When Beverly Cosham sings a song like “The Way He Makes Me Feel,” it’s a transporting experience. Not only is it a great voice and the clear telling of a story, but Cosham also injects a strong point of view of someone falling in love despite herself. This creates a totally captivating three minutes.

Cosham’s show, I Wish You Love, has songs that cut a wide swath in illustrating emotions related to love whether celebratory (“At Last”), sensual (“I’ve Got You Under My Skin”), soaring (“All the Things You Are”), or even playful (“Rhode Island Is Famous For You”).

In this outing, Cosham is working for the first time with music director David Ylvisaker. As someone who has been critical of Cosham’s arrangements, I am very happy that she is seeking new musical influences. The two still seem to be getting used to each other – occasionally keys and tempos seemed to be up for negotiation, and Ylvisaker often didn’t quite seem to understand the segues from patter to song that Cosham was trying to achieve. However, the dynamism and “live”-ness of the resulting performance more than made up for a lack of seamlessness.

Michael Miyazaki
Cabaret Scenes
September 18, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org