The Composer/Lyricist Cabaret
Phoenix Theatre, Phoenix AZ, March 14, 2020
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
The second of two Composer-Lyricist cabarets at the Phoenix Theatre New Works Festival featured songs by Jamie Maletz along with songs co-written by Maletz and her writing partner Eric Fegan. Maletz spent seven years in Arizona where she taught school before heading to New York to be closer to Broadway. She met Fegan in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Several songs she performed are from song cycles by Maletz. “Road Trip,” with its intense harmonic quartet, opened the show. The singers became mom, dad, son, and daughter arguing in the car until they remember a sweeter time when they appreciated being a family. The comic highlight of the show, “53rd and Park,” was the second of three from Lost and Found. Gigi Sierra gave a tour-de-force performance of a woman trying the find the owners of an annoying lost cat who, over the course of the song, figures out the cat is a good trade for her not-so-beloved boyfriend. This one would work for many cabaret singers. Sierra was also great on the third song from the cycle, “I Hope You Weren’t the One.”
Maletz and
Fegan have written four musicals together. “Better Off” and “Burn” from their
musical Wishful Thinking about an evil genie that was accidentaly
released in an antique shop, received their debut. Maletz loves to write
villain songs, and “Burn” was well-sung by Jessie Jo Pauley, though I did wonder
how it would sound sung by a bass-baritone. Fegan, who is a superb pianist,
accompanied the very talented Hahnna Christiansen on “No Matter How You Look at
It.” It’s about a woman trying to overcome the mess of her life.
https://pinnacle.berea.edu/wp-content/languages/new/diploma-online.html
Maletz’s work
is long on meter and story, and there is no shortage of profanity to make a
point.
Fegan accompanied Maletz on her most personal song, “Man Wasn’t Meant to Fly,” about her fear of flying. Four of the songs performed were from their musical The Valley, in which four tourists traveling in Iceland learn about themselves through their encounter with immortal trolls. One of the songs, “While I Still Can,” has been performed in cabaret at The Duplex by Devin Ilaw. Another villain song, “I Just Keep Getting Bigger,” was performed with dark humor and gusto by baritone Joseph Cannon.
The closing number by Maletz, “Write a Song,” performed by the entire company including music director William Sawyer, was from her song cycle What’s Wrong with Me? It was written just before she graduated from NYU and was fearful of the future. No song could be better timed for today’s headlines. “Cracks in hearts and lumps in throats; turn that into ledger notes.” If you are an artist, create art in good times and absolutely when you are afraid.
The New Works Festival was the final hurrah at Phoenix Theatre before everything came to a halt due to America’s efforts to combat spread of the Coronavirus. Maletz had already gotten word that her next showcase in New York, ironically called Don’t Panic, had been cancelled; no doubt so has the reading of The Valley scheduled April 20 at The Green Room 42. Fortunately, at ages 24 and 31 respectively, Fegan and Maletz have time to observe and to keep writing and refining their craft through showcases like the Phoenix Theatre New Works Festival.
