Review by Ron Fassler . . .
Her mastery of cabaret should come as no surprise to fans of Megan Hilty’s Broadway work, already well aware how beautifully she knows her way around a song.
Megan Hilty has been a part of the Broadway landscape since arriving in New York as a twenty-two-year-old fresh out of Carnegie Mellon University’s musical theatre program. Initially hired to standby for Kristin Chenoweth during the first year of Wicked’s long-running triumph, it led to her succeeding Jennifer Laura Thompson as the show’s third Glinda. In addition to later creating the leads in two musicals, 9-5 (in the Dolly Parton role) and the recently departed Death Becomes Her (channeling her inner Meryl Streep), Hilty starred in the cult TV-series Smash. Between gigs, she’s been consistently packing large concert halls backed by symphony orchestras as well as snuggling into the cozy comforts of the Café Carlyle, where last night she ended the seventh of her residencies over the past fifteen years. Her mastery of cabaret should come as no surprise to fans of her Broadway work, already well aware how beautifully she knows her way around a song. Backed by a band of true friends (one of them her husband, Brian Gallagher) elegant musicianship abounds in a well-crafted set.
For this engagement, Hilty concentrated on songs mostly associated with shows she’s appeared in. Sadly, she did not include any from Jule Styne and Leo Robbins smashing score to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which she did performed brilliantly at City Center’s Encores! in 2012, even though her co-star, Rachel York, was in attendance. Still, it was great fun to hear songs from Death Becomes Her (score by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey), Dolly Parton’s “Backwoods Barbie” from 9-5, and a breathtaking rendition of “Second Hand White Baby Grand” from Smash. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s work on this song is among their best and no one knows how to sing their stuff like Hilty. It should be mentioned she opened the show with “Let’s Be Bad,” also from Smash, and even confessed at one point that since she does so many songs from the Shaiman/Wittman catalog that she may have to eventually devote a whole show to them. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Longtime musical director Matt Cusson not only plays a mean piano but dueted a bit throughout the evening with Hilty, along with her husband/guitarist Brian Gallagher, who has a very sweet voice. Jack DeBoe (drums) and Dennis Michael Keefe (bass) rounded out the quartet of musicians with a warmth and presence that only a close-knit group like this one can create.
What sets Hilty aside from most musical theatre creatures is her ability to both put aside her inner diva while also sending it up. She’s very funny, comfortable in her skin, and doesn’t put on any fake airs while working the intimacy of a space like the Carlyle. She appears genuinely happy to be performing and thrilled to be working alongside her husband and such close friends, all of which makes for down home-style entertainment of the first order.
Mention should be made of what a special experience it is to see anyone perform at the Café Carlyle. The staff makes every guest feel like a VIP, the service and food are impeccable, and the atmosphere relaxes you in such a way that new friends can be made of the strangers seated next to you. Add that to the grace and talent of someone like Megan Hilty and you have the ingredients for a fabulous night on the town.
Megan Hilty appeared at Café Carlyle June 16th through 27th at Café Carlyle, 375 E. 76th Street, NYC. For information on future programming, please visit here.
Photos by Terrance Tolan.
Headline photo: Megan Hilty, Dennis Michael Keefe, and Brian Gallagher.
