Nichelle Lewis

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Nichelle Lewis

54 Below, NYC, February 21, 2025

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

 

Nichelle Lewis

Nichelle Lewis made her full cabaret show debut at 54 Below and proved two things. She has an impressive and flexible voice over which she has total control (along with acting skills and a fine stage presence), and she desperately needs a director. When she was singing, everything was great. She attacked such standards as “I Will Survive” (Freddie Perren/Dino Fekaris) and “Take Me to the River” (Al Green/Mabon “Teenie” Hodges) with passion and empathy, and a fine ability to deliver the lyrics. She also displayed a strong ability to write her own songs with her powerful autobiographical “Out There.” She also had a tremendous rapport with her audience; she encouraged them to sing along and responded to their (sometimes overly intrusive) comments with good cheer and humor—even her mother had something to say.

Some of the problems with the show weren’t Lewis’ fault. Her boyfriend/music arranger/guitarist was stranded in Canada and couldn’t offer the strong support he no doubt would have provided. Fortunately, pianist/music director Caelan Cardello filled in very well. One of Lewis’ major problems was her long and rambling patter that contained repeated references to her nerves and long stories about her involvement in The Wiz and Ragtime without the payoff that a song from either show would have provided. Another issue was that she planted herself center stage with the microphone on a stand and never moved from there even when her material called out for some movement.

Veteran performer Melody Betts joined Lewis for a duet on “Say a Little Prayer” (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) and made it sound fresh, and Betts clearly demonstrated how to work a stage right down to her beautifully timed exit. Hopefully she can pass some of this know-how on to the younger performer. When Lewis’ work on such a classic Broadway torch song as “He’s No Good” (Cy Coleman/Ira Gasman) and the jubilant “All the Man That I Need” (Michael Gore/Dean Pitchford) get the proper frame, nothing will stop her from soaring in the cabaret world.

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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."