Marissa Mulder and Bill Zeffiro
Unconventional
Metropolitan Room, NYC, October 15, 2015
Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes
On the surface, Marissa Mulder and Bill Zeffiro are a mismatched pair, an odd couple—that is until they spin out a show like Unconventional at the Metropolitan Room. The young cutie pie with the piles of red curls and a delightfully girlish voice paired with the older, balding guy with the terrific saloon voice and sensational pianistic skills?
They played off each other with mocking humor and touching mutual admiration. When it came time to sing, any doubts of a mismatch dissipated. Even the ultimate competitive duet, “Anything You Can Do” (Berlin) came across as practically genteel because, unfortunately, they clearly like each other and couldn’t feign the snide attitude!
It’s clear that both have learned from each other, too.
“Two of a Kind” (Darin/Mercer) was their declaration of interdependence.
Mulder’s solos ranged from a lovely “The Way You Look Tonight” (Kern/Fields) to the up-tempo, finger-snapping tribute to Jimmy Van Heusen, “Come Fly with Me” (words by Cahn), and on to an odd pairing of “Moon River” (Mancini/Mercer) and “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (Arlen/Harburg), which didn’t quite mesh.
Zeffiro’s solos included a tribute to Sinatra, “You and Me (We Wanted It All)” (Allen/Bayer Sager), his own funny tribute to failed romance, “Lower Your Expectations” and, from the pair’s upcoming Woody Allen-themed show, “Agita” (Forte), which need a bit more oomph.
The highlight of the show was a Manhattan Gershwin medley (again, with reference to Woody Allen) in which Zeffiro incredibly interpolated bits and pieces of “Rhapsody in Blue” between “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Do, Do, Do,” “’S Wonderful” and “Embraceable You.” Mulder, Zeffiro and the Gershwin brothers rarely sounded better.
