Daisy Eagan is having fun performing again, and that’s good news for cabaret audiences. She had lost her enthusiasm over the last few years, she told her audience, but now the excitement and joy of sharing her talents with others have returned, as she demonstrated in her show—a streamlined version of the one she debuted last July.

That show was two-and-a-half hours long, plus 20 minutes more of questions-and-answers.  The latest incarnation, at 90 minutes, could still use less patter and, with only eight songs, it could use another musical number or two.  But Eagan is definitely on the right track—and she’s entertaining and charming at any length.

It will probably be tough for her to decide what to cut, though, given that most of the anecdotes were delightful and funny as she told her life story from amateur singer to Tony Award winner—which got her to age 11—to personal family tragedy, professional disappointments, depression, a renewed interest in education that led to a Master’s in psychology, and, finally satisfaction with her past and enthusiasm about her future.

She made her story points very clearly in excellent song choices, abetted by the able piano accompaniment of Gregory Nabours: a wistful “Over the Rainbow” to describe how much fun acting was when she started; a belting “I’m the Greatest Star” to describe her lofty ambitions when she left Broadway for Hollywood; a soft, deliberate take on “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” (Robert Lopez/Jeff Marx) from Avenue Q to describe her realization that Hollywood might not be for her (“There’s a fine, fine line/Between love and a waste of your time”); and a fully realized, powerful version of ”I’ll Take It from Here” (Jonatha Brooke) as she comes to the realization that life’s decisions aren’t as clear as they once seemed.

Eagan also excelled in a creative take on “Broadway Baby,” in which her text and subtext got intertwined, and a touching version of “I’ll Try” (Brooke, again), in which she was able to channel her 13-year-old self at the time her mother died “to understand the distance between the love I feel and the things I fear.”

But, despite all the ups and downs, “I will find my way,” Eagan declared before moving into her finale, ‘The Girl I Mean to Be” (Marsha Norman/Lucy Simon) from The Secret Garden.

Eagan will make her New York debut March 28 at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
March 3, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org