Anne Kerry Ford is a Ojai, California-based actress and cabaret artist whose Broadway credits include Annie, Threepenny Opera -- that one with Sting in 2000 -- and Jekyll and Hyde, opposite musical theatre veteran John Cullum. In collaboration with her husband, guitarist Robben Ford, and her musical director John Boswell, Anne Kerry Ford has produced three albums and in my view they're all winners. When I aired the second of those discs -- Something Wonderful: Songs of Sondheim and Hammerstein -- on my radio show, Stage Left, back in 1999, I described her performances as idiosyncratic and charming. Now that I've finally had a chance to see her do the show the gave birth to that CD here as part of the Cabaret at Savor series, I see no reason to revise that verdict.

The late Oscar Hammerstein II was both teacher and father figure to Stephen Sondheim. Ms. Ford's song selection, combined with her biographical tidbits on the two men, provided a fascinating and often enlightening view of their similarities and differences. Early in the program, for example, she paired Hammerstein's "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" (music by Jerome Kern) with Sondheim's "Marry Me a Little" (cut from Company originally but restored in the latest revival), describing them as contrasting marriage proposals. I hadn't thought of them in quite that way, but she made it work. Memorable cabaret artists always bring their own unique styles to the songs they perform. In Ms. Ford's case, that means a combination of wide-eyed wonder, open sentiment and a heavy dose of impish humor. It also means that some songs get an unusual spin. The breathlessly lyrical reading of "Something's Coming" that opened the show was a good example. The song is usually an up-tempo number with lots of rhythmic drive, but while Ms. Ford’s version had some of that, it was mostly gentler, with lots of rubato. It worked but, like the quietly intense performance of "Being Alive" that preceded the obligatory encores, it's not what you'd expect.

Her selection of material had its share of surprises as well. The Sondheim selections were largely what you might expect -- "Broadway Baby," "The Miller’s Son," and "With So Little to Be Sure Of" (from Anyone Can Whistle, that brilliantly ambitious social satire that closed after nine performances) -- but there was also a compelling "Move On" (from Sunday in the Park With George), which is usually not on a Sondheim "greatest hits" list. The real obscurities, however, were to be found among the Hammerstein numbers -- not surprising, given how prolific he was. In the case of "I'm One of God's Children" (from Ballyhoo of 1930, a show largely distinguished by W.C. Field's juggling, to judge from contemporary accounts), the obscurity may be deserved -- the song is a certified clunker. Ms. Ford sent it up in style, though -- specifically, the style of the late Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain. She also got plenty of laughs from another bit of Hammerstein arcana, "Vodka" (music by George Gershwin and Herbert Strothart, from a lavish 1925 operetta Song of the Flame), in which she managed the trick of singing just the right notes just a bit flat, a la Jo Stafford in her Darlene Edwards persona. Anybody can do that accidentally. It takes a singer with a good ear to do it deliberately for comic effect.

Ms. Ford was also on solid ground with more well known songs, including "If I Loved You" (easily one of the best love songs ever penned by anyone), "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'," and "Mr. Snow." She also made a very good case for the title tune, "Something Wonderful" from The King and I. It's a song I had rather discounted in the past, but her performance made me listen to it with fresh ears. That, friends, is what cabaret is all about. Cabaret is also about having a sympathetic and smart music director/arranger/pianist. John Boswell was all of that. There was a lot of ebb and flow to Ms. Ford's performances -- the whole tempo rubato thing referred to above -- and Mr. Boswell was with her every step of the way.My only complaint -- a very minor one -- is that Ms. Ford had, at least on the night I saw her, a tendency to swallow final consonants in some of the faster songs -- "The Miller's Son" being a good example. Striking a balance between lyrical clarity and tonal beauty is ongoing technical challenge for any singing actor, of course, and from their response it's clear that the audience didn't see this as a problem in any case.The evening was, in fact, something wonderful.

Chuck Lavazzi
Cabaret Scenes
November 1, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org