The Great American Songbook, the mine that cabaret singers dig for the music that causes fingers to snap and toes to tap, eyes to mist and smiles to widen, is on display at the Kranzberg Arts Center as Cabaret St. Louis opened its season last night. "Three Men and a Baby…Grand" is the opening show, running through Saturday.
John Boswell, Brian Lane Green and Lee Lessack are the three men. The baby , of a size and shape only a mother could love, sits quietly at a corner and, under Boswell's splendid guidance, produces lovely music. It's an evening mostly of love songs, incuding the 1920s Al Jolson hit, "Me and My Shadow," written by Dave Dreyer and Billy Rose; Frank Loesser's "Luck Be a Lady," sung by Robert Alda (Alan's father) in "Guys and Dolls;" "Night and Day" and "I've Got You Under My Skin," a couple of Cole Porter classics; a medley of songs about New York including the Leonard Bernstein "New York, New York, It's a Helluva Town," from "On the Town," and a Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer medley featuring "Moon River," "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Charade."
Sentimental pop? Sure, but enjoyable, performed in a Las Vegas style and dedicated to the Rat Pack.
The trio tells a few jokes, engages in a little repartee, but unlike many cabaret performers, there is almost no story-telling. They go on stage, hair-gel shining, sing for close to 90 minutes without intermission and go to the back of the hall, where they sell and sign albums. Lessack, an experienced cabaret performer who has performed here before, sings well and shows considerable personality. Boswell, from his seat on the piano bench, does a solo or two, harmonizes nicely, obviously feels very comfortable as an accompanist. We feel it, too. Green was a disappointment; his vocals fell short, his rendition of "That's Life," came across as over the top. For much of the evening, he seemed to be somewhere else.
Three Men and a Baby. . . Grand, a cabaret performance at the Kranzberg Arts Center, will continue through Saturday
—Joe