The Metropolitan Room kicked off a new monthly cabaret series, Broadway on 22^nd Street, with a trio of performers—Nancy Ticotin, Ruben Flores and Doreen Montalvo—all veterans of In the Heights. The series features Broadway performers bringing the pizzazz of the Great White Way to the intimacy of the cabaret space. Indeed, the opening performance illustrated the untapped potential of the concept. And one of its challenges.

Nancy started the night with an exuberant “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” (Strouse/Adams), then segued into a superb “Me Va a Extrañar” (Ricardo Montaner), exhibiting masterful storytelling, even if the lyrics were primarily in Spanish. Still, she hasn’t fully mastered the cabaret microphone, letting her final number, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (Kander/Ebb), build to an almost deafening harshness.

Ruben had a similar problem when he sang directly into the microphone with his big number, “Enough Is Enough” (Lozano/Epsenhart from Children of Salt) after starting out with a caressingly controlled “The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face)” (Ewan MacColl), a song which can drag in the wrong hands. He also scored with an attractive “Glory of Love” (Cetera/Foster/Nini).

Doreen—with a genuine belter’s voice and a career that embraces Broadway and arena performances as a back-up artist—knew how to use the microphone for maximum effect, even though her voice could have blown the entire room out into the middle of 22^nd Street. She started with a rousing “River Deep, Mountain High” (Spector/Barry/Greenwich) followed by an Elvis medley wrapped inside a bittersweet “Walking in Memphis” (Marc Cohn). She was joined by Nancy and Ruben for a deeply felt “I’ll Be There” (Gordy/West/Hutch/Davis) to close out the show.

Bob Barnett
Cabaret Scenes
February 28, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org