Ryan Raftery’s show, Ryan Raftery and Friends: A Solo Act at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, began without him—visibly, at least.  With the stage dark, the audience heard him, however, talking on a telephone answering machine.  What was heard was a one-sided message to the speaker’s mother.  That gave rise to some amusing and well-targeted mother jokes.  It also made clear that the show is autobiographical, hence its title.  In addition, the paradoxical nature of the title is meant to signal that the audience should expect the unexpected.  A good, not great, very funny and unconventional show followed, with Raftery’s mother in the audience joining in the laughter.  On the whole, its special appeal would be to a young crowd, or one not expecting to hear the Great American Songbook.

When the lights came on, Raftery was on stage singing “I'm Not the Boy Next Door.”   The message was underlined:  He is an original and his originality was characteristic of the mixed nature of the show as a whole, more patter and less singing.  Soon after this song he joked, “We’ve been touring the show in the Mideast [Middle East]” Ten minutes later he followed up with, “We had a layover in Tikrit.”  What world are we in?  The disarrangement was not unintentional.

Raftery has a wonderful imagination and showed himself to be a gifted storyteller.  Having heard Natalie Cole’s hit re-recording of her father, Nat “King” Cole’s, “Unforgettable,” he saw a way of using that song to celebrate his deceased father’s life.  Then he conspicuously placed an urn (supposedly containing his father’s ashes) on the piano and sang to it ”(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” emphasizing the lyrics “I owe it all to you” as he opened the urn and sang to the ashes.  Yes, it was a bit weird, but one can’t say it isn’t imaginative.  Raftery was accompanied on the piano by his Musical Director Danny Lincoln, who at times sang with him, and Jeremy Yaddow on drums.

The most spectacular bit in the show came in the impersonation section.  First came his pleasing impersonation of James Taylor singing “Suzanne.” However, his rendition of Tina Turner singing “Proud Mary” was a seismic shock.  Every part of Raftery was moving and shaking to the point of sensational parody. Experiencing that was worth the price of admission alone.

Raftery ended the show with a section about his father, who wanted Ryan to be as crazy about Little League baseball as he was.  But Ryan wanted dancing lessons like his sister.  This part was clearly his own material, autobiographical, and moving.  It had the ring of truth, psychologically speaking.  And his final song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” hit just the right personal note to end the show on, especially given the holiday season.

Gloria Taplin
Cabaret Scenes
December 19, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org