Sally Martin kept the season of romance going with her show, A Parisian Valentine, on February 16th. It was presented at the Corner Store, one of DC’s newest art venues, located on Capitol Hill. When people ask me for a definition of cabaret, I often say that it’s like singing for friends in your living room. The intimate workshop space at the Corner Store fits that vibe perfectly.

Per the title, Sally Martin presented a show focused on romance, especially in songs associated with well-known French speaking artists. Represented were Josephine Baker (“J’Ai Deux Amours," "Mon Pays et Paris”), Charles Aznavour (“For Me, Formidable”), Jean Sablon (“Pigalle”), Jacques Brel (“Carousel”), and a good dose of Edith Piaf (“La Vie en Rose,” “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien,” “L’Hymne a l’Amour”). The program also included romantic tracks from her recently released CD, Another Time, Another Place including the title song (written by her music director James Fitzpatrick), as well as “I Had a Dream About You,” “Carey,” and Paul Simon’s “America.”

Martin is an elegant singer, yet she performs with an ease and comfort that makes her audience part of her romance. While much of the material she sang was in French, she did a great job of reaching her audience with the core story and emotion of the material, even in another language. From the list above one can tell that she performed much of the music one would expect to hear in an evening of cabaret French love songs, but two less-known songs were particular delights – the Brel song “Le Prochain Amour” is a lovely exploration of heading into pre-doomed love, and Martin effectively used the Piaf rarity “C’Est L’Amour” as an intro to “No, Je Ne Regrette Rien.”

Martin’s work was supported by the superb music direction of James Fitzpatrick who managed to find the right mood for the show, filtering disparate material into a cohesive whole.

Sally Martin and James Fitzpatrick proved that if you treat old French chestnuts with love and care, you can provide marrons glacé for your audience.

Michael Miyazaki
Cabaret Scenes
February 16, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org