Jeff Harnar Blame It on My Youth: Our 1980’s Don’t Tell Mama Songbook

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Jeff Harnar

Blame It on My Youth:  Our 1980’s Don’t Tell Mama Songbook

Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, February 5, 2026

Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker

Jeff Harnar
Photo by Maryann Lopinto

Sometimes attending a cabaret show can seem like attending a church service. There is a reverence about the room with its lit candles, and we are all there for more than entertainment. This thought was vividly evinced by the masterful Jeff Harnar. He’s not a preacher, but he is a superb interpreter of the “bible” on which many of us thrive: the Great American Songbook.

He introduced the show by saying that he first stepped onto the small stage he now occupied in 1987 and reprised his opening number from that night: “The Sweetest Sounds” (Richard Rodgers). He held up a poster from that initial engagement; we should all age as well as he has! All his shows that I’ve attended were intelligently crafted, and this one exceeded expectations. He managed to enhance the story of his adult life by interspersing songs that were complimentary and often had lyrics that he personalized. “Yes” by Kander and Ebb underscored his positive philosophy as he was becoming established in New York, and Frank Loesser’s “Ooh! My Feet!” (every waiter’s complaint) led into his stint at the Regency as a room server. While he was there, one of the many celebrities he met was Phyllis McGuire, who ultimately offered him the better job of maintaining her home while she travelled; he illustrated this with his own lyric to “Just a Housewife” (Craig Carnelia).

Throughout the performance, Harnar generously praised his music director and pianist Alex Rybeck, who also wrote many of the arrangements; some were by Brian Lasser. Jeff and Alex have worked together for decades, and this show was a perfect example of that partnership. A rarely heard song from Sondheim’s Follies, “That Old Piano Roll,” was a surprise treat. It led into several songs about various permutations of love, starting with “Where Is Love?” by Lionel Bart and ending with a bit of comic relief with “Being with Me (Is No Picnic)” by Brian Lasser and Michael Leeds. He counteracted the premis of that tune with Oscar Levant and Edward Heyman’s lament “Blame It on My Youth,” which led into an emotional and thought-provoking mini-medley of Jerry Herman’s “I Don’t Want to Know” and “The Happy Time” by Kander and Ebb.

There seemed to be only one place to go after that, which was home. The satisfying trinity he selected—“Home Again” by Carole King, “Homeward Bound” by Paul Simon, and “You’re My Home” by Billy Joel—set the tone for the final number, “There Is a Time” (“Le Temps”) by Charles Aznavour.

And so concluded an unforgettable evening that included endearing mentions of cabaret titans who are no longer with us, including Donald Smith among others. There is always a poetic sensitivity to Harnar’s work, perhaps most keenly achieved in this program. I indeed consider myself to be blessed for having been there. You can see for yourself what magic Harnar can bring to that same stage every Thursday night in February at 7 pm.

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Jacqueline Parker

Like Ethel Merman, lifelong New Yorker Jacqueline Parker began her career as a stenographer. She spent more than two decades at the city's premier public agency, progressing through positions of increased responsibility after earning her BA in English from New York University (3.5 GPA/Dean’s List). She won national awards for her work in public relations and communication and had the privilege of working in the House of Commons for Stephen Ross, later Lord Ross of Newport. In the second half of her career, Jacqueline brought her innate organizational skills and creative talents to a variety of positions. While distinguishing herself in executive search, she also gave her talents to publishing, politics, writing, radio broadcasting and Delmonico's Restaurant. Most recently, she hosted Anything Goes! a radio show that paid homage to Cole Porter and by extension the world of Broadway musicals and the Great American Songbook. Other features of the show were New York living, classical music, books, restaurants, architecture and politics. This show highlighted the current Broadway scene, both in New York and around the country through performances and interviews with luminaries including Len Cariou, Charles Strouse, Laura Osnes, Steve Ross and Joan Copeland. Her pandemic project was immersion into the life, times and work of Alfred Hitchcock, about whom she has written a soon-to-be-published article. Jacqueline has been involved in a myriad of charitable causes, most notably the Walt Frazier Youth Foundation, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sisters of Life, York Theatre, and the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. She is a proud Founder of Hidden Water. Her greatest accomplishment is the parenting of her son, a lawyer specializing in mediation. She has many pretend grandchildren, nieces and nephews, on whom she dotes shamelessly, as well as a large circle of friends to whom she is devoted. Her interests in addition to theater and cabaret are cooking, entertaining, reading, and spending time on Queen Mary 2.