Craig Pomranz
It’s All Kosher, Part 2
The Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, March 21, 2025
Reviewed by Elliot Zwiebach
The Great American Songbook is alive and thriving in the hands and vocal cords of Craig Pomranz. The veteran saloon singer, as he likes to call himself, continues to entertain audiences with powerful vocals, classic song choices and an engaging performance style that puts his listeners at ease.
Pomranz was always in the moment; he deliveried the lyrics clearly and precisely with the passion or humor the song required. As is his style, he glided smoothly from head voice to chest voice and back, always in control and always capturing the essence of each song.
In his latest show, It’s All Kosher, Part 2, Pomranz continued a theme he introduced a year ago—showcasing songs by Jewish composers. He was ably abetted by his music director Michael Roberts, who provided sensitive piano accompaniment and occasional sweet vocal harmonies.
Pomranz showed complete joy as he opened the show with Irving Berlin’s “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy” and followed with a tender take on the Gershwins’ “But Not for Me” and a sly reading of “I’d Rather Be Blue” (Billy Rose/Fred Fisher). He created strong mashups that included an inspired combination of “Amazing Grace” (John Newton) and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” (Simon & Garfunkel) and a beautiful combination of “Pretty Women” (Stephen Sondheim) and “Her Face” (Bob Merrill;) that one elicited an impressed “Wow!” from an audience member when it end.
Also in the evening’s mix was “My Yiddishe Momme” (Jack Yellen/Lew Pollack), sung in English and Yiddish and ending with a cantorial chant. There was a passionate “Far from the Home I Love” (Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick) and an aptly simple approach to Harry Ruby’s “Give Me the Simple Life.”
Pomranz was also very effective in selling the humor and cleverness of Murray Grand’s “Doris Was Nice,” about the platonic relationship between a man and a gorilla. He powerfully delivered Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” singing it in his most ethereal voice with vocal harmony provided Roberts.
He encouraged audience participation several times throughout the evening, most surprisingly during “The Sheik of Araby” (Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler/Ted Snyder). He asked for a verbal response to each lyric line with the phrase “with no pants on” that altered the tone of the song’s ardent words.
The audience was also encouraged to sing along on a pairing of two Irving Berlin holiday classics, “Easter Parade” and “White Christmas,” and on “What the World Needs Now” (Hal David/Burt Bacharach). The show was directed by Ronald Cohen, who oversees all of Pomranz’s shows.
