Bonnie Milligan
Birdland, NYC, November 26, 2018
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg for Cabaret Scenes
A truly original, funny, creative, often surprising and always entertaining Bonnie Milligan proved why she has such a devoted following in the cabaret world, as well as conquering Broadway in Head Over Heels. Sadly, the rainy Monday evening she performed was the same day she learned that her show would be closing, leading her to comment that perhaps she should have kicked off the performance with a certain Carpenters’ song. This wry sense of humor was present throughout the show.
Milligan kicked off the evening with the first song she had learned while growing up in a trailer, Bobbie Gentry’s “Fancy,” with a lyric she identified with, but, at eight, didn’t quite understand. She was also greatly influenced by such singers as Doris Day (“Secret Love”) and Judy Garland (her concert version of “Almost Like Being in Love”/“This Can’t Be Love”), and her fresh renditions of these songs were offered up with a respect for the vocalists without any attempt at imitation.
The star’s combined knowledge of how to build a song and how to act a lyric was clearly evident in renditions of “Gimme, Gimme” and a blistering “Maybe This Time” that never lurched into reference to Liza.
buy acyclovir online https://tjurhat.com/evemedica/wp-content/languages/new/acyclovir.html no prescription
On the other hand, with special guest Matt Doyle, she did indeed indulge in some delightful camp with the two of them offering up “Does He Love You” (Sandy Knox/Billy Stritch), the ballad about a wife and the “other woman.”
She has clearly worked in close collaboration with her music director Will Van Dyke, who provides both excellent instrumental support and friendship. Also in the band were Mason Ingram (drummer), Mark Vendino (bassist), and Michael Aarons (guitarist).
