Actress and singer Margaret Curry is a Bistro Award-winning cabaret performer. This reviewer saw her perform at the most recent Bistro Awards, and welcomed an opportunity to catch an encore performance of her show recently at The Green Room 42 of her for “The Space In-Between.”
Curry was accompanied by her musical director and pianist, Gregory Toroian, bassist Skip Ward, and drummer David Silliman. This trio of accomplished jazz cats have backed many artists in the cabaret community, almost always as a unit. As such, they have become something of a “Wrecking Crew” of the New York cabaret scene. They are the go-to choice for this show’s director, Lina Koutrakis.
Curry arrived to the stage looking radiant, her black, form-fitting outfit setting off her blonde mane. She spoke about the intriguing show title. “When one thing ends and another begins, that’s the space in-between.”
The show opened with a pair of standards, “Day In, Day Out” (Rube Bloom/Johnny Mercer) and “Something’s Gotta Give” (Johnny Mercer), the latter with a Latin flair. The Midland, Texas native took to a stool to tell her story before breaking into the unusual choice of “Black Water,” a Doobie Brothers hit from the early 1970s. The unique arrangement saw the trio sing the title as a Greek chorus several times as Curry sang the melody.
With “Ain’t Nobody” (David “Hawk” Wolinski), Curry seemed more connected emotionally to the material. She sang this as if she were speaking to someone, and her passion came through.
Continuing her story in patter, she used “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” (Irving Berlin) as a vehicle to express these “in-between spaces” as a woman who married late in life. She acknowledged the marital role model of parents who were married for 54 years. The standard, typically done as a dance number, were here arranged as a slow, thoughtful ballad.
Curry had fun with a pair of food-related songs, first the very funny “Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise” (William Bolcom) that listed the kind of absurd dishes made with recipes one might find on the back of soup cans or boxes of Jell-O. Curry followed this with the witty Dave Frishberg tune, “Let’s East Home.”
Curry’s strongest singing came with “Bhe Ballad of Robin & Marian” (Michele Brourman, a story song with a vaguely Scottish/Irish lilt to it. “The Last Words of Bonnie Parker (Susan Eerner) felt like a confessional. Curry’s ability this feeling of confession is exceptional. The disturbing ending suggested the protagonist died at the end, in some sort of crash.
A brilliant medley of the Isley Brothers “It’s Your Thing” and Isaac Hayes’ “Do Your Thing” somehow reworked these R&B hits into the soul equivalent of Kurt Vonnegut’s commencement speech, giving advice to graduates. Toroian used the “It’s Your Thing” title as a mantra under Curry’s vocal, then again as something of an R&B madrigal.
Curry closed the show with “Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield, Danielle Brisebois [yes, the former child star!] and Wayne Rodrigues). “Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten,” she sang.
Curry is an excellent storyteller with strong acting skills that augment her vocal interpretations. She has a good voice, though at this performance, she had some minor intonation issues. The show is well-constructed, with good pacing and top-notch musical backing
Margaret Curry: The Space In-Between took place in November at Don’t Tell Mama.
Photos: Andrew Poretz
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