Now that we’re officially more than a month into the fall season, there’s been a noticeable uptick in the number of new cabaret shows opening in Manhattan. This week, I report on four such shows: a solo cabaret debut from a familiar face, a set of American Songbook gems from a club stalwart, a tribute to a 1950s-60s singing icon, and a program with, in the words of Cole Porter, “no more blue songs—only whoop-dee-doo songs.”

Happy November, all! (And please don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, if you haven’t already done so.)

Matthew Martin Ward– What I Love

I’ve seen Matthew Martin Ward perform many times over the years, playing piano and sometimes providing background vocals (or duet vocals) for cabaret singers— more often than not for the wonderful Sally Darling. But in What I Love, a new show at Don’t Tell Mama, directed by Geoffrey Stoner, Ward is front and center for the first time as vocalist, while also accompanying himself at the keyboard.

His voice is deep and resonant, with some grit to it, and you don’t have to worry about him not being heard. With seeming ease, he establishes interesting dichotomies in his performance: His spoken passages are clever with touches of whimsy, yet he seems altogether down to earth—playful and dryly funny at times, but never shallow. He’s rather reserved, and yet he commands the stage.

Ward’s setlist is an interesting mix. There are a handful of songs that you’ll probably know, others on the esoteric side, and some originals for which he wrote the music (his lyric-writing partners include Stephen Cole and Peter Napolitano). For one number, “Find Your Way Home,” he wrote both music and words.

The highlight of the evening I attended was Lennon and McCartney’s “The Fool on the Hill,” for which Ward has created an arrangement based on a Chopin étude: quite effective. I also liked his simple, heartfelt take on “Up on the Roof” (Carole King, Gerry Goffin). And the Sondheim-ish “What’s Next” (lyric by Napolitano) is lively, smart, and likable.

At this performance, there were occasional moments on some songs—most notably during Jimmy Webb’s “Still Within the Sound of My Voice”— when Ward seemed to strain a bit when going for the higher notes. This may have been a one-off thing. But if it’s ongoing, adjustments to the key might be in order.

All in all, this is a satisfying show from a seasoned pro venturing into headlining as a solo vocalist. I applaud Ward’s adventurousness, as well as his gracious manner, and I hope this won’t be just a one-time thing.

Presented at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46^th St., NYC, Oct. 13 & Dec. 4.

Tanya Moberly— Standards

She’s sung songs by Sondheim, Seals & Crofts, Annie Lennox, and a big roster of contemporary New York songwriters, but Tanya Moberly has not previously performed an entire show featuring songs from the Great American Songbook. That changed with the debut of a new Don’t Tell Mama show, called simply Standards, which features a grand total of 28 American pop and theatre songs written between 1923 and 1962—from Turkey Trot era to Twist time.

Twenty-eight songs is a lot of music for an hourlong show. Moberly is able to make room for all of it in part by doing away almost entirely with spoken passages: a practice that she has adopted in past shows (her own, as well as those for other singers whom she has directed). In this show, she speaks a bit after the opening number about what her show is about and why she is doing it. Then it’s wall-to-wall song until her closing words to the audience. There were an incredible number of notes and words to be memorized, but she never seemed to falter a jot at her opening-night show—nor did I notice the slightest flicker of hesitation.

She is also nimble with her song styling: able to change her frame of mind quickly as she moves from sweet songs to angry ones, from songs of heartache to songs with a funny streak. It’s difficult to single out the ones that work best from the double-deck setlist, but a few winning cards flew out of the pack on opening night. She was emotionally intense tackling a pair of hyper-dramatic Cole Porter ballads, “In the Still of the Night” and “I Concentrate on You.” On “I Wanna Be Around” (Johnny Mercer, Sadie Zimmerstedt) she gleefully (almost maniacally) reveled in plans for romantic vengeance. And she was vulnerable and introspective with a heartfelt turn on “I Wonder What Became of Me” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer).

Backing Moberly on piano is musical director Ian Herman, who gets an especially vigorous workout on two of the “newer” songs in the set, 1954’s “Something’s Gotta Give” (Johnny Mercer) and 1962’s “Call Me Irresponsible” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn). As for Ritt Henn on bass, he’s his usual wonderful, reliable self. Let’s never take his musical artistry for granted.

Presented at Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St., NYC, Oct. 17 & 18 and Nov. 14 & 15, 2024.

Kati Neiheisel– London by Night

Kati Neiheisel, near the top of her very enjoyable tribute show London by Night (directed by Lina Koutrakos), told the audience at Pangea that American vocalist/actress Julie London didn’t really consider herself much of a singer. Sad to think that this artist, who had numerous hits during the 1950s and 1960s, may have attributed the attention she received principally to her physical beauty and sexual allure, rather than to any great musical talent.

Critic Nick Dedina, commenting on London’s cool, sophisticated way of singing, wrote that some of her best recordings tended to be “steeped in the style and mood of laid-back West Coast jazz.” Could uneasiness about her perceived vocal limitations have led her to this low-key approach? Or was she just going with the artistic flow toward coolness that predominated in the era of the Cold War and Jack Kerouac? In any case, London’s career as a singer went “pffft” just as the 1960s were about to end.

Neiheisel covered the London biography quite thoroughly in this show, making her subject’s life story clear for those with little knowledge of her career or personal life. Neiheisel clearly loves and admires London, but—after singing a Marlboro jingle that the star performed during her long association with that cigarette brand—she noted that tobacco and alcohol diminished London’s health and contributed to her decision to give up singing while still in her mid-40s. (London would continue to work as an actor, famously appearing with her second husband, songwriter/musician Bobby Troup, on TV’s Emergency.)

Adopting a sort of relaxed, smooth, and elegant persona herself, Neiheisel did a fine job singing highlights from the star’s catalogue. She performed Troup’s “Daddy,” the quintessential gold-digger song; “Go Slow” (Ned Kronk, Russell Garcia), a song with startling sexual suggestiveness; and “Girl Talk” (Troup and Neil Hefti) with its now-cringey reflection of mid-20th century gender norms, something Neiheisel warned the audience about before launching into the song. She saved the most famous London song of all, “Cry Me a River” (Arthur Hamilton), for her finale, hitting all the marks.

I especially liked her breezy but thoughtful take on “Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)” (Newton Mendonça, Antônio Carlos Jobim), a bossa nova delight. But I liked most those occasional instances when Neiheisel would cut loose with some not-so-whispery measures, letting us know what she is capable of when singing songs not associated with cool cucumber Julie.

Musical director and pianist Gregory Toroian, bassist Skip Ward, and drummer David Silliman deftly supported Neiheiser throughout the evening. And the Neiheiser/Toroian vocal duet on Troup’s “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” was one of the show’s brightest spots.

Presented at Pangea, 178 2nd Ave., NYC, Aug. 24, Sept. 26, and Oct. 18, 2024.

Susan Mack– No More Blues

The name of Susan Mack’s recent Birdland show, No More Blues (directed by Lina Koutrakos), is also the English title of Chega de Saudade, a Brazilian song with Portuguese lyrics that Mack sang midway through the set, written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, and with an English lyric by Jon Hendricks. But “no more blues” also served as a theme of sorts for the show itself, which focused on songs that accentuate the positive.

That said, this song list was actually quite eclectic: some numbers burned with a a quiet glow, others were virtual firestorms. Most tunes were up-tempo as well as upbeat, but they also managed somehow to strike the right tone for a Halloween-night performance. (The show was originally presented at Birdland in June.)

Old Devil Moon (Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg) was the ideal opening number for the occasion, celebrating a magical love spell that is, technically speaking, diabolical. The follow-up selection was a pairing of carpe diem-themed songs, “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” (Al Hoffman, Walter Kent, Mann Curtis) and “Are You Having Any Fun” (Sammy Fain, Jack Yellen). This mashup afforded Mack a joyful, sing-and-swing chariot-race of a performance, thanks to a rousing arrangement by Tedd Firth. Other songs ranged from oldies like Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s “Get Happy” to numbers written by Stevie Wonder and John Lennon.

Mack is a spirited singer with a cabaret-jazz approach and a voice that is flexible and engaging. She’s especially at ease with vocalese and scat numbers. Unfortunately, I arrived very close to showtime, and was seated on the side, quite close to the band. Though it didn’t prevent me from enjoying the show, from that vantage point, the musicians’ sounds seemed at times to overwhelm Mack’s vocals, and I didn’t feel I was hearing the nuance that the audience out front was hearing. (Note to self: get there early!)

The between-songs patter had a personal touch (Mack spoke of her children, her mother, her experiences living in New York before moving to Long Island). There were a couple welcome October surprises. The first was the inclusion of a selection called simply “October,” which opened with some werewolfish baying and ghoulish scatting from Mack, accenting John Coltrane’s “Equinox,” then pivoted to the spoken recitation of an award-winning poem that she wrote while a high-schooler. The second surprise was a Latin-tinged song for which Mack wrote both music and lyrics. Called “A Brighter Day,” it celebrated music’s power to lift moods.

Through it all, the four-piece band—led by musical director Alan Farnham on piano and featuring David Finck (bass), Eric Halvorson (drums), and Tim Armacost (tenor sax)—supported Mack with gusto. Flautist Wendy Luck added a dash of her talent on one number.

While I appreciated Mack’s all-joy program—which provided a welcome respite from pre-election anxiety—I hope that, next time out, she’ll provide at least a few blue notes. The closest she came in this show was probably the enjoyably smoky “Save Your Love for Me” (Buddy Johnson), but with Mack’s prevailing rosy attitude, there seemed little doubt that the love in question would indeed be saved. In any case, bright musical moments can seem even brighter when they’re contrasted with some shadow.

Presented at Birdland, 315 W. 44th St. , NYC, June 10 and Oct. 31, 2024.

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