“Sings” may not have been the most creative title for Marnie Klar’s show at Don’t Tell Mama, but it certainly was accurate. She sang alright—loudly, sometimes well, and almost non-stop—delivering 15 pop/rock songs in less than an hour and in a vocal style more suited to a rock concert hall than to an intimate cabaret room.

An actress, model and relative newcomer to the New York cabaret scene (in February, she was featured in Sue Matsuki’s People You Should Know cabaret series at DTM), Klar is a tall, stunning brunette who looks like a cross between Brooke Shields and Liv Tyler. But in this show she sang more like Steven Tyler, going for the kind of power and volume that defines TV competition shows like American Idol. And while her set consisted of songs she obviously loved and related to, you never would have known that because she and director Tanya Moberly made a curious choice—absolutely no script communicating to the audience (which was sparse for this first of three shows) why she was offering these particular songs.

Opening with Adele’s 2010 hit rocker “Rolling in the Deep,” Klar’s nerves were apparent as she seemed to be squeezing the microphone for dear life, while her beautiful big eyes had that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. She settled down a bit on “The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face),” but even on this song you could sense the tension in her face as she looked in only one direction through the entire number. During this song, and later on “Beautiful,” her facial expressions didn’t always fit what the lyrics were intended to convey. On “Love Song,” “Serious,” and “Fidelity,” Marnie again displayed her powerful alto, but without any modulation or subtlety. And with the exception of a brief nod to her pianist and musical director Jeff Cubeta (who provided nice backing/duet vocals on “You Are a Tourist” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”), there was absolutely no interaction with the audience. Klar. Midway through, Klar delivered solid vocals on a Rolling Stones pairing, but there was an awkward transition between “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that needs tightening up.

Marnie’s best moments came on the next two numbers: Shawn Colvin’s “If I Were Brave” and Tori Amos’ “Leather.” On the former, she finally displayed some feel for interpretation and emotion in delivering a lyric; on the latter her power phrasing sounded very similar to Moberly, who regularly blows the roof off Etcetera, Etcetera Restaurant when she sings on Sunday nights as producer of The Salon open mic. Klar was technically fine on the Christine Aguilera hit “Beautiful” (Linda Perry), but even that was a missed opportunity, as the interpretation was a bit mechanical and lacked color and emotion.

The good news for Marnie—and her director—is that she is performing two more shows on November 1 and December 5 at 7 pm, so this first foray can be considered a trial-run preview and gives them plenty of time to transform Sings into a more complete and accessible cabaret show—that isn’t quite as loud.

Stephen Hanks
Cabaret Scenes
October 3, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org