Seeing Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael as the closing act of the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention’s "All in the Family" night at Jazz at Lincoln Center earlier in the month made us eager to update our acquaintance with them at their single-performance New York show.  In one short declarative sentence, it doesn’t get much better than the twosome’s Better Two-Gether.

Their songs are primarily duets, with Beckie also doubling as the accompanist.  It may be the nineteen years they’ve played together, or perhaps a commitment to long hours of rehearsal time but, however they’ve managed it, their vocal synchronicity recalls a string of Rockettes hoofing it at Radio City Music Hall. When they are not singing as one voice, but harmonizing or juxtaposing a second song into the number as they did with “Fascinating Rhythm,” the effect and the precision are equally impressive. The arrangements are fresh and well-tailored to the duo’s flair.

Most of the program utilized well-known standards, with a little Sondheim and Bernstein added, with a Simon and Garfunkel medley plus an Everly Brothers medley.  On the lighter side, Menzie and Michael are parody buffs, offering a medley of songs from eight ultra-familiar Broadway musicals with lyrics tailored to keep the audience laughing from start to finish.  The show also included a parody of Porter’s “You’re the Top,” facetiously describing the pair’s initial meeting, reshaped into “You’re a Flop.”  That jollity was contrived by Carla Gordon, Cabaret Scenes’ own Chicago correspondent and Windy City eyes and ears.

Beckie and Tom are so delightful together that it has to be noted they are very darn good apart, as well.  Soloing with “This Nearly Was Mine,” Michael provided a sensitive reading enhanced by a set of great pipes.  On her own, if Beckie’s singing doesn’t quite hit Tom’s eloquent level, put together with her splendid keyboarding, the result requires no apologies. Bob James and Kenny Loggins’ “Celebrate Me Home” was a special treat.  Singly or doubly, this pair knows their way around a song.  Chicagoans are fortunate to have them close at hand.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
October 19, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org