Offhand and breezy, tossing off songs in a seemingly tossed-together show, Kerry Butler made Feinstein’s at Loews Regency feel like a campaign stop for someone running for the title of Miss Congenialty. Cheerful and chatty, much of her program was divided between songs she’s performed in Broadway shows like Hairspray and the kid-focused numbers from her 2008 CD called Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust. That CD’s estimable Musical Director, Michael Kosarin, whose career is likewise Broadway-entrenched/Disney-drenched, returned to accompany and lead a small band. The ingénue who defies aging seemed at times almost teen-like, chirping “Thanks, guys” to the band or audience. Her entrance for this one-nighter in the posh club perhaps unwisely presumed an audience’s recognition factor (and fondness for) pop fluff from Xanadu, as she sang it in character, vocal tics and winks included. Those not in tune with the tune and the goofy persona from this recent Broadway outing would be perplexed. Other fare fared better, especially when she tempered what can be the keening, piercing quality in her voice more appropriate for theater belting. Indeed, she channeled Karen Carpenter’s warm, rounded sound remarkably with a Carpenters hit, “I Won’t Last a Day Without You.” However, lullabyes aside, intimate scaled-back cabaret-style singing was rarely attempted; the show was showier. From her days in Little Shop of Horrors, she sweetly revisited “Somewhere That’s Green,” attempting to shoe-horn it into some amusing patter contrasting her youthful happily-ever-after fantasies versus shrugged-off adult realities. Having skated serenely through the set, soon she was exiting, waving buh-bye. Thanks, guys.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
April 19, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org