Sarah Carson: England and America – A Transatlantic Love Story

  • Post author:
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Sarah Carson

England and America – A Transatlantic Love Story

Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, April 20, 2022

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Sarah Carson

Sarah Carson comes on stage and her warmth and charm embrace the audience, relaxing us and assuring us that we are in safe hands. As she shared stories of generations of her family and their travels back and forth between England and America, she invited us into her special world through her words and music. She seems to be a natural storyteller; that, along with her unforced vocals, recalled the folk singers of the 1960s. Her highly varied song list, ranging from Elton John to Leslie Bricusse to Gilbert and Sullivan, kept the style and mood of the evening shifting and offering some delicious surprises.

The choice of “The Promise” (Chris Cornell) with its lyric “my ancestors, they chose me” summed up her deep commitment to her family history on both sides of the Atlantic. A deeply emotional moment came when she told of a visit to her family home which was enhanced by a calm delivery of “The Green Green Grass of Home” (Joseph Parry & Richard Davies) sung in both English and Welsh.

There was lots of humor on the menu as well, revealing a saucy side of the star’s personality as shown in her version of British comic star Victoria Wood’s “The Ballad of Barry and Frieda.” More of Carson’s wit and wryness came through in her revised lyrics of “Talk to the Animals”/“Talk Like a New Yorker” (saying “zee” instead of “zed”) and “I Have a Little List,” (people walking with phones, flaky Starbucks drinkers, none of them will be missed) both reflections of her relocation to Manhattan from her English home.

Of course, no woman is an island (or two islands in Carson’s case). Director Lennie Watts’ taste and knowledge was evident throughout, and music director Steven Ray Watkins, in collaboration with percussionist Don Kelly and bassist Matt Scharfglass, provided a lovely musical framework for the diva to reside in. This was an evening where all talents merged to create a seamless show.

Other highlights included her pure delivery of “Tightrope” (Benj Pasek/Justin Paul) and a Valkyrian attack on “Thunder” (David Straff/Johan Svaerd/Markus Videsater). A fine medley of “New York State of Mind” and “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me” (with a dandy showcase for Scharfglass) served as a lovely response to her earlier snarkiness about her adopted city, which was emblematic of the warmth and positivity that Carson brings to her entire show.

Bart Greenberg

Bart Greenberg first discovered cabaret a few weeks after arriving in New York City by seeing Julie Wilson and William Roy performing Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter outdoors at Rockefeller Center. It was instant love for both Ms. Wilson and the art form. Some years later, he was given the opportunity to create his own series of cabaret shows while working at Tower Records. "Any Wednesday" was born, a weekly half-hour performance by a singer promoting a new CD release. Ann Hampton Callaway launched the series. When Tower shut down, Bart was lucky to move the program across the street to Barnes & Noble, where it thrived under the generous support of the company. The series received both The MAC Board of Directors Award and The Bistro Award. Some of the performers who took part in "Any Wednesday" include Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock, Tony Desare, Andrea Marcovicci, Carole Bufford, the Karens, Akers, Mason and Oberlin, and Julie Wilson. Privately, Greenberg is happily married to writer/photographer Mark Wallis, who as a performance artist in his native England gathered a major following as "I Am Cereal Killer."