Gerry Geddes and Company: Someone Else’s Hat—A Sondheim Wishlist: Vol. II

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Gerry Geddes and Company

Someone Else’s Hat—A Sondheim Wishlist: Vol. II

Pangea, NYC, July 14, 2024

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Director/producer Gerry Geddes returned to Pangea for another evening of songs and passages from his memoirs. The songs in this show were drawn from a list that Stephen Sondheim had created for a New York Times interview; it consisted of numbers he wished he had written. Each of Geddes’ talented vocal guests sang two of them. The two memory pieces were each tangentially related to a musical number, and Geddes announced them with is conversational style. Pianist Darius Frowner provided the musical support in a straightforward style and with impressive versatility that complimented each singer.

Jazz singer Andre Montgomery kicked off the evening with a light version of “The Song Is You” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II) with more style than substance. He later returned with a far more effective “Blues in the Night” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer) that really sizzled with pain and anger. Newcomer Dana Aber showed off her impressive soprano and fine dramatic instincts on both of her selections: “When Did I Fall in Love?” and “Vanilla Ice Cream” (both by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick). Brian Childers displayed a soulful understanding on an impactful “I Had Myself a True Love” (Arlen/Mercer) and a wry, deadpan sense of humor (reminiscent of Virginia O’Brien) on the witty “Buds Won’t Bud” (Arlen/E.Y. Harburg).

Despite a broken foot, Sue Matsuki brought elegance to the stage, and sophisticated understanding mixed with a naiveté to the wicked lyrics of “When in Rome” (Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh). Later she explored the darkness underlying Irving Berlin’s beguine “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” The diminutive songwriter George Winters laid out “The Rules of the Road” (Coleman/Leigh) in a small but clear voice; he transformed the number into a bluesy, late-night saloon song. He brought true character-actor charm to the same songwriters’ “Real Live Girl.” Karen Mack proved herself a subtle actress in a beautiful “What’s the Use of Wond’rin” (Richard Rodgers/Hammerstein) and later closed the show when she assured the audience that “The Best Is Yet to Come” (Coleman/Leigh).

What was missing from this enjoyable evening was any context. Not a single one of the lyricists and composers were mentioned on stage, nor was there any suggestion of why Sondheim had picked them. A bit more patter would have been most welcome to enrich the experience.

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."