Aaron Lazar is attractive and personable. His anecdotes are amusing, warm and shared with ease. Unfortunately, none of this comes out in his singing. Despite the fact the room is filled with friends and family, Lazar looks at no one while performing, makes not a single connection. He completely isolates himself and is, in fact, rather stiff onstage. Perhaps he’s nervous without a specific role to play. (His background is musical theater.)

The same holds true for his awareness and communication of lyrics, which appear tenuous. The only songs I “believe,” i.e., the vocalist seems as if he means them, are in Italian. (Without a verse in English or any explanation, however, even these are less affecting than they might be.) Though his eyes close and his hand gestures, Lazar seems…elsewhere. This, alas, is compounded by what the program calls “new arrangements of classic love songs,” almost all of which fight with both the singer and the meaning of the songs. As diverse a roster as Rodgers & Hammerstein, Ashford and Simpson, Stephen Sondheim and Adam Guettel are presented in short-phrased, pop formats, some of which are oddly influenced by country sounds. Many numbers feel only loosely connected to the artist’s professional history, the through line he employs.

Two duets shared with the wonderful Capathia Jenkins, whose satin voice and contagious expression deserve a separate evening, give Lazar someone to whom he can relate.

Alix Cohen
Cabaret Scenes
June 20, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org