Caught in awful Wednesday rush-hour traffic on New York’s West Side Highway, we were grateful to have in the car Cynthia Crane’s CD, If I Knew Now, recorded live at a 2007 performance. Crane does not restrict the CD to songs from the show but includes her patter. We therefore had the pleasure of revisiting the entire performance, enjoying the music and chuckling at the introductions. One preface to a song lauds the pleasures of alcohol and remarks that when life gets hard, a café latte just isn’t enough. Crane favors theme shows, recently exploring the subject of time passing and the wisdom that hopefully is the consolation for growing older. Even serious subjects, such as global warming and the death of manufacturing in the United States, are treated with a wry humor that takes some of the sting out of them, although Crane is very serious in her concerns. The CD concludes with a mixture of regret and optimism in a medley of Dave Frishberg’s "My Country Used to Be" and "New Sun in the Sky" by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.

Crane defines herself as a saloon singer and her low-pitched voice matches this description as she ranges over songs as varied as Rodgers’ and Hart’s "Bewitched" and Sondheim’s "I Never Do Anything Twice." The piece that alone makes the CD worth having is "Jose Cuervo," Crane’s rollicking celebration of tequila. Buy the recording as a holiday gift and its recipients will be content to be stuck in traffic.

Barbara Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
December 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org