Those who missed the show that won Lorinda Lisitza a 2007 New York Nightlife Award can enjoy this CD recorded live at the Metropolitan Room. Those who saw it may miss Lorinda’s earthy good looks, flashing eyes, and mobile facial expressions. But without these qualities, which add so much to a live performance, we can focus more completely on her voice and interpretive abilities, and on the strong melodies of Joe Iconis and witty-to-powerful lyrics of Robert Maddock. (See our features on these young songwriters in this issue.)

The songs are extremely varied. In one a woman expresses near-tragic despair over the lover sentenced to life imprisonment; another reveals herself to be an obsessed Tom Hanks fan; a suicide song depicts how it feel to fail in Hollywood; and a disturbed woman disintegrates psychologically as she moves “one step closer to crazy.” Anyone who has ever clapped to gypsy music may want to do so during "Yolanda at the Bottom of the Stairs," laughing but also experiencing our worst fears about unpunished murderers (Maddock told this reviewer audiences like to identify with monsters). That some numbers are both funny and also dark attests to the songwriters’ talents and we expect a lot from them in the future. Their songs are dramatic monologues set to music, portraying characters we feel we know by the time they finish speaking. "Camden County Penitentiary," influenced by country music, is itself worth the price of the recording. And it goes without saying that Iconis and Maddock are lucky to have found Lorinda Lesitza.

Barbara Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
November 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org