Songs Are Made to Sing While We’re Young

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Songs Are Made to Sing While We’re Young

Adela & Larry Elow American Songbook High School Competition

Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC, February 3, 2018

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

Photos by Maryann Lopinto

Adela & Larry Elow

This is a couple who loves music and proves it. Larry Elow is a former jazz musician and writer. His wife, Adela, is a multi-talented artist and former fashion designer. Together they have long been a supportive cabaret duo, familiar faces at New York City clubs and enthusiastic activists in the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. In 1995 at Caramoor, they introduced a concert series for one May weekend every year. They called it Cabaret in the Music Room, specifically aimed for the American Popular Songbook. The opening singer was Barbara Cook and every subsequent year another leading cabaret artist came to Westchester to entertain. In New York, they underwrite the annual Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Convention’s Donald F. Smith Award.

The Elows believe that America’s gift to the world is a unique musical merging of jazz, the musical theater, and popular songs. This music produced an era of material that was romantic, literate, and touched the heart, particularly in the era between the turn of the 20th century to the 1970s. The couple works and gives to keep that music alive and meaningful, remaining into the next century (at least). To that end, they have made a $50,000 endowment to the Mabel Mercer Foundation to be used exclusively over the next 10 years for cash awards to three students a year who compete before a panel of judges.

Administered through the Foundation, this endowment presented its first competition on February 3, 2018. The place was New York City’s Laurie Beechman Theatre near Times Square, and the time was mid-afternoon. The students were chosen from Fiorello H. LaGuardia School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Talent Unlimited High School, and the Professional Performing Arts School and, yes, there is plenty of talent out there.

Says Larry, “The goal of the endowment program is to reach these young people, that age group of thirteen to nineteen, to offer them the opportunity to appreciate, enjoy, and perform the classic songs. We want high school students in these public schools to be exposed to this material—and we want to provide the financial rewards that would be appreciated and needed to further their careers in music.”

The room was buzzing with young performers dressed to the nines, ready to step on stage with their teachers, relatives, friends, and music-lovers in the audience. They were performing in a popular night spot before cabaret professionals for cash prizes and an appearance for the winner at the Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Convention on October 9th at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The judges were well-versed in American song and included writer/critic David Finkle (The Clyde Fitch Report and Huffington Post); cabaret entertainer/director Jeff Harnar; producer/artistic director of the York Theatre, James Morgan; jazz vocalist La Tanya Hall; and music author/historian and producer Deborah Grace Winer.  

Godmother of cabaret, the legendary singer Mabel Mercer, firmly believed that concentration on the lyrics, honesty, and point of view were vital element. The singer has to know what the words mean, not only to her, but also to her listeners. Mabel once said, “It’s not my job to sing my emotions, but to sing my listeners’ emotions.”  Connecting with the audience is all important.

This is a vital point that these young competitors had to learn. One could hear influences of Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand in their songs, which is fine unless it hinders individuality. Physical expression and knowing what to do with your hands is also part of their presentation and, equally vital, is distinct pronunciation as well as over-pronunciation. Stressing every “t” and “d” sounds artificial, but muddling the lyrics is another problem. Contact with the audience and choosing the right song are imperatives, keeping in mind the singer’s age and experience.

In large part, these young performers avoided most, but not all, of these pitfalls. Their obvious talent, ambition, and hard work were evident. Judging had to be difficult; yet, when the three winners had presented their songs, it was obvious that they had achieved what they strove for: gold-star performances. 

While judges deliberated, the room was entertained by Joie Bianco, still a student at Talent Unlimited High School. While experience and previous competitions showed her ease on stage and her voice is secure, she was not eligible for this competition since has already sung (for the last two years) at the 2018 Cabaret Convention, and has been invited back for 2018.

Naomi Autumn Steele

Winning Third Place and a check for $1,000, Naomi Autumn Steele from Talented Unlimited High School added a wry sense of humor to her stately demeanor. Choosing “Gorgeous” from The Apple Tree, she understood the humor in the song and delivered it in her own way, indicating self-denigration that turned to surprise and confidence.

Hannah Jane Peterson

Second Place with a check for $1,500 went to Hannah-Jane Peterson from Professional Performing Arts School. With natural stage presence, she jumped and jived to a Judy Garland film number,  “The Joint Is Really Jumpin’ in Carnegie Hall” from Thousands Cheer, she worked the stage with boogie-woogie moves. 

Christina JImenez

The First Prize of $2,500 went to Christina Jimenez (Professional Performing Arts School) with “Sing Happy” from Flora the Red Menace, well arranged and beautifully delivered with building resonance.  She chose a song that suited her sensibility and her vocal talents.  

Legendary cabaret singer Mabel Mercer firmly believed the truth in the classic “While We’re Young”:  “Songs were made to sing while we’re young.”   This array of talented high school students proved they are ready and eager to tell their stories through an American songbook that will remain young at heart, thanks to Larry and Adela Elow.  

Elizabeth Ahlfors

Born and raised in New York, Elizabeth graduated from NYU with a degree in Journalism. She has lived in various cities and countries and now is back in NYC. She has written magazine articles and published three books: A Housewife’s Guide to Women’s Liberation, Twelve American Women, and Heroines of ’76 (for children). A great love was always music and theater—in the audience, not performing. A Philadelphia correspondent for Theatre.com and InTheatre Magazine, she has reviewed theater and cabaret for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia City News. She writes for Cabaret Scenes and other cabaret/theater sites. She is a judge for Nightlife Awards and a voting member of Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle.