Annie Kozuch is a lovely looking actress and singer with the figure you might expect from a triathlon athlete. Her soprano voice is pure and she reaches effortlessly for high notes, usually sustaining them with ease. In her show, Diva's Lament, at The Laurie Beechman Theatre, where she was accompanied by her Lamentations, Peter Donovan on bass and Jacob Melchior on drums, as well as her musical director Frank Ponzio on the piano, Annie sang in English, Portuguese, and Spanish (she is bilingual in English and Spanish, having been raised in Mexico). Her songs ranged widely and in a spoof on a song list that each member of the audience could pick up at the door, she lists "Ma's Advice," "A Classic Song," "A Foreign Song," "Another One," "A Wishful Song," a "Sexy and Sad Song," and others. For Annie is also funny, exuberant, frequently facetious. But it would be wrong to think she was anything but serious when she sang such songs as "How Deep is the Ocean," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," and a Sondheim piece, "I Wish I Could Forget You," which she was willing to admit was giving her some trouble. In some songs she shifted mid-way into a jazz rendition, her jazz gentle and well handled. And throughout she was in touch with the lyrics, singing each song with just the right amount of emotion and the careful phrasing the content required.

So why does this talented singer constantly undercut her performance with patter and some songs that seem to say to the audience, "Don't take me too seriously." She presents herself as do many cabaret performers these days (perhaps too many) as the single woman who, surprised at still being single, is stressed by failed relationships. Her self-deprecation is perhaps epitomized by a song entitled "You Beat My Dog," but, to boil down the rest, I still love you. "I Can Cook Too" is her facetious take on a possible profile of herself she could use for an on-line search for a date. And her frivolous patter sometimes clashes with the honest and serious emotions expressed in her songs.

Actually, the odd contrast between the self-put-downs and the beautifully rendered songs worked in this show. The audience often laughed and no one could leave thinking, "Well, just another pretty cabaret singer with a good volice." Annie comes across as very much her own person, unique. Still one might wonder what she is hiding, and more important, why? If she does more cabaret shows, she probably ought to do them "straight," or employ her natural humor in a way that is a less turned on herself.

The show can be seen on June 26, July 2, and July 10 at 7pm.

Barbara Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
June 18, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org