Jennifer Blades
Bon Appétit
The Cabaret at Germano’s, Baltimore, Maryland, March 9, 2018
Reviewed by Michael Miyazaki for Cabaret Scenes
When people ask me what “cabaret material” is, I usually say that it is anything that can be a compelling, shared experience between performer and audience, the effectiveness heightened in an intimate setting. Bon Appétit, a performance piece that is part one-woman opera, part cooking demonstration, is an example of the wide range of material that, properly performed, can thrive in the cabaret setting.
The piece musicalizes Julia Child demonstrating how to make Le Gâteau au Chocolat l’Éminence Brune, a flourless chocolate cake. Writer Lee Hoiby adapted text from Child’s television show and set it to music as a through-sung work.
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It contains many delightful Child aperҫus, such as “Chocolate is much more complicated than any of us suspect.” Musically, the piece takes advantage of the flutiness and crescendos we associate with Child’s voice, providing a deceptively conversational vocal line contrasted with a complicated piano accompaniment.
Jennifer Blades performed the piece with Child-like aplomb. Appearing in the chef’s familiar denim work shirt, Blades was a cheerful presence, dramatizing rather than imitating her subject. The piece is a logistical tour de force for a performer, requiring her to juggle a complex vocal line in perfect sync with an actual cooking demonstration. At one point, the work requires her to manually whip egg whites in competition with an electric mixer —singing all the while. Blades handled the many requirements seamlessly, projecting Child’s signature slapdash nonchalance throughout.
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The piano accompaniment to the piece is demanding, changing keys 23 times. Diane Kinsley provided Blades with solid support, making the music feel so organic to the performance that it almost disappeared.
