The combination of these two MAC-Award winning performers and friends is a natural. Both are quite adept at breaking the fourth wall and engaging an audience, both enjoy a little self-deprecating humor, and both have the gift of surrounding themselves with fine musicians and material. Add to the mix some gender-bending frivolity and it makes for one entertaining evening split between Ryan’s comic selections — “The Day Snow White Said the F Word,” “My Simple Christmas Wish” (“…I want to be rich, famous and powerful…”) — and Genecco’s retro big band belting with “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Unchain My Heart,” etc. With stellar backing by pianist Kelly Park, Genecco’s killer horn section (including Tony Malfati, Rich Armstrong and Max Perkoff) and bongo player Dominic Cabrerra, the two showed their range on some stylish ballads (Ryan’s cover of “Feels Like Home to Me” and Genecco’s lovely “If I Was a Boy”). Highlights of Shawn’s set were a racy rendition of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “I Wanna Do Bad Things to You,” and, for Terese’s set, “Washington Square” and a deconstructed “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” stood out. These two have enough energy and pizzazz to light up any stage and their audience base obviously enjoys the affinity and chemistry between them.
Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
January 29, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org
|
