From a philosophical standpoint, Eric Michael Gillett knows exactly where his intentions lie. His New Year’s Eve dinner was roast pork, sauerkraut and black-eyed peas. Why?  Pigs don’t walk backwards!  And so 2010 opened with a bang as this

Broadway/operatic pop-tenor moved forward with All My Best.

Gillett is an exceptional performer who is present at every moment, measuring each breath, phrase and nuance in perfect harmony.  He is a multi-award-winning vocalist, a teacher and praised director of some of cabaret’s finest performers including Karen Akers, Sheera Ben-David and Raissa Katona Bennett (all in the audience).

A mixture of soft rock, Broadway and standards was the bill of fare affording him the opportunity to shine as only he can on “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” romantically croon “You and I” and grab and not let go with “Blues in the Night.”

A big movie fan, Gillett devoted a section of the show to clever pairings and arrangements, e.g.: “Moon River”/”Serenade of Love”/”Somewhere in Time,” soaring to even greater heights vocally and expressively and with “Separate Lives,” a mantra into his soul, allows his passions to reach even deeper.

Sondheim songs “Too Many Mornings”/”All Things Bright and Beautiful,” “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow” and “Tonight” (from West Side Story, with Bernstein’s music) were beautiful harmonic duets with lilting guest soprano Melanie Vaughn. Pop and theatre were paired seamlessly with Don Rebic at the piano and Gillett’s magic on another Sondheim number, “Loving You” paired with “Valentine” (Brickman/Kugell).

“I Was Here” (Flaherty/Ahrens) summed up the essence of humanity with the lyrical story of the imprint we, as individuals, leave on earth, culminating with the true essence of Gillett’s longings in Craig Carnelia’s “Flight”: “I wanna flow, wanna rise, wanna spill/ ….I wanna float like a wish in a well/ Free as the sound of the sea in a shell”

With Musical Director Jeff Cubeta on piano and Matt Wigton on bass, it doesn’t get better than this!  Watch for Gillett’s full week engagement at Feinstein’s this July.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
January 17, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org