Sylvia de la Sancha lets an audience know right off she is a proud Latina when she paraphrases the opening song from Man of La Mancha to declare, “I am I, de la Sancha, the queen of La Mancha!”  She sings it with gusto, and she carries that energy and conviction through the rest of her show — a mixed bag of standards and Spanish-language songs.

One of the show’s highlights was a bluesy, sassy version of “Experience Unnecessary” (Hugo Peretti/ Luigi Creatore/Gladys Shelley/John Whiteman), which Sarah Vaughan recorded in 1955 and which seemed to please de la Sancha’s overflow audience immensely. She gave a gentle, straightforward reading to “I Need to Be in Love” (Richard Carpenter/John Bettis /Albert Hammond) and soared on Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon” (“In Other Words”), then heated up the room by wrapping herself in a red boa and moving seductively through the crowd, flirting with several male listeners, while singing “Whatever Lola Wants” (Richard Adler/Jerry Ross, from Damn Yankees).

She followed with an uplifting medley that combined “It’s a Great Day” (Vincent Youmans/Billy Rose/Edward Eliscu) with “Shaking the Blues Away” (Irving Berlin) and enchanted the room with a sweet, plaintive version of “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” (music by Pino Donaggio/English lyrics by Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell).

The room was further energized when de la Sancha introduced her guest, Johnnie Torres, who raised the roof with a powerful “When the Feeling Hits You” (Bobby Doyle), then completely switched gears to sing a beautiful version of the lush “Sylvia” (Paul Francis Webster/David Raksin) before duetting with de la Sancha on “Frenesi” (music and Spanish lyrics by Alberto Dominguez/English lyrics by Charles Carpenter and Sydney Keith Russell) and “Besame Mucho” (Consuelo Valazquez). Though their harmonies were beautiful, there was only a smidgen of on-stage chemistry.

Backing de la Sancha was a superb trio, which included Musical Director Andy Howe on piano, Leslie Baker on bass and Roland Galatje Garcia on percussion. The trio warmed the crowd up with an extended version of  “Watch What Happens” (Michel Legrand/ Norman Gimbel) before de la Sancha’s entrance.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
August 27, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org