Anita Kallen: When You Least Expect It!

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Anita Kallen

When You Least Expect It!

Davenport’s, Chicago, IL, 9/11/15

Reviewed by Carla Gordon for Cabaret Scenes

Anita-Kallen-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Anita Kallen delivers a musical exploration of the unexpected in When You Least Expect It! As the lyrics to her opening number “Orange Colored Sky” say, “Flash!
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Bam! Alakazam!” Kallen shares how life is full of surprises. She makes some interesting song choices including Harry Chapin’s “Taxi,” exploring how life does not necessarily follow one’s plan. Some of the best numbers were written by Chicago songwriters.
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Kallen had never expected to marry the proverbial nice Jewish boy and to form a cohesive two-religion family. “Half and Half Holiday” by Owen Kalt and Elizabeth Doyle is a big, funny exploration of the sensitivities and quirks of the unexpected at the holiday dinner with both faiths equally poked. Kallen landed the laughs just right. She found the simplicity and wistful heart of “Surprise Me” by Cheryl Coons and Beckie Menzie. Kander and Ebb’s “Ring Them Bells” is a great song choice for the show’s theme—love can come when and where we least expect it (“Yugoslavia, yet?”), and Kallen has fun telling the story. At times, however, the show seemed a little too deliberate and over-staged. There seemed to be carefully planned but not always organic choices to move from position to position on Davenport’s tiny stage. There were several trips up the steps to sing atop the piano, one of which resulted in staying up there for only the first few bars of the song. Cabaret doesn’t per se require lots of blocking and sometimes just being spontaneous can be the best connection of all.

Carla Gordon

Carla Gordon is a singer/songwriter, director, and producer. The Chicago Tribune cited her among “Chicago’s most accomplished cabaret performers….a major player in Chicago cabaret.” Reviewer Pam Peterson called her “Honey-voiced wisecracker!” Ageless Magazine called her performance as Sophie tucker, “A gem!” Gordon writes custom material for singers nationwide. Her flagship show, "Blacklisted," featuring songs made famous by artists blacklisted under McCarthyism, has toured to critical acclaim. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Cabaret Professionals and on the Advisory Board of the Skokie Theater. Her songs air on WFMT’s Midnight Special and are being performed performed by cabaret artists nationwide. carlacabaret@aol.com