OK…here goes! Adam Pascal is a charmer! He brings youthful exuberance, seasoned stage presence and an abundance of raw, edgy talent to the stage at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. Thanks to his Tony-nominated turn as the guitar-playing, HIV-positive songwriter, Roger Davis, in Rent (he reprised the role in the film version) and his stint as The Emcee in Cabaret, he has amassed a substantial and enthusiastic following.

With a solid rock band background, along with a masterful Larry Edoff on piano, he accompanied himself on guitar and a flashy, electric bass. I’d never seen nor heard one quite like it before! With its extra long neck and bright red, geometric body, the sound perfectly suited his own original songs as well as the Broadway songs that he plays and sings with equal passion, abandon and strong conviction. Highlights of his set included a medley of “I Don’t Care Much” and Elton John/Bernie Taupin’s “Rocket Man,” a re-worked  “Maria” from West Side Story, a totally “turned upside down” “What I Did for Love” from A Chorus Line and his “showstopper” from Rent, “One Song Glory.”

He’s a good, solid storyteller and he tells a funny one about performing for a group of retirees in Delray Beach, Florida who failed to respond to his new, original material. Although one can empathize with his plight, ironically, it does speak to a couple of issues that Pascal and other young, “Broadway belting babies” need to address:

Broadway is Broadway, Feinstein’s is Feinstein’s and Florida is Florida! A performer at this level must know the difference and respect the venue and the audience enough to offer them what they are coming to see and paying top dollar for! No matter how young, hip or edgy, that may mean holding off singing originals and giving those retired Floridians some of the more familiar Broadway songs they come expecting to hear! It may also mean saving your T-shirt and water bottle for an upcoming audition rather than for the stage at on of the swankiest, most expensive rooms in town.

Secondly, the intimacy of a cabaret club is no place for a piercingly shrill Broadway belt, no matter how beautiful or powerful a voice or how high a note one can hit. It destroys the mood and detracts from the stories the singers are trying to tell through their song choices. Pascal is hardly alone! Sutton Foster recently fell into a similar trap at the Café Carlyle.

Knowing yourself, where you’re performing and for whom you’re performing are probably three of the most important considerations for any successful performer of any age, on any stage!

Lynn DiMenna
Cabaret Scenes
June 21, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org