Cabaret Review By Marilyn Lester… Seventy-six years ago, in 1948, a radio show entitled “Life Begins at Eighty” debuted, eventually moving on in 1950 to that new invention: television. At the genesis of the show, actress-singer Lynne Charnay was 23. But she must have taken something on board and absorbed it well, because now, on the threshold of 100, she’s going strong, her love of life undiminished. But her recent appearance at Don’t Tell Mama was a “make up show.” For some time Charnay has only appeared on the cabaret stage twice in a year: on her April birthday and on her son Tony Mark’s birthday. This past April she was seriously ill in the hospital, yet determined, with a fierce will, to get back to business, which she most certainly did. And she’s still got “it,” especially judging by the overflow crown in the venue’s Brick Room. Charnay is clearly adored.

Training and experience on stage and in film and television shows in her well-executed time on stage. Charnay can also turn on a dime. Just before the date her long-time music director Rolf Barnes had to drop out. Quickly replacing him was Dennis Buck. The transition was seamless. As to her style, long ago, the singer to whom Frank Sinatra claimed he owed everything, Mable Mercer, performed in parlando (sing-speak), while seated. Using that template, Charnay moved through 24 songs of remarkable diversity; these well-curated pieces, mostly (and probably) unknown, hit a range of moods and emotions, all executed with appropriate perfection. Her choices were sophisticated; one could imagine being in a boite in the nightclub era of a long-ago New York. Digging back in time, she opened with “Summer Is Over” a ballad written pre-Ebb for the musical A Family Affair, with lyrics by James Goldman and William Goldman. (Charnay loves Kander’s music especially, she revealed.) The back story for the number and other bits of narrative as the show progressed were as concise as they were interesting and often humorous. In an IYKYK choice, she surprised many with the original French version of “Autumn Leaves” aka “Les Feuilles mortes” (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert) remarking how Johnny Mercer’s English lyrics changed the entire meaning of the song.

Charnay’s gift for comedy was presented in full force, reminding us of the old showbiz adage, “dying is easy; comedy is hard.” supposedly uttered on his death bed by character actor Edmund Gwenn. Well, the singer made it seem easy with “Beast in You” the Elaine Stitch burner from the 1958 musical Goldilocks, sung here with an arrangement reminiscent of a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. Several performers were brought to the stage to sing with Charnay, whom they clearly adored. The very young singularly named Walter offered a sweet round with “You’re Just in Love” (Irving Berlin). The operatic Frank Basile, his rich baritone in top shape sang a Paris medley with Charnay; Debbie Damp sang a heartfelt duet on “Together,Wherever We Go” (Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim); and last but not least, mother and son, Tony Mark, dove into the old chestnut, “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (Ray Henderson, Lew Brown).

In about six months the remarkable Lynne Charnay will become a centenarian. In preparation for that momentous event and the show she’ll appear in at Don’t Tell Mama, she closed her set with a rousing delivery of Jerry Herman’s “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow” (The Grand Tour). We have no doubt about that.