Irreplaceable! Irrepressible! The Queen Bee of Cabaret, Julie Wilson, has been there, done that and can still hold her audience breathless, right in the palm of her lace-gloved hand. She does as much justice, if not more, to a song in what has become her monologue style of singing, than many can actually do singing!   Undoubtedly, she conveys what a song has to say with the expressive, dramatic theatrical abilities she possesses.  Opening her set, to a room of cheers and hoots, with Cole Porter’s “Don’t Look At Me That Way, Julie then segued into another Porter tune, down n’ dirty, “Laziest Gal In Town” from Stage Fright, telling her audience at the end “I hope you all have a Big Daddy!”

Hearing beautiful verses to songs like “Once in a Blue Moon” as it segues into   “Blue Moon” is a treat. Standards like “You Turned The Tables On Me,” “It All Depends on You,” “Dream"/"I Can Dream, Can’t I,” Peter Allen & Carole Bayer Sager’s “Everything Old Is New Again” can never be wrong choices. 

You want funny? You want humor?  Try Francesca Blumenthal’s “If He Were Straight (And I Were Young)” on for size. I think the audience is still laughing. What great lyrics!  And if Julie happens to miss a lyric here or there and needs a reminder from superstar accompanist Christopher Denny, she counters with “whatever!” Somehow when one reaches the tender age of 82, (whoops did I say that!) it seems an appropriate response.

Julie has always been one of the master interpreters of lyric and still proves the point with Rodgers & Hart’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” – I’ve tripped again, I’ve slipped again, my chastity belt is unzipped again.  This spellbinding, elegant lady conveys her thoughts poignantly and emotionally with Weill/Brecht’s “Surabaya Johnny,” more a theatre piece.  The wonderful Weill/Brecht “Mack The Knife” arrangement and Julie’s sexy body moves punctuating Polly Peachum, Sukey Tawdry, Lucy Brown are a sight to behold! 

Dressed in a long, tight gown, with lovely floral pattern and glitter, along with signature gardenia in her chignon-styled hair, Julie Wilson is the quintessential lady of elegance in cabaret. She’s slim and sleek and gorgeous. Perhaps many newcomers can take a hint from her in the art of dressing for performance. She is a supportive presence at just about everyone’s show. The audience was filled with people who adore her; old friends from her past, as well as performers KT Sullivan, Barbara Brussell, Baby Jane Dexter, Lynn DiMenna and Carol Woods. Julie, we love you!  Shows run at the Metropolitan Room thru April 26^th. See calendar for specific dates/times.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
April 16, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org