Instantly likeable, consistently focused, completely straightforward—that’s a bundle of energy and good spirits named Angela Shultz. Rather than a diva taking the stage, she feels like an old friend knocking on the door (who happens to have a knockout voice) to share favorite recipes that happen to be songs. Pretension and self-aggrandizement are anathema to her.  Her voice is big; her ego seems small. “Why Try to Change Me Now?” she muses, comfortably accepting her faults. The clean, strong, supported voice can be a powerhouse, but she can calibrate and pull back. Finishing songs, she appears overjoyed to have shared and connected. It’s about the show, not showing of. She may be singing “Unexpressed,” but she expresses herself crisply. Occasionally, one wants her to linger over a phrase or let that last impression fully sink in.

I would like to hear more patter. She had a few cute comments such as a tongue-in-cheek reference to tabloid favorite Lindsay Lohan saying “I relate to her because I’m a redhead myself… most of the time.”

In a neat symbiosis, her director is one whose act she directs: the equally “direct” and savvy Hector Coris. Musical director Brett Kristofferson, whose songs were the focus of her last show, is again at the keys to please, so skillfully.  Solid and recommended.

Angela returns to Do't Tell Mama with Kiss Me Like You Mean It on July 7 at 6:30 pm.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
May 10, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org