It has been my practice, when I see a show about which I have more negative than positive things to say, just not to review it. But since the purpose of our reviews is to guide audiences as to which performers to see, and to help performers make their shows better, it is perhaps a good policy not to take my easy way out.

I left Pascalito’s show with the strong sense that cabaret needs an Emily Post, a guide to etiquette for performers, for audiences, and for reviewers and other professionals who come to shows.  Here are some generalities I derived from this show that can apply to others. To begin, the performers.  If you have been booked into an established cabaret venue, there is a fair chance that you will attract reviewers, especially if you have publicized your show.  Always supply the press with some help in the form of printed material.  You need not have an elaborate and expensive press kit, but, at very least, there should be a song list, which includes titles, composers, and lyricists.  If you are taking your listeners on a musical journey to other lands, the countries of origin for the songs would be helpful as well. Always list the names of your back-up musicians and the instruments they play.  If they have contributed to the quality of your show, they deserve mention and the possibility of credits from reviewers.  The names of Musical Directors and directors in general are also important, for they too may warrant credit. Next, if you want to dress as if there were no time between the sound check and your ability to change clothes, you are not being cool. Rather, you are conveying the idea that those at your show were not worth dressing up for ,at least a little.  And if your publicity material includes a picture of a better-groomed and more sophisticated you, the disparity will be noteworthy and you risk immediately disappointing your reviewers.

Now for audience members.  If you come to the show after it has begun, be as unobtrusive as possible, taking the first empty seat you can.  Being late takes from you the right to march through the room looking for the friends you were supposed to meet earlier, then kissing, hugging, and audibly greeting them as if long-lost companions, and requiring a game of musical chairs so that you could sit with the person you were supposed to meet before the show began. If you are at the show as photographer as well as audience member, position yourself so that you can take pictures without being intrusive.  Actively moving around the room interferes with the show and is no favor to the performer.  The wait staff has been trained to be as discreet as possible.  You should follow suit.

Because I was dissatisfied with the show, I thought about the critic’s responsibility, for we are bound by good form as well.  Do not walk out of a show in the middle, no matter how tempted, foreshadowing your negative review and adding insult to injury.  Cabaret shows only last an hour, even if they seem longer.  If you absolutely insist on your right to leave early, position yourself as close as possible to the exit, not making a display of your displeasure by marching the whole length of the venue.  And if you are a cabaret professional attending but not reviewing a show, and you are bored, try to refrain from texting throughout the performance.  It is more obvious to others than you realize.

Now for specifics of Pascalito’s show not implied above.  He can hold a tune, but his voice seems to consist of a single color, and he needs vocal coaching to help him develop a richer, more varied palette.  Pascalito sings mostly songs from France and Brazil. The flattening effect of this vocal sameness was added to by equally flat, mechanical patter, most of which was terse statements about the next song to be sung.  The show requires a director to help Pascalito fashion some narrative to interest the audience and tie together his songs.  He refers to concerts he has sung, but does not seem to realize a cabaret show is not just a concert in a small room.  And, finally (and this criticism has started to become a staple of my reviews), Pascalito needs some better mic technique.  Even when he sings or speaks in English, he holds the mic so close to his mouth that words become blurred.  This problem is exacerbated by the fact that English is not his native tongue. French is a mellifluous language and does not aim for the crisp delineation between words that good English involves.  I missed most of what he said, but heard enough to know I did not miss much.

What was good about the show?  Four very good musicians whose names I cannot supply because they were not supplied to me.  A young, attractive female violinist from Tokyo (dressed very nicely) was particularly striking and garnered much applause.  Equally noteworthy, although there were four musicians, they never swamped Pascalito with sound when he sang.  They were indeed “back-up” musicians. I was particularly aware of this because the previous night in the same venue I heard a first-rate singer (Gregory Generet) with first-rate musical accompaniment that unfortunately overwhelmed him in most numbers.

Barbara Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
August 11, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org