Isabel Rose

October 16, 2014

Expensively produced flash-and-trash is often able to find an enthusiastic audience, even at the high end of the cabaret world. This one-night effort proved that anew, and you didn’t have to go to Las Vegas to see it. Rose, whose show at 54 Below was in aid of her latest album release, “Trouble in Paradise,” is the first to admit that she may not be for all markets. Dressed in what looked like a green one-piece bathing suit covered in green sequins at her chest, and with green spangles dangling over her thighs, she noted, “I look like a gay leprechaun.” Her hennaed, long-fall fright wig was hideous, as she concurred. Her patter and onstage movements were sometimes more than borderline vulgar. (During one song she did a faux lap dance, and in another number she cried out, “Why don’t you give me something to atone for on Yom Kippur?”) Rose seemingly aspired to sing and talk like Bette Midler, and to dance like Ann-Margret. She succeeded at neither, despite her obvious effort and that of her backup team. Still, she clearly had a committed following in her audience, even beyond the abundant coterie of friends and family.

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About the Author

Sherry Eaker has been the producer of the annual Bistro Awards since the awards’ inception in 1985. She is the former editor of "Back Stage" and, during her 30-year run, produced panel discussions and workshop events on an ongoing basis, including the programming for Back Stage’s annual Actorfest. She compiled and edited four editions of the "Back Stage Handbook for Performing Artists," and compiled and edited "The Cabaret Artists Handbook." She is a member of the National Theatre Conference and the American Theatre Critics Association (and produced eight of ATCA’s New York weekend conferences). She is an advisor to the boards of both the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and the Women in the Arts & Media Coalition.