Review: The marvelous Ms. Karel

I have always said that performers with theatre backgrounds often come up with the best cabaret acts, if only because they are comfortable with the story-telling basis of the form. Anyone who attended recent shows at the Blue Strawberry by Emily Skinner or our own Anna Blair saw evidence of that.

Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

More evidence was available last Thursday (February 20) when singer/actress Katie Karel made the trip from her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, (yes, Donald, there IS a KCMO) to present her new show "How Lucky Can You Get?" at the Blue Strawberry. She played a prominent role in the critically praised Max and Louie Productions presentation of Paula Vogel's "Indecent" here last year, so she's not stranger to St. Louis audiences. But it was her debut locally as a cabaret artist and an auspicious one it was.

The evening was a bit rough in spots (as one might expect from something that is clearly a work in progress) and should probably be trimmed down to the more traditional one-act cabaret format, but it was still immensely entertaining and served as a fine showcase for Ms. Karel's considerable vocal and thespian strengths, as well as her skill as a stand-up comic in much of her between-song patter. Indeed, her resemblance to the character Rachel Brosnan plays in the Amazon series "The Amazing Mrs. Maisel" was sometimes eerie-and that was a good thing.

Consisting mostly of musical theatre songs, the show got off to a flying start with "Everybody Says Don't" (from Sondheim's rarely seen "Anyone Can Whistle") that quickly established her power as a singer and her ability to communicate the heart of a lyric. The remainder of the evening was spent paying tribute to some of the great women vocalists of the Broadway stage, linked by just enough autobiography to establish why each song was meaningful without falling off the "too much information" cliff.

So, for example, she proceeded her sunny take on "A Cockeyed Optimist" (from "South Pacific") by noting that "in order to do what I do, you have to have a sunny disposition." Combined with her bright yellow dress and matching shoes, that performance truly lit up the stage. Towards the end of the show, the revelation that Ms. Karel had recently fought cancer and led into a lovely rendition of "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (from the 1950 Disney version of "Cinderella") followed by a rousing audience participation version of Kander and Ebb's title song for the musical "Cabaret."

The standing ovation that followed was both inevitable and well earned.

There were so many highlights in this bright, engaging show that I can't list them all here. Personally, I was quite impressed by the pair of Sondheim numbers that opened the second half of the show: the title song from "Sunday in the Park With George" followed by that ultimate torch song "Losing My Mind" (from "Follies"). "All you have to do with Sondheim," Ms. Karel shrewdly observed, "is what's on the page." I couldn't agree more. As with a Shakespeare play, the best thing you can do is not get in the way of the author.

Photo by Chuck Lavazzi

Patsy Cline fans got a big treat in the second half, as well, with a medley of five numbers associated with the country music legend, ending with a soulful version of "Lovesick Blues" (a hit single for Hank Williams in 1948 but actually dating back to the 1922 musical "Oh, Ernest") that showed off her vocal flexibility. Ms. Karel has played the late Country star in "Always...Patsy Cline" in the past (and will again this year) even though her voice, with its classic, 1930s-style rapid vibrato, doesn't sound much like Cline's. Since she had the attitude and the emotion right, though, that hardly mattered.

At the piano, music director Ron McGowan provided a solid musical foundation, and his arrangements fitted Ms. Karel's style as much as her striking dress did. It's one of cabaret's little ironies that really good music directors will sometime go unnoticed precisely because their work is so well tailored to the soloist. Hence the need now and then for us critic types to draw attention to it.

Katie Karel's one-night stand here is over, of course, but with any luck we'll have the opportunity to see more of her skill as a singer, actor, and comic in the future. Meanwhile, cabaret, jazz, and even the occasional rock act continue to take the stage at The Blue Strawberry on North Boyle in the Central West End. Check out their web site for a complete schedule.