It was difficult, particularly at first glance, to mentally process Amy Coleman and Steve Schalchin appearing on the same stage, let alone exuding the kind of artistic chemistry they created in their duo act at Don’t Tell Mama. She’s a straight, Brooklyn Jew, slightly zaftig, with a Noo Yawk accent and a length of red hair. He’s tall, thin, a Baptist from Texas, gay and coolly handsome, with a neat crown of grayish hair. Yet, when she belts out her own and Schalchin’s songs, and he looks at her over the keyboard, singing along, their glances are full of mutual warmth and understanding.

In fact, they confessed that they saved each other’s lives, at least professionally.  Coleman was the perfect actress/singer for the part of Vicki in The Last Session, the musical Schalchin wrote with his partner, Jim Brochu. And, Coleman was freed from the girl group she despised.

Schalchin's first three songs were “Preacher and the Nurse” from The Last Session,  “Blinking Yellow Light,” and “Southeast Texas Blues (both new songs of his) about his early life in a small Texas town. The authenticity of his gospel-tinged singing gave the songs meaning beyond the detailed imagery of the words.

Coleman’s first songs—all written by her—were also about her life: “The Lost & Found,” about a bar full of down and out patrons; “Old Man Died,” about her pill-popping, emotionally unavailable father; and “Bump & Grind,” a sassy, bluesy number.

Both had artistic and personal transformational experiences, also represented in their songs. For Coleman it was her discovery of rock and blues and meeting Schalchin. For Schalchin it was his coming out, leaving repressive Texas and the discovery of his illness, AIDS, which led to his groundbreaking musical. Their songs ranged from the defiant (“Going It Alone” by Schalchin and “Carry On” by Coleman) to the tender (“Rescue” by Schalchin) to the infectiously joyous (“My Rising Up”).  The sole number not written by these two was “House of the Rising Sun,” the Southern folk song.

The talented singer/songwriters melded beautifully, forming a mutual admiration society of two; three if you add their director Eddie Urish into the mix. Urish guided the mix of songs into a real show.

Schalchin’s singing and piano playing were terrific, giving each song the technical and emotional grounding it needed to prevent veering into clichés.  Coleman was a bit too into her “Janis Joplin thing” to reveal her true self. Too often, her need to wail in the drunken Joplin manner not only was disturbingly over the top, but made the lyrics unintelligible. There’s a great singing actress in there and her onstage charisma is very strong.

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