In her debut show, Raissa at Feinstein's, veteran Broadway and national tour performer, Raissa Katona Bennett, took to the stage with her "A, B, C and Ds" in order! She looked at home, beautiful, confident and delighted to have the opportunity to entertain her star-studded, packed house.

With an equally stellar quartet comprised of Mark Janas on piano, Ritt Henn on bass, Sean Harkness on guitar and Mayra Casales on percussion, she opened with Michelle Brourman and Amanda McBroom's "Make Me a Kite" followed by a series of "dream songs"—"Dream a Little Dream," I Had a Dream About You," "Darn That Dream," "I Had the Craziest Dream" and "Dreamland"—all delivered convincingly with little in-between patter. After singing Sondheim's "One More Kiss" and just when you began to wonder where she was heading with all these “dreamy” choices, she humorously quipped..."please don't think I'm only singing about kites, kisses and dreams, oh my!" a subtle reference to the line from The Wizard of Oz, “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” repeated by Dorothy and her pals to help keep their fears under control.

Our fears allayed, she skillfully set up two of the biggest surprises of the evening. After singing a totally straight version of "Is It Really Me?" (Schmidt/Jones) she broke up the audience once again by repeating the lyric and explaining that the song had taken on new meaning since she married her husband, a plastic surgeon! Her spot-on comic timing made it a very, very funny moment!

Then, after she sang the verse to the gorgeous "Stranger In Paradise” from the 1953 musical, Kismet, the mellifluous sound of one of cabaret's most outstanding male voices and the show’s director, Eric Michael Gillett, stunned the audience with a chill-inducing “Take my hand…” as he sat at a nearby table. He then joined her on stage for a breathtaking duet of the song. They continued as desperate lovers in another impressive duet written by Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia, "Don't Know Where You Leave Off."

She further pleased her audience with a reprise of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Think of Me," her signature song from the huge Broadway smash, Phantom of the Opera. Although she later said goodbye to the various ingenue roles she's played over the years in a song written especially for her by Michael John LaChiusa called "Bye, Bye Ingenue," curiously, she stayed with her ingenue keys throughout the show. An even more engaging and interesting performer might just be "waiting in the wings" if she were to explore some key adjustments in future outings.

Lynn DiMenna
Cabaret Scenes
October 19, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org