At the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room, Steve Ross talked of four kinds of love: "I was in love, I am in love, I will be in love… and 'New York, New York.'" He then walked to the piano and delivered Stephen Sondheim's own complex interpretation of love, "Losing My Mind," a song of stunning emotion. While Ross has been long associated with the arch sophistication of an earlier era, he has always rendered a particularly compelling version of this Follies song, decades removed from Porter, Astaire and Coward, so it is not surprising to feel the contained compassion in his riveting rendition. He reaches a pinnacle of heartbreak with:

"You said you loved me, Or were you just being kind?"

Ross does not ignore a sampling of Sondheim's more uptempo tunes like "Buddy's Blues," "Broadway Baby" and "Ah, Paris!" from Follies, and "I've Got You to Lean On" from Anyone Can Whistle, but the mood of the evening is thoughtful with interpretive takes on romance. Sondheim's love songs are never merely messages of affection or even obsession. They are intricate and their messages cross ranges of passion.

Steve Ross's arrangements illustrate the Sondheim complications with additional dimensions, like "Losing My Mind" wrapped inside "Sorry-Grateful" from Company. The lyrical combining of "So Many People" (Saturday Night) with the usual operatic, "One More Kiss" (Follies), highlighted the nostalgia in both songs. "With So Little to Be Sure O"f and "Take the Moment" were two wistful segments from two Sondheim shows in the 1960's, Anyone Can Whistle and Do I Hear a Waltz?.

Ross stepped around the piano when he wanted to say some words about Sondheim. His patter was selective and illuminating. Accompanied by the sensitive bass-manship of Brian Cassier, his voice, while not traditionally pretty, is evocative and his musicianship, feeling, and interpretation are at a peak, proven with the plaintive aura of "Send in the Clowns" (A Little Night Music). He included Sondheim's additional lyrics for Barbra Streisand's Back to Broadway album.

Watching Steve Ross is seeing a master rule his craft. These songs were rendered apart from their shows; they were communicative for the occasion, and the cabaret Steve (Ross) bringing the theatrically enigmatic Steve (Sondheim) into the intimacy of the traditional Oak Room, underscores the versatile creativity of these two talents.

Steve Ross opens the 2007-2008 season at the Algonquin Oak with Good Thing Going: Steve Ross Sings Stephen Sondheim on September 4 and runs through September 15.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
September 4, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org