Heather Currie brings good gifts to cabaret. Her Broadway belt is typically heard weekends as she performs as a guest in the ongoing Nitz/Howe experience. In her debut solo cabaret, Currie sings with a big Crayola box of vocal colors ranging from bold to delicate pastels. It is easy to connect to her genuine, unpretentious personality. On pure talent, Currie has a bright future in cabaret. The premise of the show is one to which many of us can relate: putting on pretend shows of favorite songs in our parents’ parlors wearing whatever “costume” made us feel like a star. (In Currie’s case, the pink nightie with bell sleeves and butterflies.) Currie’s connection is mainly songs from the seventies. She could, however, have taken us deeper into her journey, explaining more as to why she connected with particular songs and still does. Her “Blue Bayou” is languid. The uptempo “Loch Lomond” with the accompanying story of how she performed it at her Scottish father’s lodge was charming. She best demonstrated her budding interpretive skills on Goldrich and Heisler’s “Taylor, the Latte Boy.” This song is performed often by young singers. But Currie, better than most, revealed the lyric’s humor and naïve hopefulness.

Carla Gordon
Cabaret Scenes
August 15, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org