It's the real thing

Share on Google+:

Who: Emily Bergl
What: Until the Real Things Comes Along
When: Thursday through Saturday, March 13-15, 2014
Where: The Gaslight Cabaret Festival

In an interview earlier this week, I asked Emily Bergl what it was about her approach to cabaret that set it apart from more traditional shows. "I'm presenting a complete evening of entertainment," she replied, "with a real narrative and lots of different characters. I don't assume that if I just sit on a stool and do a bunch of torch songs it's going to be fascinating. We like to entertain the folks!"

Now that I've seen the premiere of the show, I'd say she has achieved that particular goal. A few "new show" speed bumps not withstanding, "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" is a lively and entertaining evening that often goes in unexpected directions in clever and diverting ways.

An actress with substantial film, television, and theatre credits, Ms. Bergl inhabits a number of characters in the course of the performance, from the comically neglected girlfriend of a Russian oligarch in Cole Porter's "Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor)" (from "Red, Hot, and Blue, where it was sung by Ethel Merman) to a down-and-out druggie in Tom Waits's "Christmas Card from a Hooker." Mostly, though, she's just her cabaret self—a persona that's a mix of pixie and vixen, decked out in a sexy and sparkly black dress and determined (as she sings in a Trisha Yearwood song towards the end of the evening) to " just keep on falling in love / Till I get it right."

Yeah, I know: the difficulty of finding a good, lasting relationship is not exactly a new theme for cabaret. But Ms. Bergl makes the theme her own and explores it in a way that is uniquely hers. I can't imagine this particular set of songs with these particular arrangements working for anyone but her. And that, ultimately, is what cabaret is: a performance that fits the artist like a custom-tailored suit.

About those arrangements: music director and pianist Jonathan Mastro—to whom Ms. Bergl refers as "Johnny Piano" (presumably a joking reference to Joan Crawford's 1954 Western "Johnny Guitar")—has put together some that are exceptionally ingenious and often surprising. His mashup of Tracy Chapman's "For My Lover" with a tinkly, music-box version of Deborah Harry and Chris Stein's Blondie hit "Heart of Glass," for example, made me hear the latter song in a way I never had before—and I'm an old Blondie fan from way back. And his revisionist version of the 1928 Eddie Cantor hit "Makin' Whoopee!," which replaces some of Gus Kahn's original lyrics with contemporary female POV equivalents, presented the song in a smart new light.

Emily Bergl and Jonathan "Johnny Piano" Mastro

So, yeah, "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" is an enjoyable and creative look at a familiar topic that's a welcome addition to the Gaslight Cabaret Festival. That said, there were some minor issues of the sort that you might expect from a brand-new show.

Some of the transitions were not as smooth as they could be, for example, and I thought Ms. Bergl's flirtatious byplay with a male member of the audience went on a bit too long. The song list also felt a bit ballad heavy to me. Ms. Bergl is an accomplished comedienne, and I felt that aspect of her talent was a bit short-changed.

How important is any of that? Not very, in my view. The show's small weaknesses were effectively overwhelmed by its strengths and some of those problems, in any case, will likely have disappeared by the time you see it.

Emily Bergl's "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" has one more performances: Saturday night, March 15, at 8 PM. For more information: gaslightcabaretfestival.org. Note that the Gaslight has no parking lot, so you'll want to arrive early to grab a spot on the street. Fortunately the adjoining West End Grill has a nice assortment of food and drink to occupy you until show time.