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“Gregory Nalbone In Concert”
Metropolitan Room – November 1
Gregory Nalbone’s name has been popping up in cabaret circles in recent months, not only because of his various shows in many of the rooms around town, but because of his modeling photos in various stages of undress. Naturally, the singing gigs and the looks have gotten him the attention of Next, the gay party magazine, and uber-promoter Mark Nelson. In the difficult business of cabaret, that can’t hurt in terms of attracting a crowd. Veterans in cabaret circles, however, might view Nalbone a little skeptically.
That would be a shame because, it turns out, the handsome young man has quite a lot to offer. Making his way through the crowd at the Metropolitan Room, wearing black slacks and a gold jacket with satin lapels over a white tux shirt, he happily took center stage and sang “The Way You Look Tonight” (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields). It becomes obvious that the guy can sing and he also comes across as friendlier and more fun-loving than those brooding, sexy, soap-opera-villain photos would suggest.
Although, with a few exceptions, Nalbone’s song list is somewhat typical Great American Songbook, the arrangements were often imaginative and he carried the show with the spirit of a hard-working trouper and the charm of his ingratiating personality. He is, in fact, very funny. He told a hilarious story of how he ended up with the gold jacket: The idea came from Liberace, who appeared to him in a dream. When Nailbone found a gold Jacket and insisted on adding satin lapels, his designer told him, “That’s too much,” to which he responded, “Perfect.”
For the first couple of songs, Nalbone skirted the edge of Vegas lounge act with his mannerisms, but once he settled in, a more professional stagecraft took over. He turned a slowed-down version of Cole Porter’s “So in Love” into a bedroom seduction, and perched on a stool, slowly removed his bow tie and jacket, rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the shirt midway. He deftly managed what could have become camp or simply too much, and made it an honest and sensual moment.
Other highlights included a high-energy “Something’s Gotta Give” (Johnny Mercer) and an impassioned “Wild Horses” (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards), which became an anthemic showstopper. Even better was when he put his stamp on lesser-known songs: Max Steiner and Mack David’s “My Own True Love (Tara’s Theme)” was delivered with simple, unadorned honesty. Likewise, “My Declaration” (Tom Baxter) had admirable sincerity plus a nice build. He closed with the sonically pleasing “Could it Be Magic” (Adrienne Anderson, Barry Manilow), a reminder that some of those disco songs weren’t bad at all.
There are a few bad habits that Nalbone should seek to correct. When he tells stories, funny as they may be, he uses vocal fillers such as “like” that becomes distracting. He can also be overly dramatic at times, adding histrionics that are not needed. This was especially evident on Craig Carnelia’s vocally challenging “Flight.” The drama is built into the song; just singing it well would suffice. Also, Nalbone is basically a crooner, but he seems to feel the need to embellish songs with octave jumps and belting high notes, à la American Idol. These devices are not called for by his material; rather, they appear to stem from a desire to show that he can do it, rather than to serve the songs—and sometimes Nalbone pushes his ability. Finally, what sounds like a Brooklyn accent (oddly, not too evident in his speech) occasionally creeps into the singing: “heart” becomes “hawt”, for example. All of these are technical issues that, with practice, can be fixed.
Nalbone was backed by Russ DiBona on drums, Saadi Zain on bass (with whom Nalbone shares a nice bass/vocal verse on Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”) and musical director David Schaefer on piano. Schaefer is a great player and he has contributed nice arrangements, but, to this reviewer, he’s a little heavy-handed on the keys for a singer like Nalbone; he’d be a good match for someone like Klea Blackhurst, for example. It would be hard to find a singer who is more gracious in thanking his musicians than Nalbone is. The show was directed by Debbi Burdett. All in all, professional stagecraft and a nicely textured program of songs and patter made for an entertaining evening.
Gregory Nalbone has been very savvy about working all of his assets to garner some attention for his burgeoning singing career. If he corrects a few issues and continues to work as hard, the pay-off should be great.
Kevin Scott Hall performed in cabaret clubs for many years and recorded three CDs, including “New Light Dawning” in 1998, which received national airplay. He also worked at the legendary piano bar, Rose’s Turn, and has taught cabaret workshops and directed shows since 1995. Kevin earned his MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York. He is an adjunct professor in the Theatre and English departments at City College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. His novel, “Off the Charts!” was published in 2010, and his memoir, “A Quarter Inch from My Heart” (Wisdom Moon), in 2014. Kevin writes a monthly column and entertainment features for Edge Media Network, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and freelances for other publications.
