Julie Budd turned the Metropolitan Room into a lovefest in her first appearance at this venerable cabaret venue. Her audience came to see an old friend and she responded in kind.  She performed ATribute to Dorothy Fields, the doyenne of lyricists, who created works of lasting wit and emotion, working with a bevy of superb composers from the mythic "golden age" of songwriting.

Employing a subdued, slick–yet personal—old-time nightclub style, Ms. Budd used her still lustrous voice to convey all the subtleties of Dorothy Fields' words.  With her longtime musical director, Herb Bernstein, she chose a program that displayed not only Fields' mastery of condensing emotions and situations into lyrics of deceptive simplicity, but also her own vocal and acting gifts, perfectly suited to Fields' colloquial wordplay.

The songs ranged from the rousing ("It's Not Where You Start"/"Pick Yourself Up" - Cy Coleman/Jerome Kern) to the hilarious ("He Had Refinement" and "A Lady Needs a Change" - both with Arthur Schwartz) to the wistfully sad ("Pink Taffeta Sample, Size 10” with Coleman) and "Close as Pages in a Book" with Romberg).   In between, she spoke about Fields' amazing career, revealing that both she and Fields had to overcome fathers who objected to their show business aspirations. Fields’ dad was the famous comedian Lew Fields, who eventually championed his daughter.  Budd's dad's main objection was her age—twelve—when she debuted, but fame and fortune helped calm his objections.

Budd met Fields—who died in 1974—only once, early in her career, at a coffee shop, just before the taping of a TV show, and Fields' parting words were, "Don't forget to sing the verse!"  The song was "Close as Pages In a Book" and, of course, Budd sang the verse.

She started this show with upbeat songs and gradually wound down to a very intimate "I Dream Too Much" (Kern), yet still commanded the rapt attention of those in attendance, who kept calling out to her.

Tom Hubbard on the bass and Ken Hassler on drums provided harmonic and rhythmic support, and Art Weiss on the keyboard synthesizer gave color and depth to Mr. Bernstein's arrangements.

Joel Benjamin
Cabaret Scenes
May 11, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org