John Abernathy
Put on a Happy Face: A Salute to Charles Strouse
The Cabaret Club, Arctic Playhouse, West Warwick, RI, April 29, 2025
Reviewed by John Amodeo
Last November, cabaret performer John Abernathy performed his ode to optimism Life Is a Celebration just when we needed it. His encore in that show, “But Alive”/“Applause” (Applause), by that champion of optimism, composer Charles Strouse, with lyrics by Lee Adams, was a perfect set-up for his new show, Put on a Happy Face: A Salute to Charles Strouse that he performed recently at the Arctic Playhouse’s Cabaret Club in West Warwick, RI. After the roller-coaster ride that we have all been through since November, this delightful show that featured so many of Strouse’s upbeat and bouncy tunes was just the antidote we needed, and most certainly every person in that audience left with a happy face.
Many people today associate composer Strouse with his huge 1977 hit Annie, which ran for 2,377 performances and was written with lyricist Martin Charnin. But Charnin wasn’t Strouse’s most frequent collaborator. That honor goes to Adams, with whom Strouse wrote seven Broadway musicals, five of which Abernathy featured in his show. Those included Strouse’s other hit Bye Bye Birdie, which ran for 677 performances in 1960, a long run for that time. Other shows with Adams’ lyrics from which Abernathy drew were the aforementioned Applause, Golden Boy, All American, and It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman.
Abernathy plucked some of the best songs from Strouse’s repertoire that also included shows Strouse wrote with Stephen Schwartz (Rags) and with Alan Jay Lerner (the ill-fated Dance a Little Closer, which industry insiders dubbed Close a Little Faster for having run for only one performance). But whether mining Strouse’s hits or flops, Abernathy found gems that he turned into entertainment extravaganzas sure to cheer up an audience worn down by the national and international news. And cheer us up, it did!
The joy started with the opening number, “A Lot of Livin’” and continued with “Put On a Happy Face (both from Bye Bye Birdie). Abernathy noted before singing the second song that it had lyrics that seemed clearly inspired by Adams’ former career as a meteorologist, with “Gray skies are gonna clear up,” and “Spread sunshine all over the place,” which elicited giggles from the audience throughout. Abernathy even teased out the underlying optimism in the pensive and poignant ballad “Maybe” (Annie) that was both touching and hopeful.
In more recent years, Abernathy has not been afraid to take risks and try new things, no doubt encouraged by his longtime director and friend Ida Zecco. This included his giving us a refreshingly sexy “You’ve Got Possibilities” (It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman) that was rife with delectable double entendre often overlooked by other singers. His bluesey-bump-and-grind treatment of “No Man Is Worth It” (Dance a Little Closer) oozed vibrant virility.
Abernathy’s theater background added depth to all his songs, most clearly in the ballads, where he became his most vulnerable, such as in “Once Upon a Time” (All American), which was so personal and tender that you could hear a pin drop. He brought us back to the present for just a moment, when he celebrated the bravery of American immigrants, targets of current deportation initiatives, with the strident anthem “Children of the Wind” (Rags). Zecco, who also produces the cabaret series at The Cabaret Club, joined Abernathy on another song from Rags, the gorgeous duet “If We Never Meet Again.” Zecco associated that song with her grandmother Concetta, who had been held for two years on Ellis Island for trying the enter the U.S. with a case of pink eye. But Abernathy and Zecco were also delightfully goofy in the Strouse/Charnin theme song for All in the Family “Those Were the Days” (who knew they even wrote that?), in which Zecco did an uncanny impression of Edith Bunker’s off-key screeching that had the audience doubled over with laughter. Their warm duet on “I Don’t Need Anything but You” (Annie) was a genuine testament to their long friendship.
Any Strouse tribute would not be complete without more songs from Annie, and Abernathy peppered them throughout the show, including a very upbeat “You’re Never Fully Dressed without a Smile” and his finale, “Tomorrow,” before which he noted, “It’s a challenge to be optimistic these days, but we have to try.” Unlike most singers who approach this song as though they had been shot out of a cannon, Abernathy began softly with poignant uncertainty and then morphed into a bold optimism that was infectious and brought the crowd to its feet. This is why the arts are so important, and Abernathy’s show was a perfect case in point.
Adding substantial richness to the show was the work of Abernathy’s longtime accompanist and music director, Jim Rice, who is one of New England’s finest pianists. His arrangements sound so orchestral, it’s hard to believe he has only two hands. Rice also was so in sync with Abernathy that it was hard to know which one was leading the other.
Abernathy’s encore was again the buoyant “But Alive”/“Applause” that this time was ever so slightly conflicted about remaining optimistic in these times. But with humor, grace, and his beaming smile, Abernathy spread sunshine all over the place and convinced us, at least for a moment, that right will prevail.
