Gabrielle Stravelli

Metropolitan Room NYC, July 22, 2014

Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes

Cabaret shows come in many forms. Some are theme shows centering on love, loss, lust or the performer’s personal life. Other shows celebrate great songwriters or anniversary years. When at their best, these salutes call for intense research, careful planning and articulate writing.

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Think of Andrea Marcovicci and the late Mary Cleere Haran.

Then there is Gabrielle Stravelli who needs no theme, no anniversary salute. With just a smattering of patter, she showcases her liquid voice, stirring lyrical perception and a keen ear for good songs. She presents her new show at the Metropolitan Room, a mix of ballads and up-tempos that move into jazz inflections backed by a supportive trio — Joshua Richman on piano, Pat O’Leary on bass and Eric Halvorson on drums.

A smoldering Latin beat under “Dream Dancing” (which she says is her favorite Cole Porter song) with its moody sensual lines, sends her voice on its rangy journey.
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She pairs Harry Warren and Mack Gordon’s “I Had the Craziest Dream” with Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal’s “I Can Dream, Can’t I?,” intimately sharing emotions of memoryand longing.
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Finding the pain in “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
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” evidently reveals a personal meaning for her, and Billy Strayhorn’s evocative complexity of “Lotus Blossom” (lyrics by Roger Schore and Carol Sloane) is stunning.

She flexes some revengeful musical muscles in “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen), adds a touch of “You Turned the Tables on Me” (Louis Alter/Sidney D. Mitchell) and finishes it with a deliciously evil coup de grâce, “Goody Goody” (Matty Malneck/Johnny Mercer).

Directed by master entertainer Marilyn Maye, Stravelli mixes joy with musing. Her opening song, “While We’re Young” (Alec Wilder and Morty Palitz music, lyrics by William Engvick) opens the door to an intriguing performance with supple mood switches and additional lyrics by Stravelli and Jason Robinson.

Gabrielle Stravelli thinks a song through, interprets its connection, and sends it to the audience with entertaining authority.

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She appears at the Metropolitan Room July 29 and 31; August 13.