Sorry, Gregg.  Although you were compelling in your encore, “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone,” you’re just too delightful not to be discussed.

Gregg Edelman, veteran of numerous Broadway shows and four-time Tony Award nominee (City of Angels, Anna Karenina, and the revivals of 1776 and Into the Woods), has a casual charm, upbeat energy and vocals that brought conviction to his selection of standards.  Instead of show tunes here, he tuned to the yesteryear of  nightclubs, when an evening out did not end with the curtain call but continued on at supper clubs like New York’s Persian Room and Chicago’s Empire Room.

With Jered Egan on bass, he opened with “I’ve Got the World on a String” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler), revealing a jazzy freshness that continued through all his selections. After a breezy introduction, he returned for a short reprise. Quickly we knew where the songs came from, and why they were important to him. He revealed a sly sense of humor and love for the music he was performing. How could an audience help but be engaged? Gregg Edelman had them on a string. “What a world, what a life!” – it was totally believable.

Keeping a crisp pace with some humorous original lyrics by director Barry Kleinbort, Edelman delivered a selection of songs, from a prestissimo Al Dubin and Harry Warren tune, “Lulu’s Back in Town,” and a beautifully phrased “When I Fall in Love” (Victor Young/Edward Heyman).  The latter, he mentioned, was from the non-musical Robert Mitchum film, One MInute to Zero.  Edelman pointed out that some songs were written for specific films but never used, illustrated in a witty medley of  good-natured cornball lyrics like “It’s a Dog Day Afternoon/My heart barks a happy tune” and winding up snappy Sinatra-style for a swinging take-off on The Road to Perdition.  Even if you’re tired of medleys, you will love this one.

A pairing of Michel Legrand's “The Windmills of Your Mind” (lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) with “I WIll Wait for You” (lyrics by Norman Gimbel) was notable.  Edelman’s vocal poignancy was impassioned by Music Director/pianist Christopher Denny’s intense, repetitive vamp from “Windmills,” boosting the combination with fascinating urgency.

“Is it a cocktail, this feeling of joy?” Edelman belted in Cole Porter’s “At Long Last Love,” or “a hoot, a beaut, a gas.”  That would describe the show.  The name is Gregg Edelman and with personality, likeability, and musicality, he’s worth remembering.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
August 9, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org