There was certainly no rain in the forecast for Studio City, CA after Rachel York finished her rousing opener, "Don’t Rain on My Parade" at Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's. Describing a childhood of moving from city to city, York declared that singing was the one constant in her life. As a 19 year-old newcomer to New York ,with those years of singing as a foundation, she was able to land a lead role in City of Angels. Following her powerful rendition of her solo number from the show, "Lost and Found," she demonstrated her jazz chops doing the audition song that got her that job, Ella Fitzgerald’s scat arrangement of "Blue Lou." Tracing another momentous event in her life, she described how starring in a regional musical theatre production of Summer of '42 in Houston led to her meeting her future husband, who played her own-stage husband in the production. To commemorate that occasion, she offered up "Losing Track of Time" from that show.

On a lighter side, she had fun with the word play on Barbara Schottenfeld’s "I Want You to Be" and hilariously dished the dirt about her experiences performing in Victor/Victoria contrasting the Julie Andrews and Liza performances complete with a right-on vocal demonstration.

All the ingredients for a delightful cabaret show were there and York mixed them to perfection. Moving from a scripted beginning, she loosened up during the performance and fully connected with the appreciative crowd.

Rachel York appears at Feinstein's at Loews Regency Oct. 14 & 15.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
September 15, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org