you to drink, although of
course there is a two-drink minimum, so it’s the right night to do “One for My
Baby” (And One More for the Road) which Lynne Halliday does---and does
well. But with this efficient chanteuse
singing, you won’t be mired in misery and maudlin moping.
The show has no relation or shared repertoire to her CD titled The Mood I’m In, and though the mood she’s in with these songs can’t be described as upbeat, it’s a no-nonsense show with a gracious and likeable lady as hostess for our torch tour. I first encountered Lynne, an attractive, slim redhead, several years ago at the York Theatre, where she was in the small-cast revue Porterphiles, singing little-known Cole Porter songs with energy and care. She’s still a gracious presence. I wish the treatments of a few of the songs took more chances with interpretation and phrasing, tempo, or arrangement. Though very competent and likeable, they don’t veer much from the standard issue on standards. .
Lynne evokes the sadness and loneliness when she chooses, but this is not one cry of despair after another. For that, they might need a two-Prozac minimum instead and have the staff mop up the floors after the show because of all the tears, and we might all be too weak to move at the end of the show, and that staircase down to the lovely Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Café is a bit steep to be pulling people out in stretchers. Besides, with “Why Was I Born?” as your second number, you can’t—or don’t have to--- top it for lamentation maximum potential. Lynne’s show is actually sufficient with variety in style. She uses the category of torch songs as a reference point, and finds different ways of examining the genre, and wisely finds humor and her spoken set-ups allow some songs to be used more as demonstrations of the category, rather than a chance to rant and rave and wonder why the damn guy doesn’t love her anymore (or ever). With a pretty voice and showing restraint and taste, she takes on the gloom and doom with Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind,” and standards like “Fools Rush In” (Where Angels Fear to Tread), by Rube Bloom and Johnny Mercer. Examining the feelings one has when a love affair leads to a relationship being surprisingly or abruptly severed (commonly known as being dumped), there is more than just sorrow. Lynne chooses songs about the different stages of grief or acceptance that things aren’t going as planned: frustration, with the sarcastic “A Fine Romance,” and dips into denial with “I Get Along Without You Very Well” (Except Sometimes), and adds rage to that with “I Don’t Remember Christmas.” Some of her best moments involve humor, with comical rage in the country hit of proposed revenge, “Before He Cheats.”
“Usually a torch song is sung by the person carrying the torch. This time it’s sung by the one who lit the match,” is a line she uses as an introduction typical of her smart and efficient patter, and a way of presenting different sides of the coin. Though sometimes I’d like to see Lynne get off the fence and get more theatrically into one of the really sad pieces, or use a more subtle approach in her songs of denial, her show is refreshing and not at all self-aggrandizing. There’s something fresh and bright about her. At the piano is her musical director, David Brunetti, who also did the CD with her. They work well together, and they seem to share a certain modesty of approach, avoiding embellishments and tricks.
Link to her CD: http://cdbaby.com/cd/lynnehalliday/from/tblink
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