Steve Masterson knows how to keep an audience entertained with pleasant songs and terrific stories, amped up by strong acting chops.  Looking a lot like an ever-boyish Robert Morse, Masterson created magic on two ballads.  During “Mama, Look Sharp” (Sherman Edwards, from 1776), he was absolutely mesmerizing as he re-created a number he said he had done on Broadway — touching the audience to the point that it was hushed at the end of the song and very slow to begin applauding, apparently not wanting to break the mood Masterson had just set.

He was also excellent on a moving version of “Send in the Clowns” (Stephen Sondheim), from A Little Night Music — a show whose original production Masterson said he had seen nearly 40 times.  His powers of observation apparently served him well, as his ability to act the lyrics kicked in admirably.

On other songs, however, he struggled a bit, with persistent difficulties hitting some low notes and over-compensating on some higher notes by switching to recitation rather than singing to put the lyrics across.

His patter was mainly concerned with his early years living in New York, leading at one point to a well-chosen medley of three New York songs — Cole Porter’s “I Happen to Like New York” (from The New Yorkers), “How About You?” (Burton Lane/Ralph Freed), and “Every Street’s a Boulevard in Old New York” (Jule Styne/Bob Hilliard, from Hazel Flagg). Masterson used the discussion of his move to New York in 1973 as a setup to introduce Jessica Ruane, an electrifying 22-year-old singer making her cabaret debut, who had moved to New York from Southern California just three weeks earlier.  Her set displayed her wide vocal range and strong performing abilities with well-chosen songs from different eras: “I Wish It So” (Marc Blitzstein, from Juno), which showed off her vocal power from the very first note; an amusing “Shopping Around” (Harold Rome, from Wish You Were Here), which she said she used for years as an audition song; and the rangy, emotional “Remember Me” (Michael John La Chuisa, from Little Fish).  For an encore, she touchingly evoked another time and place with “I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)” (Duke Ellington/Paul Francis Webster), which showed the big-band singer she might have been in another era.

Providing Masterson and Ruane with strong support was Musical Director Bill Newlin.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
July 28, 2012
www.cabaretscenes.org