Lena Moy-Borgen

It’s a Man’s World

Don’t Tell Mama, August 12, 2024

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

The red-spangled-gowned dynamo known as Lena Moy-Borgen returned to Don’t Tell Mama to offer a class in “gender studies… but with show tunes.” This highly comic confection— but with knives buried underneath—explored the often highly negative images of women in popular culture and classic musicals has enough wacky humor to keep the evening from being just a diatribe. With her flexible vocal style that conquered rock divas and Disney sopranos alike, and an expressive chin this side of Nancy Walker, she had the audience entranced.

She kicked off the show with a delightful and highly witty medley of songs from golden-age musicals that expressed masculine attitudes about women. They included “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II), delivered with a snarky comment about the makeup of most of the male Broadway choruses and their interest in females and “Shipoopi” (Meredith Willson). Also in the medley were “Hundreds of Girls” (Jerry Herman), “Beautiful Girls” (Nacio Herb Brown/Arthur Freed), with its creepy lyric about “and you’re over sweet 16,” “I’m an Ordinary Man” (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe), and “Beautiful Girls” (Stephen Sondheim). With these songs Moy-Borgen made the themes of the evening abundantly clear.; that smart cabaret.

Other great choices included a mashup of “It’s a Man’s World” (James Brown/Betty Jean Newsome) and “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper) that had bright additional lyrics by Moy-Borgen. There was a devastating destruction of Disney’s classic princesses that used “Part of Your World” (Howard Ashman/Alan Menken), “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Larry Morey/Frank Churchill) (with a hysterical send up of Adriana Caselotti’s vocals), and “Once Upon a Dream” (Sammy Fain & Jack Lawrence/George Bruns), which showed off Moy-Borgen’s coloratura range. Of course, she didn’t exclude pop music in her repertoire; we were treated to such “positive” lyrics as “Maneater” (Hall & Oates), “Every Breath You Take” (Sting), and “I Used to Love Her” (Guns n’ Roses).

There was some lovely song variety throughout the show, such as the adorable “Victoria’s Secret” (Jax), on which Moy-Borgen accompanied herself on the ukulele, and a beautiful setting of Shakespeare’s “All the World’s a Stage” by Shania Taub. Throughout, Katy Pfaffl provided fine musical support with her piano playing and the constantly surprising arrangements she and Moy-Borgen created. This was a smart and clever show that was carefully thought out and tailored to the star’s strengths. It will be exciting to see what Moy-Borgen comes up with next.