Suzanne Fiore, a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in voice and acting, snagged a MAC Award nomination last year for 'Best Female Debut' after paying her dues touring in musicals like Ragtime and Oliver. Based on her new show, Suzanne Fiore: Live at the Metropolitan Room, it's clear why she was nominated in 2006, as well as why she'll undoubtedly be nominated again and again in years to come with multiple wins inevitable. She's that good!

Deceptively lovely with a classic aquiline nose, high cheekbones and perfect teeth, Fiore tends to hide her beauty, as well as her voice, under a bushel. Dressed in a simple black cocktail dress with a plunging neckline, she opens her set with Amos Lee's "Black River," a haunting ballad Fiore whispers as much as sings, making it difficult to determine whether she's a folk singer, a jazz stylist or a Broadway belter. That question is laid to rest in her second selection, Rodgers & Hart's "The Lady is a Tramp," in which all three vocal types make a dazzling appearance. Starting off cautiously in an inspired arrangement by her musical director and accompanist Ray Fellman, Fiore builds a sassy, samba tempo into a full fledged, brassy onslaught that recalls a young Liza Minnelli in her prime.

Fiore's chest voice is extraordinary, as is her phrasing and control, and, amazingly, she sings the majority of her show in her chest register. An eclectic mix of Joni Mitchell, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Peter Gabriel, Amanda McBroom and Elvis Costello allows her to show off not only her sublime instrument, but also her delightful stage presence that belies her inexperience in this genre. She's comfortable in front of an audience and makes eye contract easily and with true interest. Vocally, she possesses equal parts k.d. lang and Eden Espinosa though her sound is distinctively her own.

Backed by the excellent Fellman, Johnny Paisano (bass) and Steve Singer (drums) in arrangements both spare and elegant, Fiore's talent and confidence are impressive. These were manifested best in a devastating reading of Irving Berlin's I Got Lost in His Arms that was as astonishing for it's power as it was for Fiore's genuine commitment to the lyric. For a minute there, I felt like I was watching a young Nancy LaMott which is the ultimate complement I can ever give anyone.

Suzanne Fiore: Live at the Metropolitan Room has one remaining show on Thursday, March 1st at 7:00 pm. (34 West 22nd Street; 212-206-0440)

David Hurst
Cabaret Scenes
February 24, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org