If luck seems to perch on one of Laura Osnes’s shoulders, there is no denying that talent sits on the other side. Lovely on the eyes and the ears, this latest ingénue charmer of the big stage proves she can bring the same magic to the small stage, and one no less upscale than the plush Café Carlyle. She’s been acclaimed for her work in recent major musicals including Pipe Dream (Encores!) and Broadway’s Anything Goes and Bonnie and Clyde. She played Sandy Dumbrowski in the refent revival of Broadway’s Grease, replaced Kelli O’Hara in South Pacific, and sang the part of Maria in Carnegie Hall’s concert production of The Sound of Music.  Next up, she will star in the Broadway production of Cinderella, a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s television musical.

While noted for her theater work, a cabaret show demands a different perspective. Osnes has a strong start here with her silvery vocal tone, glamour and warmth that win audience affection. Directed by Joe Longworth, her patter reflects the polish of practice, practice, practice—perhaps a bit too much polish—but that is preferable to newcomers who go the wing-it route, over-apologizing for first-time jitters. Osnes attacks her cabaret stage fright straight on with some slightly tweaked lyrics to a soaring “I Have Confidence” (Richard Rodgers). Quipping that she was “Born to Entertain” (Marvin Laird and Joel Paley), she shares an entertaining audio clip of herself as a twelve-year-old singing Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s classic from Funny Girl, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and follows by singing live along with the tape.

In the theater songs, Osnes lets the characters shine through, joyful in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Wonderful Guy,” starry-eyed with “Til There Was You” from Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, a show Osnes hopes to perform in someday. The pop tunes are less distinctive. John Davenport and Eddie Cooley’s “Fever” has the finger-snapping feel of Peggy Lee-Lite and with Randy Newman’s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” she fails to find the depressive intent. Osnes hits her most personal note with Newman’s “When She Loved Me,” a poignant dedication to her late mother.

She is accompanied by a vivid quartet: guitarist Marc Copley; Pete Donovan on bass; Larry Lelli on drums; and pianist Fred Lassen.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
June 19, 2012
www.cabaretscenes.org