Gracious, glowing, good spirits aplenty, Maureen Taylor is a charming sing-ing hostess leading us through songwriter Bob Merrill’s catalogue in her well-structured show skillfully directed by Peter Napolitano. With songs Merrill wrote solo (show songs and pop hits like “Mambo Italiano,” cleverly personalized) or collaborating with composer Jule Styne, there’s no dearth of material. Thankfully, she doesn’t just do the most famous songs and call it a day. We get material from his closed-in-previews Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starting with her terrific appropriately-costumed entrance and sunglasses, carrying a prop-filled hat box. She thinks outside the box for the fun Funny Girl cut song, “I Did It on Roller Skates.”
Opera-trained, Maureen has a “legit” sound available, but called for (and called upon) for is a lighter sound for the lighter numbers. Sometimes the different voice choices seem to go back and forth, with something lost in the “mix.” Though she hasn’t completely found a distinctive cabaret style and sound, this show is distinctive in presentation and material. In “Make Yourself Comfortable,” she’s comfortable cozying up to share vocals with sterling pianist Matt Castle. And multi-tasking Joe Brent (violin, mandolin, guitar) is a find. More biographical bits would be welcome but this is no surface survey.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
December 5, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org