Another fresh idea has taken form at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Starting this past summer and continuing into November, the club has presented a series of one-night concerts featuring Broadway’s leading voices. Among them, in September: Christine Andreas, who starred in productions of My Fair Lady, Oklahoma and The Scarlet Pimpernel. “I just wanted to have a roomful of people to sing to,” she told the full house, and, in a voice combining hints of champagne and red wine, proceeded to captivate the audience with a program of standards and show songs. Accompanied on the piano and accordion by musical director Martin Silvestri, Christine, informal, chatting with the audience, yet with theater-honed presence, was radiant and riveting. Among her numbers: such popular songs as “Alfie,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “My Heart Stood Still,” plus Broadway show-stoppers including “On a Clear Day,” “I Could have Danced All Night” and “Send In the Clowns.” The show’s peak: the soaring “Storybook,” which Christine had sung in one of her signature roles as Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel. The series has been another of Phil Geoffrey Bond’s innovative steps to expand the concept of cabaret and attract new audiences. 

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
September 15, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org