Victoria Guthrie
Stages of Love
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, June 9, 2023
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Victoria Guthrie
In her New York City cabaret debut, the gorgeous Victoria Guthrie made a convincing argument for herself as she transitioned from model to performer. Backed by an excellent trio, she exhibited a solid if limited range (though a late-in-the-show “All the Things You Are” demonstrated a surprisingly supple soprano) and an excellent understanding of and delivery of lyrics. She favored selections with lots of words—and very good words—and demonstrated perfect enunciation. Kicking things off with a wry and self-mocking “The Lady Is a Tramp,” she revealed herself (at least, on stage) as a very up-front take-me-as-I-am personality. Her multiple tales of real-life amorous adventures certainly reinforced this, as did her second song, “Fever,” a presentation that was pure sex as she teased and flirted with her musicians.
If “The Gentleman Is a Dope” suggested she hasn’t yet learned how to build a number from verse to verse, her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” had surprising depth. In the latter she chose to emphasize the regret of the character rather than the anger and it was beautifully evoked. It also featured a beautiful bass solo by Matt Scharfglass, who, along with music director/pianist Kent Dennis and drummer Don Kelly, provided strong support throughout. One of the cleverest moments of the evening followed, as “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friends” (the Marilyn Monroe version) was paired with the James Bondian “Diamonds Are Forever”—a very smart and effective joining of two disparate songs. Then, she made a major mistake.
Whether this was her idea, her director’s (Emma Tattenbaum-Fine), or the curiously billed musical supervisor’s (Diane Tauser), it was still a bad idea. Guthrie simply walked off the stage without a word. The audience was clearly confused until Dennis announced there would be a brief intermission and led the trio in a well-played Cole Porter medley while the audience quickly began to chatter, almost drowning out the instrumentalists. When the medley ended, the pianist started over again since the singer was evidently delayed. Then she reappeared; the absence was caused by a complete costume change. Both of her gowns were absolutely gorgeous and very flattering, but absolutely nothing was gained by the staging, dramatically speaking, and it predictably caused momentum to be lost and made her have to start over from a negative position. She eventually got things going again but had to work far too hard to do it.
Guthrie had fun with “Mambo Italiano” and had a nice duet with Dennis on “Crusin’.” She really gained momentum again with an intensely torchy “Bang Bang” that perfectly matched her smokey persona. She scored with a super-fast “The Ladies Who Lunch” that had just the right maliciousness and anger, even though it lacked the self-mockery in the final section.
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So, Guthrie’s debut was a minor success. With a bit more seasoning and some guidance from cabaret veterans, she could become a fixture in the cabaret world.
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