Julie Reyburn
Fate Is Kind
Metropolitan Room, NYC, September 14, 2015
Reviewed by Alix Cohen for Cabaret Scenes
Last night, Julie Reyburn’s award- winning Fate Is Kind returned to the Metropolitan Room 15 years after its debut. The second in Stephen Hanks’s series Cabaret’s Greatest Hits, Reyburn’s show, with Mark Janas again acting as MD/arranger/pianist, proved timeless. Who would not be affected by acknowledgment of the child in us all?
Beginning with a warm reading from Margaret Wise Brown’s iconic Goodnight Moon (Reyburn is an appealing actress), the vocalist segues into “The Child in Me” (Annie Dinerman). Next is Frank Loesser’s “The Ugly Duckling” (from Hans Christian Andersen). Phrasing is theatrical. When, deadpan, she turns briefly to reveal ten fingers wiggling together at her back (tail feathers), the audience breaks into a single communal grin.
“Some psychologists are of the mind that when we reach adulthood, we have a tendency to live out favorite fantasies” precedes Stephen Sondheim’s “On the Steps of the Palace” (from Into the Woods). Here, and later with the same score’s “Children Will Listen,” she excels. Enunciation is perfect, not clip; breath control seems effortless. Reyburn emits long phrases like smooth paint strokes—now wide, now narrow, dense, translucent. Both songs are full of deep feeling.
Margery Williams’s childhood favorite, The Velveteen Rabbit, bridges the next group of numbers. Janas’s underscoring is (always) evocative, poignant, apt. Rich arrangements appear to have classical underpinnings.
In this section, the standout is “I’m Not Afraid of Anything” (Jason Robert Brown), not the least because its proud exuberance suits the open-throated volume applied to even the most delicate number.
“The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress” (Jimmy Webb) fares well for the same reason. Reyburn’s vocal dips, circles, and swoops with infectious love.
Jason Robert Brown is also well represented by “Stars and the Moon” in which the heroine eschews offers of romantic love in favor of material wealth. Reyburn’s comic timing is right on target, her pauses droll, her sighs eloquent. “Come Home” from Pinocchio in Chelsea, a musical by Janas and Peter Napolitano, is sensitively written and performed: “I thought you would never grow/But now it’s time to open the door/Here are the keys/Find your own way/But remember, please, come home.”
Since the last presentation of this show, the artist has had two children, bringing its sentiments even closer to home. Her pretty, young daughter, Layla Page Fields, joins Reyburn onstage for the last excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit (read beautifully by Layla) and a rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star. (Ned Washinton/Leigh Harline, from the Disney film Pinocchio). Utterly charming.
Julie Reyburn has a splendid contralto. She connects with her audience and mines each number for sincere emotion. The addition of readings works well in this show. Choices are interesting. My sole caveat is that almost every song is forceful/BIG or swells repeatedly. This not only makes it feel as if the evening lacks variety (not true), but robs lyrics of otherwise gentle intention.