Judy Mora could be on the verge of a great career.  After all, she won the title of “L.A.’s Next Great Stage Star 2011” last January on the same stage where she made her cabaret debut. However, at nineteen, Mora still has a lot of living to do before she can make an autobiographical show interesting — or at least until she’s willing to share some deeper insights about herself and her life with an audience.

What Mora made clear is that she is one determined young lady, as evidenced when she said high school “became an obstacle” for her as she sought to audition for professional parts, prompting her to be home-schooled for her senior year so she could start working.

As a singer, Mora is fine in her middle range, as evidenced by her lovely presentation of “A Change in Me” (Tim Rice/Alan Menken, from Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast), which included nice modulation as the song progressed. But on other songs, almost every time she opted to extend her voice to end a number on a higher, more dramatic note, she exceeded her range and lost the control she exhibited otherwise.  That lack of control was particularly evident in her first two songs — “The Spark of Creation” (Stephen Schwartz, from Children of Eden) and “I’ve Got the Music in Me” (Bias Boshell) — and she was also a little shaky on “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (Jule Styne/Bob Merrill, from Funny Girl).

Her finest moment came when she sang “Somos Novios” — a Mexican song by Armando Manzanero that was rewritten in English by Sid Wagner under the title “It’s Impossible.” Mora sang the song as a tribute to her grandparents, who were in the audience celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary.  What made the moment even sweeter was when her grandfather got up from his seat in the middle of the song and walked to the other side of the table where his wife was sitting, bent down in front of her on one knee, and held her in a tight embrace throughout the song.

When the song — and the moment — ended, the audience erupted in loud applause, the only time during the show it showed much enthusiasm.  It was not apparent why a room full of friends and relatives was so subdued — though Mora displayed relatively little rapport with the audience.  In fact, when she called Nathan Shrake on stage to sing a duet of “One Hand, One Heart” (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim, from West Side Story) combined with “No Air” (James Fauntleroy II/ Eric Griggs/Michael Scala/Harvey Mason Jr./Damon Thomas/Steve Russell), she spent half the song looking at the audience while he sang directly to her — and when he exited the stage, she did not repeat his name or ask for an extra round of applause.

Mora finished strong with her encore , “Watch Me Soar” (Scot Alan).  The show was directed by Richard Hochberg, with musical direction by pianist James Lent.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
June 5, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org