Camille Saviola is absolutely fabulous — a pro who knows how to hold an audience’s attention with sheer, overwhelming talent. Whether singing, acting or simply telling a personal anecdote, Saviola put on a bravura tour-de-force of a show — her first cabaret show in years, she said — that demonstrated what a star turn really means and showed would-be cabaret artists what it’s all about.

She sang brilliantly and powerfully and was never anything less than utterly entertaining, whether performing a dramatic monologue; singing her signature “Be Italian” from Nine; combining a Gershwin instrumental, a gospel number and a Bob Dylan song into a dramatic medley; or singing the ultimate show-biz paean, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

She came on stage in the guise of an Italian immigrant whose grandfather taught her how tough life could be by telling her to take a mouthful of grated cheese and then whistle — a process Saviola, in character, called on several audience members picked at random to emulate using a jar of grated cheese and a spoon from her purse. The monologue, which lasted about 20 minutes, ended with the immigrant becoming an understudy to Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo, leading to her performance of “Della Rosa's Turn,” (a song she sang in Barry Keating’s revue, Hollywood Opera), a brief musicalization of the movie that allowed her to show off her superb acting and singing.

The fifty-something Saviola then spent several minutes riffing on the aging process, ultimately accepting herself as is “because you don’t have options.”  That led to a song for which she wrote the music and lyrics, “The Older-Than-Methuselah Blues,” in which she acknowledged the aches, pains and sags that come with “being on this side of the dirt.”

Talking about her Italian-Catholic upbringing and feelings about the church led Saviola to present another monologue as the Virgin Mary in a bar, culminating in special lyrics that she wrote to Gershwins' “It Ain’t Necessarily So” that led into “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer). She kept the mood somber with a self-written song called “If,” a sweet ballad penned as a tribute to acting teacher Milton Katselas, that seemed to evoke genuine personal emotion beyond acting.

Keeping things eclectic, she did a medley that combined Gershwin’s “Prelude No. 2,” with “Wade in the Water,” a traditional gospel song, and Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” — a powerful vocal performance that ended with her exchanging a high-five with pianist and musical director Gerald Sternbach. Also providing strong musical support were drummer Ron Manoag and bassist Ron Suffredini.

Saviola capped the evening with “Leonora’s Song” (William Finn/Astor Piazzolla), which she introduced in Broadway’s Tango Apasionado; and a verbal tribute to Judy Garland, who inspired the young singer and later provided personal encouragement, followed by a slow, full-throated version of Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

Her encore was “Be Italian” from Maury Yeston’s Nine, in which she understudied, and later played on tour, the part of the lusty Saraghina — performing it as sensually as ever.

Camille Saviola’s vast talents seem to have gotten better and richer over the years, and a return to the cabaret stage in other venues would give a broader audience a chance to view a classy lady doing something she loves doing with style and grace.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
September 9, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org