Even the most polite or enthusiastic audience has its way of conveying honest opinions.  The New York Theater Barn is an ambitious, long-running showcase for aspiring songwriters. The set was warmly embraced by the crowd, but although always kind, they exhibited genuine excitement about three of the songs that this writer also happened to enjoy most.

This artistic discernment is comforting in a “family and friends” (where the artists are required to create their own audience, as they are not usually a known quantity) situation, where it can be hard to sort through the wheat from the chaff.

Suddenly a Song is a collection of tunes by the above lyricists and various composers.  The three humorous numbers were “Advice” (music Douglas J. Cohen), “Holiday Lament” (music Kyle Rosen) and best of all, “When the Messiah Comes” with music by also by Kyle Rosen.

“Advice” consists of a bouncy trio bemoaning the ins and outs of raising kids under the inevitable scrutiny of know-it-all yentas. “Messiah” scored brightly with its celebration of the Lord’s arrival evaporating all that is unpleasant on earth (“the kid upstairs will break his arms and give up the drums—when the Messiah comes") and allowing for all pleasures to be savored without consequences. “Holiday Lament” ("The Fruitcake Song") chronicles the feeling of despair and rejection endured by the perennial Christmas fruitcake with lines like “ya like fruit, ya like cake but…be dessert, not detested.” This is a song that ate its Wheaties.

Less successful were the ballads—a couple so maudlin (“Chestnut Creek” and “There with You”) and ill performed that I believed they were actual satires on the genre till I realized that they were totally serious.

The singers, while enthusiastic, were interchangeable, using the nasal technique that is so popular today.  It was nice to have a program provided with a song list and all the projects that are coming up, but it did not include the songwriters’ bios.

Melody Breyer-Grell
Cabaret Scenes
October 26, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org