Caroline Iliff
Day Job Diaries
The Green Room 42, NYC, August 11, 2023
Reviewed by Chris Struck
Caroline Iliff
Caroline Iliff joked about her many New York day jobs and the fact that she’s joined a long list of performers who work at one thing while they try to make their bigger dreams come true. She discussed jobs she loved and those she wished she hadn’t had; she explained why a certain job either clicked or didn’t click and sang Diane Warren’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” about the ones that didn’t. Her guest performers and her band added their own list of jobs to hers and shared their funny stories about them. Iliff’s stories weren’t all “on the job” related. She also talked about whom she met and often about whom she dated at the time that she held a particular job. For example, she dated a Mormon who tried to convert her and who told her that she was tempted by the devil.
That led into her performance of “I Believe” (Trey Parker/Robert Lopez/Matt Stone from The Book of Mormon). Meanwhile, her fiancé and guitarist Blake Harmon, who sat a few feet behind her, relaxed and laughed while her stories meandered until she finally got to how the two of them met.
Iliff started the show with the classic “9 to 5” (Dolly Parton) before drifting into her stories about her hope to make it as a full-time actor in New York. She introduced her audition-prep teammate, Gina Ward. They “worked an [unofficial] job” as each other’s line reader, tape reviewer, and all-around hype person. They discussed how this support helped them, even if sometimes it appeared as though they were going for the same role. That led into a solid performance of “Let Me Be Your Star” (Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman from Smash), a fun piece about going for a role at the expense of another performer. Ward took over while Iliff made the first of “technically” two costume changes to sing “For the First Time in Forever” (Robert Lopez/Kristen Anderson-Lopez), which included special lyrics about the frustrations of working as a caterer, especially when you’re not dating while you watch other people get married.
The next guest singer was Brooke Singer who joined Iliff for a duet on “King of Wishful Thinking” (Peter Cox/Richard Drummie/Martin Page). As Iliff left the stage for another costume change, singer and guest guitarist Zach Spound replaced Harmon to play this duo’s original song, “That Thing You Do” which is based on a 1996 rom com of the same name.
It expressed the hope for own original work to succeed, finding the right person, or going the right way. This duo’s connection with the song was clear. It’s an interesting song that also explores the dark side of love, with such lyrics as “a thousand kisses dressed in lies.” An original by guitarist Harmon, “Sun in a Candle Room,” which he sand with Iliff, was my favorite song of the evening. This song really showcased Iliff’s voice, especially when compared with Harmon’s.
The lyric painted a much sunnier picture of love: “I just wanna see the world with you.”
Iliff offered a few other stand-out moments in the show. One came when she donned a granny wig to play the part of a customer complaining at SoulCycle and sang “Rain on Me” (Lady Gaga/Ariana Grande). Another came when she sang “Let Us Be Glad” (Stephen Schwartz). Her voice showed some real depth here as she strongly delivered the line “Isn’t it nice to know good will conquer evil.” I also enjoyed her fun medley in tribute to ABBA.
In addition to Harmon, she was joined on stage by drummer Mitch Bowers, and music director/pianist Jacob Yates. Iliff has had a few out-of-town roles to date, and she has performed her duo with Harmon has performed elsewhere as well. Keep an eye out to see what she does next.
