Cindy Firing and Josephine Sanges: Carry On

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Cindy Firing and Josephine Sanges

Carry On

Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, October 16, 2022

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Josephine Sanges & Cindy Firing

Individually, Cindy Firing and Josephine Sanges are top-notch cabaret performers. Pairing them together brought out their unique personalities even more as they duetted on songs and medleys mostly drawn from Broadway material. Broadway was no stranger to these two women, who have been cast in many shows (and often in the same roles, such as Maria in both West Side Story and The Sound of Music). They also offered some solos that brought out the best in each of them, under the direction of Marshall Mays and the excellent music direction of pianist John M. Cook, who also contributed some dazzling vocal arrangements. Throughout the evening, Firing and Sanges blended their voices beautifully, sometimes singing in counterpart and sometimes blending into one sound. The entire program had a definite vibe of one of those celebrated television specials from the 1950s and ’60s that paired two outstanding artists.

That impression was reinforced by the second number of the evening, which was a revised version of “You’re So…,” originally written by Peter Matz for the first Julie Andrews/Carol Burnett special and here retooled to make it pertinent by the singers and music director to make it pertinent. After that came a second parody lyrics by Firing to the Gershwins’ “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” as applied to the pandemic (a cabaret show trope that is quickly wearing out its welcome). Just when it seemed as though like terminal cuteness was going to set in, the show moved forward with a series of solos that were remarkable for their power and conviction. Sanges delivered “What About Today?” with passion, and Firing perfectly under-played the subtle wit of “Times Like This,” in which she handled the comedy without hammering the jokes. She later showed a great talent for the bittersweet with Brian Lasser’s “I’m Becoming My Mother,” which followed Sanges’ beautiful “A Child Is Born,” and preceded a duet on “It Goes Like It Goes,” which concluded a touching trio of motherhood melodies.

Then the evening reached its big medley moment, a tradition dating back to when Ethel Merman and Mary Martin would join forces in a panorama of songs. In this case it was based on roles that neither of them would ever get to play, either because of gender or of vocal style. Unfortunately, before we got to the medley, we had to endure some very coy chatter that had the two stars “sharing” information that had obliviously been worked out in rehearsals. This was one of the less felicitous leftovers from those television specials, and neither of the ladies looked comfortable delivering their lines. Happily, they quickly moved on to the music, which was sheer delight: 19 songs presented in part or whole, some in counterpart (who would have known that Chess’s “Anthem” and “I Am What I Am” would fit so well together or  would “If I Were a Rich Man” and “A Puzzlement”?). In total, that was truly a fine example of musical comedy madness.

A few more dynamic solos followed: Firing’s painful and devastating “I Miss the Mountains” and Sanges’ subtle “Patterns.” These are roles both actresses could and should do, which added weight to their delivery. Ending the show was a gorgeous Cook arrangement of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” for the two of them. This was a show where the deep friendship between the performers could be felt. With just a bit of trimming here and there, this could well be a celebration of carrying on.

Cindy & Josephine Carry On once again at Don’t Tell Mama January 30, 2023.

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 & Nobel, 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."