It's a fortunate thing that Johnny Mercer was such a prolific songwriter. Its allowed Leslie Anderson and Ricky Ritzel to establish themselves as two of the songmeister's most frequent and most charming advocates. For the past several years, the pair has mounted their Johnny Mercer A to Z shows at various venues in The Big Apple, in the process becoming as knowledgeable about the variety of Mercer lyrics as anyone, and more entertaining at performing them than most others by a long shot.

Right off the bat, Anderson and Ritzel catch Mercer's whimsy with "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry," embellish it with their own interplay, and pass the jubilance on to their audience. The pair's longtime collaboration serves them equally well with the fun of "Jubilation T. Cornpone" and "Word a Day." Fortunately, they are as adept communicating the more emotive "P.S. I Love You" and "My Shining Hour." It's no wonder that the cabaret community bestowed both a Backstage Bistro Award and a MAC Award on the twosome for their Mercer performances.

This latest manifestation of Mercer passion is the series at the Metropolitan Room, in which each production utilizes a different song list. If not every one of Mercer's 2000-or-so songs is Academy Award material, it doesn't take down the show -- the good-spirited Anderson & Ritzel are a perfect match to Mercer. And to each other.

Johnny Mercer A to Z plays the last Thursday of each month with an ever-changing selection of songs. My suggestion: turn off the evening news and find something to enjoy with Anderson and Ritzel at the Metropolitan Room.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
August 30, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org