Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich brought their The Marcy & Zina Show to Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA to open Signature’s 2011 Cabaret Series.

The duo is probably the most distinctive songwriting team working in cabaret today. Whenever you hear an artist, usually female, launch into a certain sort of quirky song of cotton candy-heartbreak, set to a really hooky melody and with witty lyrics, it’s certain to be a Goldrich/Heisler song. And after hearing so many of their songs become cabaret standards, it was instructive to hear how the songwriters performed pieces such as “Compromise,” “The Last Song,” “Gabriel’s List,” “Make Your Own Party,” “Fifteen Pounds,” “Alto’s Lament,” “Baltimore” and “Taylor, the Latte Boy.”

Usually a Heisler/Goldrich song is used as leavening in a more serious act. And perhaps nobody but this team can get away with a whole evening of the material. But they programmed the evening with a variety of material so that it never seemed one-note. And particular highlights were two newer pieces from a Cinderella-related project, especially the title song, “Ever After,” a tender love song for Cinderella’s father warmly performed by Goldrich.

The vast performing experience of the duo was evident in their extreme comfort on stage. Both are vocalists who convey a story brilliantly, and Goldrich is a sensitive accompanist. Best of all, they had the ability to make the theater feel like their living room and every audience member like a guest at their “own party.”

Michael Miyazaki
Cabaret Scenes
August 18, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org