Mardie Millit and Nicolas King
Their Coloring Book
The Crown & Anchor, Provincetown, MA, June 7, 2025
Reviewed by John Amodeo
One of the highlights of this year’s annual CabaretFest Provincetown was Their Coloring Book, performed by the two MAC Award winners Mardie Millit and Nicolas King. Taking seriously the CabaretFest theme And All That Jazz: Celebrating the Music of Kander & Ebb, Millit and King put together a superb Kander & Ebb program that razzled, dazzled, and sparkled from start to finish.
It is no surprise that King would shine in such a program, having performed in no fewer than three Broadway shows by age 11. More significantly, he was picked up by Liza Minnelli, Kander & Ebb’s longtime muse, to be her opening act from ages 11 to 21; he easily got the jazzy Kander & Ebb style under his skin. Millit, who was classically trained and had operatic aspirations, ultimately eschewed opera for a career in cabaret and has leaned more toward the lyrical depth of Sondheim than the showmanship of Kander & Ebb. At first this might seem an odd pairing for a Kander & Ebb show. However, this pair, in their freshman duet outing, oozed a striking musical and personal chemistry sprinkled with fun ad-libbed banter that brought their show quickly from simmer to sizzle. They took no prisoners from the start and opened with a peppy “Stepping Out” (Stepping Out) blended with a romantic “Tough Act to Follow” (Curtains) that instantly established their natural chemistry.
Millit’s solos included some striking gems that allowed her to show her acting chops along with her well-honed vocals. She best displayed this in her poignant “My Coloring Book,” which showcased her rich soprano range and her exquisite, dynamic control. She used her full vocal range to toggle between her operatic head voice and her deep chest voice to hilarious effect in “One of the Girls” (Woman of the Year). She was at her emotional best in a stunning “Sometimes a Day Goes By” (Woman of the Year) that was dramatically paired with the gorgeous, “Not a Day Goes By” (Stephen Sondheim), during which you could hear a pin drop.
King knocked his every solo out of the park, beginning with a swinging “Sing Happy” (Flora the Red Menace) that would make Liza proud and Jonathan Groff nervous. He then gave a master class in musical storytelling with “Bobo’s” (The Act), where he plumbed its emotional depth. King noted that Kander & Ebb had written it after learning of the death of a close friend, which casued them to change the song’s direction midstream to reflect their grief and to honor their friend. With another of Liza’s songs from The Act, “The Money Tree,” King cooked on all burners with the help of accompanist Jim Rice’s driving beat and brought it home to a spectacular finish.
In a show that offered many highlights, the most outstanding ones were the duets, in which the two seasoned entertainers relaxed into genuine camaraderie and just yucked it up, with the songs “Class” (Chicago) and “The Grass is Always Greener” (Woman of the Year). Both were hilarious, and the latter was made more so with personalized lyrics—Millit: “You play cruise ships. That’s wonderful.” King: “What’s so wonderful. First you take a Dramamine.” But when it was time to be meaningful, they both brought the goods in their closer “Nowadays”/“I Move On” (Chicago).
At CabaretFest in Provincetown some years ago Millit and King were introduced to each other. Millit was then performing with her longtime musical and marital partner Michael Garin and King was performing solo. But seeing King perform a duet show with Seth Sykes at last year’s CabaretFest inspired Millit to pursue a duet show with King; a new show born and a new cabaret duoas well ! Their Coloring Book is too good a show to perform just once. With any luck, Millit and King will be booked for a long run in New York and will then take it on the road; this show definitely has legs.
