Stacy Sullivan's show was as much a party as it was a cabaret show. The room was filled with friends, family and other Sullivan enthusiasts who had seen Stacy, her mother and her siblings perform alone and together the previous two days at venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, the Hideaway Room @ Helen's, and Birdland. The late show at the Metropolitan Room was Stacy's time to shine solo, and with Tedd Firth at the piano and Mathew Schneider on bass, she made the most of it.

Vivacious and outgoing, the California visitor was ecstatic. "Ten-thirty on a Thursday night!" she exclaimed joyously as she looked at an almost full room. "That doesn’t happen in L.A."

Blessed with a come-hither voice, Sullivan also possesses a wry sense of humor. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," delivered in a down-home Oklahoma twang contrasting with city-bred pronunciations, was a special treat. Her songs varied, from Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's "How Little We Know," to Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate." Sullivan was in top form with the title song of her new CD, Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken's "Cold Enough to Snow," and she provided beautiful renditions to a couple of heartstring-tuggers, Amanda McBroom's "Dreaming," and "Just Another Tuesday," Tom Andersen and Tim Di Pasqua's song of a woman who receives a letter from the child she'd given away at birth.

Late at night though it was, Stacy Sullivan was a warmly welcomed visitor to the Big Apple, and her encore handily reflected her gratification as well as that of her Metropolitan Room audience: Blue Skies (smiling at me).

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
March 8, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org