Ben Cherry states (often) that he has been in NYC ten years, but I must admit he looks like he just got off the bus at the Port Authority. Youthful  and handsome, you do not believe that he hates New York for a second, for this is the place that folks like him are destined to arrive, and although he catalogues his woes, he never feels sorry for himself or sounds bitter.  He is a born entertainer and proceeds to prove it.

It took a minute for him to relax, but Ben quickly found himself in the perfect Big Appl’ song “What More Do I Need,” a Sondheim-authored tale that cannily describes the loud, dirty, yet irresistible pull of NYC, providing that you have found the one you love to share it with.

His singing was rich with a nice free top register. In addition to his vocal endowments, he was able to sing some staggeringly fast patter numbers with terrific diction and poise. Generously, he gave the audience the standards “Lonely Town” (On the Town) and “My Time of Day”
(Guys and Dolls.)

The rest of the tunes were a mixed bag, most of them being very good to irresistible. “I Furnished My One Bedroom Apartment” was a nice story song; the wordiness did not detract from it as is often the case in songs of this genre.

Ben was charming enough to get away with a story about being regurgitated upon while making his way home on the subway from a “survival job” – not an easy thing to do without alienating the romantic in me.

Tracy Stark acted as more than a pianist, but a musical partner. Her playing was especially rich and harmonic without undermining the singer. Lenny Watts’ polished direction shaped the oft told, but always singular story rendering the evolution of a small-town boy into a “Real New Yorker.”

Melody Breyer-Grell
Cabaret Scenes
March 14, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org