Ain’t love grand?  Well, these two young women, Audrey-Maeve Hager and Brenda Jean Foley, are obviously happily, happily, HAPPILY married.  Overall, this is a lovely and sweet cabaret debut, but, in a show that proposes to show the joys and aggravations of marriage, there is little if no real aggravation to be seen.  Still, that doesn’t keep you from enjoying their show and being swept along with their energy.

As an aside, I found it intriguing to review a show about marriage by two women who don’t really appear to be old enough to be married, much less in a family way – well, at least one of them.  Maybe this goes to show how being so happily married can keep one looking much younger than one’s years!

Truth be told, even a show that stresses the joys of marriage may benefit from a deeper emotional journey.  At times I felt they were trying too hard to belt out the tunes at the expense of the emotions of some of the songs. In the medley of “Calling You” / “Get Here”—two songs that have the ability to haunt you—instead of leaving the audience with chills up their spines, we were left with smiles.  Similarly with “Marry Me a Little” / “Being Alive,” I would have liked them to explore the real depths of those lyrics.  The solo songs of “Remember Me” and “American Tune” were also weak emotionally.  In a few instances, the pitches were not quite right.  This might have gone unnoticed if there were some underlying emotion that would perhaps distract us.

Having said all this, as it is their cabaret debut as a duo, I highly commend them. Their harmonies are beautiful, and their joy and enthusiasm are almost contagious. This show is full of energy and is nothing short of charming, it’s just lacking a bit in excitement.

The talented ladies were very well supported by their director, Julie Reyburn, their Musical Director and arranger Tracy Stark and technical director Bobby Kneeland, each of whom did a terrific job and certainly helped to create atmosphere.

Keep an eye on these women.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from them.  Next time I’d like to see less sugar and more bite.

Harold Sanditen
Cabaret Scenes
November 18, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org