It was a Joy-fest as the Los Angeles-based cabaret community came together 10 days before Christmas in a special benefit to help Effie Joy (pictured) deal with her heavy medical expenses.

Joy has been a leading light in the community for years and continues to perform despite being diagnosed nearly a year ago with pancreatic cancer.  Aware that the costs for treatment have been straining joy’s finances, producer/pianist Todd Schroeder organized an evening of music.

Despite the purpose, the show was far from maudlin, however, though several singers expressed their affection for Joy — prompting her to wave her arms wildly in appreciation — and most stopped to embrace her as they returned to their seats.

Joy opened and closed the show — starting with Billy Barnes’ “Something Cool,” delivered in the simple, elegant style and precise phrasing that are Joy’s trademarks; and ending with a tender, gentle version of “The Christmas Song” (Mel Torme/Bob Wells).

In between was a cavalcade of terrific performances, including Sam Harris offering a soft, calm “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Hugh Martin); Maude Maggart using her angelic voice to weave a magic spell over the audience with “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (Buck Ram/Kim Gannon/Walter Kent); Schroeder singing a very up-tempo “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (Haven Gillespie/J. Fred Coots); and Robyn Spangler singing Julie Gold’s haunting “From a Distance.”

But the evening wasn’t all focused on Christmas songs, as Mark Winkler sang the amusing “Somewhere in Brazil,” (Winkler/Jamieson Trotter), about a cabaret singer performing in a backwater dive who dreams he’s actually in Rio de Janeiro; David Lucky, joined by Maggart, sang “Find Your Song,” a self-penned delight about words and notes happily finding themselves joined together; Keri Kelsey sang delightfully about her preference for men who are “Bald” (Marcy Heisler/Zina Goldirch); and Michelle Duffy delivered a sexually amped-up rock version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Among other standout performances was Maureen Arthur — returning to singing after years away from the mike — belting out “The Birth of the Blues” (Ray Henderson/Buddy DeSylva/Lew Brown); Mary Jo Mundy showing off her beautifully expressive voice and pure tones on a medley that combined “Everything Must Change” (Bernard Ighner) with “I Can See Clearly Now” (Johnny Nash); and Dolores Scozzesi in a strong, propulsive version of Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee.”

Tom Culver gave a sensitive reading of “Street of Dreams” (Samuel Lewis/Victor Young) combined with “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (Billy Moll/ Harry Barris/Ted Koehler) that demonstrated his effective way with a lyric and his joy of performing,  Kevin Fisher played acoustic guitar and sang his own composition, “Another Love Song,” and Wendy Tuttle sang a moving, gentle “Let Me Sing,” which she wrote with Fisher.

With Schroeder’s exuberant piano playing and occasional vocal harmonies, the show was a definite “Joy” to see and hear.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
December 15, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org