Goldie Dver
Sneak Peak: 2025 MAC Nominated Songs & Comedy/Novelty Songs
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, April 9, 2025
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
The excellent host Goldie Dver happily returned to Don’t Tell Mama with her ongoing series Songs & Singers Sneak Peak. In each installment of this themed talk and variety show, she introduced a group of performers, chatted with them about their work, and gave them an opportunity to sing a few numbers. She’s also a delightful performer, and usually added a moment or two in the spotlight to sing herself. This edition was built around the songs nominated for the 2025 MAC Awards: Song and Comedy/Novelty Song. Under the smooth direction of James Beaman and with music direction by pianist Dan Pardo, the show was a bit long (appropriate for anything connected with the MAC Awards), but it was highly entertaining and had a wide range of material.
Among the show’s highlights were the two selections that won in their categories the following evening at the MAC Awards ceremony. In the Comedy/Novelty Song category, “The Teachers I Remember,” a lengthy story song by Matthew Martin Ward and Peter Napolitano that described instructors who may not have been what they seemed. Dryly delivered by Ward, who accompanied himself at the piano, it was truly very funny. The other winner, in the Song category, was Tracy Stark, who performed her “Better Place,” a bittersweet celebration of life that served as a perfect closer for the show. Stark had also opened the show with a performance of Bob Levy’s “About Love” that brought a nice swing to a number that echoed the great work that Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn had done for Frank Sinatra.
Patrick Brady, a young Irish tenor with great delivery, tackled “Love Schmuv,” a witty song by David Alpher and Jennie Litt. “Looking Back” was a gorgeous torch ballad arranged by Tedd Firth and sung by Jane Scheckter, who co-wrote the lyrics with Roger Schore that were set to the music by Michael Leonard. The youthful Ava Nicole Frances brought her very personal “Little Did I Know” to life and let her voice expand from a strong whisper to a full-out belt that delivered a lot of drama. This folk-rock number certainly took the night’s material in a different direction. Daniel Cainer, the self-defined representative of the London branch of MAC, offered a very funny “The Bagels in My Soul,” a perfect companion piece to Steven Lutvak’s “The Dinner Party (Bagelmakers to the Czar).”
Teresa Eggertsen Cooke offered a lot of hope in an unusually crafted “Big Dreams,” for which she wrote the music and Andy Jackson the lyric. “Someone Who Can Stand You,” written and performed by John Forster, saluted a sweet-and-sour grandmother with his sardonic delivery of this wonderful character study. From a musical about John McCain (anything can be the subject of a musical!), “Wait” showed off Drew Fornarola’s gorgeous voice and his skill as a songwriter that showed the definite influence of Stephen Sondheim. Tom Toce sang his own composition (co-written with Bob Levy) “She Likes Me,” a lively list song that had a jazzy soft-shoe feel.
Dver’s spot was not a nominated song; it was written by a previous multi-MAC winner, Julie Gold. “Psychos” was one of the she newer compositions, and the host gave it all it deserved. Of course, Dver brought up some interesting tidbits about the creative process as well as some great wit, which made this a satisfying show.
