Joan Crowe raises her curtain with a fresh and fast paced “Devil May Care” delivery that is over-eager to start the show and more concerned for the forest than the trees: thus in a hyperventilated enthusiasm individual notes fall slightly below hither and somewhat short of yon. But she has gotten it out of her system and us in the mood to hear her disprove Sue Matsuki/Gregory Toroian’s “The White Girls Can’t Sing the Blues, Blues” followed by a comfortable conversational Frank Loesser “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” Not too long later, Joan leaves me with my mouth open with a miraculously written (Jay Leonhart), arranged, played and performed “They’re Coming to Get Me.” Lots of other goodies, not the least of which is Randy Newman’s “Short People,” probably never more wickedly nor wryly rubbing your short nose in it. By the way, it’s worth mentioning that Ms. Crowe’s depth of intelligence keeps sniffing the air in subtly nuanced ways all through the program. Our “chanteuse for the evening” finishes the satisfying set with a perky Harburg and Arlen “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” (who I guess was still twitching* despite Leonhart’s earlier “Nukular” stake through the heart. You just can’t kill ‘em)!

*An unfortunate technical recording-twitch/glitch, especially disconcerting for a live performance, is the crude dead air splicing between songs.

Noah Tree
Cabaret Scenes
October 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org