Sammy Williams is “one singular sensation.” He sings, he dances, he acts—with sincerity and vulnerability and supreme elegance. It’s not for nothing that he won a Tony Award for a dramatic monologue in a classic musical.  He re-created that monologue from A Chorus Line in his cabaret act, then followed it with a very heartfelt “Will Someone Remember Me?” (Bill Dyer/Dick DeBenedictis) from All This & Heaven Too. He followed this with a moving anecdote about advice he gave to an aspiring performer who asked for his autograph more than 30 years ago — “Follow your dream and never let anyone get in the way of your heart’s desire,” he told the young man — and the fulfillment he got when that performer, Cortés Alexander, unexpectedly thanked him publicly at a benefit just a few weeks before this cabaret show. Capping the moment, Williams told the audience that it was his story that inspired the song “I Can Do That,” in A Chorus Line, only to see the song and story go to Wayne Cilento, with advice from director Michael Bennett for Williams to trust him — a trust that paid off in Williams winning the Tony.  Then he sang the song and added a bit of choreography that demonstrated he can still “do that.”

Although his show was pretty much autobiographical — with props from his career on display, including two Hirschfelds, his finale costume from A Chorus Line and the gold top hat that went with it — there wasn’t a single moment of boastfulness or inappropriate pride in his past accomplishments.  In fact, Williams seemed almost surprised that he’s led the life he’s led.

He showed the lighter side of his personality in “Feather in My Shoe” (Will Holt/ David Baker) from Come Summer, the emotional side in “Dog Passages” (Shelly Markham/Mark Winkler), a song about some of man’s best friends, his dapper side in “When Fifty Wore a Tux” (Marie Cain/Mark Winkler) — the latter two from Too Old for the Choru,; and his feminine side in a tour de force rendition of Jerry Herman’s “A Little More Mascara” from La Cage aux Folles, in which he managed to create the illusion of becoming a woman simply through physical gestures. Williams also sang two songs from Kander & Ebb’s The Happy Time, his first Broadway show — a reflective “I Don’t Remember You” and the upbeat “Tomorrow Morning.”

Providing musical accompaniment were Ron Snyder, Williams’ Musical Director, on piano and John Classick on bass.

His bravura performance was even more remarkable given a series of unforeseen mishaps: the breakdown of his body mic prior to the show, forcing him to use a hand mic that he had not rehearsed with; problems with the sound system once the show was underway; and the breakdown of the air conditioner on a very warm evening.  None of its seemed to faze WIlliams, who carried on like the trouper he is.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
September 24, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org