Somehow Cheyenne Jackson, the New York Pops and its Musical Director Steven Reineke turned Carnegie Hall into an intimate boîte in Cheyenne Jackson’s Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era. You could almost smell the martinis and cigarette smoke. Scores of attendees in sixties fashions helped seal the deal!

“Mini Skirt” by Juan García Esquivel was a suave, Mancini-like instrumental opening number with sudden electric guitar twangs erupting between lush string sections.

Cheyenne Jackson swooped in singing “Americano” (Salerno/Setzer/Himelstein/Carusone), a cute tidbit full of Italian stereotypes of America (“drive a Cadillac,” “whiskey & soda,” “smoke a Camel cigarette,” etc.). He bopped all over the front of the stage with great energy. Deeper—and sexier—emotions prevailed during a bilingual “Besame Mucho” (Consuelo Velázquez), a quietly tender “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis/Earl Brent) and a sweet “Walking My Baby Back Home” (Fred E. Ahlert/Roy Turk), the last enhanced by a close harmony back up group consisting of Paul Castree, Michael Winther and Jackson’s own musical director/pianist Ben Toth.

Some songs were more in the mood of the sixties, rather than written during or closely associated with that period. These included timeless classics like Lane/Harburg’s “Old Devil Moon” and Berlin’s “What’ll I Do?,” both given vivid interpretations by Jackson, boomingly romantic for the former and intimately moving for the latter, helped by Steve Bargonetti’s expert electric guitar backup. Loesser’s “Luck Be a Lady” displayed Jackson’s musical comedy chops. Jackson sang Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good”—an odd choice—strolling down the aisle of Carnegie Hall’s parquet, losing a good deal of the song’s emotional impact in the process.

Of course there had to be a Burt Bacharach/Hal DAvid section and a Mad Men section. Both were lushly orchestrated. It was fun hearing so many Bacharach songs in a row. And, as a wonderful treat, “Mad Men” was conducted by its composer, David Carbonara, who was really into his evocative music.

There were several guest artists. Jane Krakowski, sadly, sang just one song, C. Carson Parks’s “Somethin’ Stupid,” with Jackson, adding “estrogen” to the proceedings, as he said. Marva Hicks, Christina Robinson and Kenneth Robinson were classic Motown backup singers to Jackson’s own song, “Don’t Look at Me,” an attempt at romantic introspection.

This Cocktail Hour was a lovely blast from the past. Perhaps Mr. Jackson spoke a bit too much about his personal life, but there’s always someone at a bar who goes on a bit too much. This New York Pops concert was delightfully silly and evocative, lightweight and sometimes moving.

Joel Benjamin
Cabaret Scenes
November 18 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org