Cabaret Review by JK Clarke . . .
If it’s the holiday season, it must be time for a seasonal spectacle from Michael Colby. As part of Urban Stages’ annual Winter Rhythms festival, librettist/lyricist Colby (Charlotte Sweet) has once again produced a delightful celebration of the holidays in song with Holiday Regards. This time he’s embracing many (if not quite all) of the holidays of the year, from Valentine’s Day to Easter to Independence Day and so on . . . with the aid of a talented group of Broadway and cabaret performers.
Starting the evening off with a video introduction of the program, Colby brought out his company and the ensemble performed the premiere of Mary Feinsinger’s delightful “Holiday Regards,” a fitting introduction to the evening’s program. This was followed by the delightful Megan Styrna (a Colby event regular) performing the charming “The 25th of December” (Ed Alstrom).
The program, directed by Sara Louise Lazarus, then launched into the beginning of the year, starting with “Farewell to Auld Lang Syne” (Gerald Jay Markoe, from Colby’s own Charlotte Sweet), sung by the full ensemble, then on to Valentine’s Day, with the premiere of Bill Zeffiro’s “Cupid,” which Colby introduced by noting that Oscar Hammerstein II had once insisted that one should never use “Cupid” in a song lyric. But Eric Michael Gille tt and Michael Lavine (the evening’s pianist and musical director) did the jaunty number justice, perhaps putting Mr. Hammerstein in his place . . . posthumously at any rate.
More song premieres ensued, including Seth Weinstein’s very amusing St. Paddy’s Day paean, “When Irish Eyes Are Jewish,” delightfully delivered by Nikita Burshteyn. That was followed by “April Moon” (Mary Feinsinger from The Show Must Go On), sweetly sung by Celia Berk.
Tribute was paid even to less prominent “holidays,” like Father’s Day (sandwiched between “Memorial Day,” a premiere by Ned Paul Ginsburg, and Independence Day—the debut of “Proud American” by Sheldon Levin), featuring Andrea Colby’s composition, “The Greater Gift” beautifully sung by Eric Michael Gillett.
There were so many holidays acknowledged that by the time we got to Thanksgiving and “Be Grateful” (by Jack Urbont, from Colby’s Mrs. McThing), prettily sung by Christina Sajous, we not only came to the realization that Hallmark has a seriously awesome racket going, but that there’s much to celebrate the year round. Heck, there was even a quick backtrack to acknowledge National Telephone Day (who knew???) with special guest star, Linda Purl.
The special guest appearances will also change with each performance. Sunday, December 8 featured Bethe Austin and Steven Brinberg, and the final performance, this coming Monday, December 16 will feature Robert Cuccioli and Carole Demas.
For Theater Pizzazz these performances are especially close to our hearts as they have been dedicated to our founder and editor Sandi Durell, who passed this fall. It was a special production Sandi would have loved dearly.
Holiday Regards will have an encore performance, on Monday, December 16 at 7 PM at Urban Stages (259 West 30th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues) as part of the Winter Rhythms ‘24 festival. www.urbanstages.org
Photos: JK Clarke
