Whatever Todd Sherry does on stage comes off as completely honest. In his choice of songs, his focused but relaxed patter and his comfortable stage presence, Sherry delivers.  Whether singing about the search for love, the men he’s found it with or the men he’s lost, Sherry is never anything but warm and sweet and genuine in the emotions he’s describing.

That honesty — and the vulnerability or brio that go with it —worked effectively throughout his first-ever cabaret show, entitled Make It a Stiff One, a title apropros of any double entendre a listener chooses to apply. The contrast of vulnerability and strength was evident in his first two songs: the sweetness of Lionel Bart’s “Where Is Love?” contrasted with the down-and-dirty declarations of Fred Barton’s “Pour Me a Man,” which describes in vivid, frank and often amusing detail the kind of love Sherry is seeking (example: “Make him last as long as he can!”).

Sherry had the audience sighing with the simple beauty of “Where Does Love Go?” (Ann Hampton Callaway) — a tender ballad earnestly sung about where emotions go when not in use — followed by a pair of sweet songs delivered with complete believability: Georgia Stitt’s “My Lifelong Love,” which, for Sherry, was about an eleven-year-old’s first crush on another boy, and “My Foolish Heart” (Victor Young/Ned Washington), which ended with a nicely sustained high note. He expressed the frustrations of love unfulfilled in the tender lyrics of “Why Can’t I Kiss You?” (Jeff Blumenkrantz) and Cole Porter’s ironic “I Loved Him (But He Didn’t Love Me).”

Sherry’s amusing patter included a discussion of the ups and downs of love, culminating in a couple of songs about what it’s like when love affairs end (cleverly signalled by accompanist Ron Snyder playing the Miss Gulch theme from The Wizard of Oz): the very funny “I Hate Everyone” (Mandy Steckelberg), which Sherry dedicated to an ex-lover he referred to as Voldemort and which makes very liberal use of the F-word; and the angry “I Don’t Remember Christmas” (Richard Maltby, Jr./David Shire).

But the evening wasn’t an excuse for a pity party, Sherry declared, as he sang a warm version of Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are” — enhanced by subtle percussion from drummer Kevin Widener — and an endearing version of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart). He also performed Blumenkrantz’s “Hold My Hand” with utter sincerity and showed off well-honed acting chops by inducing real tears on the last few lines — a sentiment reflected in some audible sniffling from audience members.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
November 21, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org