Sharron Matthews is a force to be reckoned with. She’s brash, in-your-face, picks on her audience—things you might normally shy away from in a cabaret show, yet, somehow, you gravitate toward them in hers. She greets audience members as they enter—latecomers have the show stopped for their entry, even mid-sentence—Matthews picking up where she left off without losing another beat.

Her show is a mix of high comedy, high camp and some great singing. It’s well-scripted, well-crafted, well-delivered and well worth seeing. I’d call her cocktail dress “Weimar Republic meets Lady Gaga,” albeit she has a few more years and curves than Gaga.

While there’s not necessarily a storyline through the show, Matthews gives insights into her life in her native Canada, her observations about pop culture and her single-minded desire to be a rock superstar. She’s an expert at finding pop songs and twisting them to fit her particular story, and calls upon songs made famous by Madonna, Janet Jackson, Nick Gilder, KISS, Whitney Houston, The Bee Gees, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, The Supremes, Lady Gaga and Journey. Her Canadian Cougar medley had far too many songs to keep track of, but is a real comic tour de force.

Matthews brings a unique and interesting combination of comedy, pathos and music to the stage and is backed beautifully on piano by Chris Tsujiuchi, who not just accompanies her, but also adds musical punctuation throughout the show, while playing “straight man” to Matthews’ bigger-than-life characters.

Harold Sanditen
Cabaret Scenes
September 2, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org