Divided into two acts, the second evening of the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s 22^nd New York Cabaret Convention was a microcosm of cabaret as an art form. This was the first season that wasn’t hosted by Donald Smith, who was recovering from surgery. The MC duties were divided between Andrea Marcovicci in high diva mode (Act I) and KT Sullivan, scintillatingly ditzy (Act II).

After the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Rick Meadows’s introductory remarks, Ms. Marcovicci swept on singing “On Such a Night As This” (Marshall Barer/Hugh Martin), one of her signature tunes, making sweeping gestures and plenty of eye contact with the audience. She was accompanied by the esteemed Shelly Markham.  She introduced Elena Bennett, a sultry-voiced performer whose “The Way You Look Tonight” (Kern/Fields)/”My Foolish Heart” (Victor Young/Ned Washington) was well-sung, but strangely cool. Fred Barton was her pianist. Far from cool was Amanda King, accompanied by Daryl Kojak on piano and Sean Conly on bass, whose love of old Hollywood films à la TCM led her to discover “Through the Courtesy of Love” (M.K. Jerome & Jack Scholl), a torchy, jazzy tidbit.

Karen Oberlin, in a glittery gown, did “I’ll Be Hard to Handle” with a wicked tone and displayed her dramatic chops in a song from The Yearling, “The Kind of Man a Woman Needs” (Michael Leonard/Herbert Martin). Her pianist was Tedd Firth. Amy Beth Williams (with Daryl Kojak on piano) comically revealed that “Teaching Third Grade” (Melvin Laird/Joel Paley) was “something to fall back on” and also sang “Simple” from Nine (Maury Yeston) with an appealing sophistication masking her vulnerability.

Ms. Marcovicci returned with a slightly forced “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and was followed by the Act I closer, Natalie Douglas, who raised the energy level of the room with “The Best Is Yet to Come” (Coleman/Leigh), sung with sass and intelligence, with the musical support of Mark Hartman.

So far the show was pleasant, run-of-the-mill professional cabaret with charm and intelligence, but not much “oomph.”

Act II was a whirlwind of excellent, exciting singing, perhaps inspired by the late Margaret Whiting, to whom it was dedicated. Somehow this act’s six singers had a command of the stage and all definitely exuded “oomph.”

Joyce Breach, tiny, but powerful, with Jon Weber at the piano, sang Irving Berlin’s torchy “Love, You Didn’t Do Right by Me” and Michael Leonard/Russell George’s amusingly bittersweet “Not Exactly Paris,” giving each song just the right style. Ronny Whyte was his usual debonair self on two Jerome Kern songs: “I’m Old Fashioned” (Mercer) and “All in Fun” (Hammerstein).

KT Sullivan, with Bill Zeffiro, was in top form singing “In Love in Vain” (Kern/Hammerstein) and Francesca Blumenthal’s “The Lies of Handsome Men,” two songs of romantic regret. Amanda McBroom gave “Moonlight in Vermont” (John Blackburn/Karl Suessdorf) a richness that made even this old chestnut beautiful again, subtlely backed up by her frequent partner in music, Michelle Brourman.

Jennifer Sheehan was given the Margaret Whiting Award, but, strangely, didn’t sing at all. (She sang on the first night, when she received The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in Cabaret.)

Ann Hampton Callaway (pictured) was in full-voiced, red-hot-mama mode in the Arlen/Mercer classic “Blues in the Night,” and actually created a witty ditty on the spot about Margaret Whiting using phrases gathered from the audience. She was backed by Ray Marchica on drums and Tom Hubbard on bass.

Marilyn Maye, with Tedd Firth, provided a good deal of magic with “That Old Black Magic” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” (both Arlen/Mercer), which were spellbinding.

Callaway and Maye ended the program with the Gershwins’ “Love Is Here to Stay,” a perfect expression of the affection we all have for Margaret Whiting and Mabel Mercer.

Joel Benjamin
Cabaret Scenes
October 21, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org