Joanna Gleason featuring Well-Strung

Post author:Joel Benjamin
Post published:October 14, 2014
Reading time:3 mins read

Joanna Gleason
featuring Well-Strung

54 Below, NYC, October 7, 2014

Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes

Joanna Gleason’s cabaret performance at 54 Below was that rare kind that stays with you, savoring moments, glances, stories, but most of all the extraordinary talent of a great artist singing songs she loves. She literally turned her life into art, accompanied by Well-Strung, the string and singing quartet who joined Gleason’s arranger/pianist Jeff Klitz (who also dabbled at the tuba!) and her guitarist Lee Weissman, all of whom were on the same wave-length.

There have been autobiographical cabaret acts, plenty of them, but Joanna Gleason mined hers for all its poetry, romance and emotion. As she recounted a childhood full of self doubt and a rich fantasy life, she gave new personal spins to such classics as “It’s Not for Me to Say” (Robert Allen/Al Stillman), “Where or When” (Rodgers/Hart) and a medley of “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” (Fain/Kahal) and “Dream” (Johnny Mercer)—all illuminating snippets of her life.

She took Leiber & Stoller’s “Is That All There Is?
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” and Lerner & Lane’s “What Did I Have That I Don’t Have?” and repurposed them. The former became a comment about her first experiences on stage and the latter about auditioning.

The real meat of the show came when she performed songs from her Broadway shows, joined for two of them by Chip Zien with whom she appeared in Into the Woods. The sheer delight on their faces as they sang Sondheim’s “It Takes Two” and “Stay with Me” gave the songs far deeper meanings than in the original context.

She was joined by her husband, Chris Sarandon, and son, Aaron David Gleason, on the Dixie Chicks’ “I Believe in Love” (Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire & Marty Stuart), turning it into a beautiful prayer.

Her finale, Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes,” became a dreamy tango bringing the audience into her fantasies—a lovely, low-keyed ending to an emotionally rich show.
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The handsome members of Well-Strung performed a two-number overture that set the mood for the show.

This show will be repeated on October 14 & 21.
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Tags: 54 Below, Aaron David Gleason, Billy Joel, Chris Sarandan, Jeff Klitz, Joanna Gleason, Joel Benjamin, Lee Weissman, Leiber & Stoller, Lerner & Lane, Stephen Sondheim, Well-Strung

Joel Benjamin

A native New Yorker, Joel was always fascinated by musical theater. Luckily, he was able to be a part of seven Broadway musicals before the age of 14, quitting to pursue a pre-med degree, which led no where except back to performing in the guise of directing a touring ballet troupe. Always interested in writing, he wrote a short play in high school that was actually performed, leading to a hiatus of nearly 40 years before he returned to writing as a reviewer. Writing for Cabaret Scenes has kept him in touch with world filled with brilliance.