BWW Reviews: JOANNE TATHAM's Sophisticated SOUNDTRACK NEW YORK Is a Terrific Tribute to Manhattan Movie Music

Cabaret Reviews and Commentary by Stephen Hanks

On the evening of June 22, I would be doing the third performance of my Don McLean Tribute show at the Metropolitan Room, but I had heard enough buzz about Los Angeles-based, former New Yorker Joanne Tatham that I wanted to catch the last staging of her show Soundtrack, New York: Music from Movies Made in Manhattan at the same venue that afternoon. Hey, a cabaret reviewer's work is never done. Besides, with my gig hours away, I felt my mental state would be best served catching someone else's show rather than climbing the walls thinking about my own. Overall, experiencing Ms. Tatham's performance turned out to be an excellent use of my pre-show time.

You wouldn't expect to hear a musical tribute to Martin Scorsese in a cabaret show, but there was Tatham during her finale citing the iconic film director before seeming to sing the entire score of his 1977 film, New York, New York. In fact, one of the few scratches on Soundtrack New York was that it was scripted as if Scorsese himself had produced it as a PBS music documentary. Tatham sang all or parts of 31 songs--including five medleys of various lengths--that spanned Big Apple-centric films produced between 1949 (On the Town) and 1991 (Prince of Tides). It would make a great parlor game trying to guess which song in a movie about or filmed in New York that Tatham might have left out of her set.

Tatham's ability to sing so many songs of varied styles and remember all those lyrics was impressive (I think she only dropped a line once the entire show), but the lengthy set list left this reviewer at a loss to recall (without notes) which numbers were truly memorable. While for this particular show conceit less would definitely have been more, Tatham did prove on many numbers that she is a compelling singer and engaging cabaret performer with a deep, intimate, sensual, and subtle sound--featuring an occasional belt--that favors jazzy, swinging arrangements and that is perfectly suited to the art form.

Looking movie star-attractive and sophisticated in a black blouse over black stretch slacks, Tatham started solidly with just Sean Harkness on guitar before Musical Director Andy Ezrin came in with a languid piano roll on a minimalist version of "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's. She then told the audience that experiencing the power of New York through film "all begins with Audrey Hepburn for me." During Leonard Bernstein's "New York, New York" from On the Town, Tatham offered almost a mini-history on the filming of the movie, which flagged the major flaw of her script: Too much exposition around too many songs that basically served as setups and didn't offer much interesting trivia, let alone insight into why some of the songs or films were so special to her (other than the Hepburn connection).

On the vocal side there were many highlights during which Tatham dazzled with her jazzy, interpretive alto. Early in the set, she applied a smoky sound to the band's bossa nova beat (including Steve Doyle on bass and Peter Grant on drums) on Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Promise Her Anything" (from the 1965 Warren Beatty film of the same name). She then exhibited a slow build of power and tempo on a dissonant arrangement of "Everybody's Talkin'," from 1969's Midnight Cowboy. In a medley of songs featuring films about women in the big city, Tatham was smooth on the little-known Henri Mancini/Rod McKeon song "Natalie" from the 1969 Patty Duke vehicle, Me, Natalie, and she was sassy on Carly Simon's "Let the River Run" from 1988's Working Girl. Next came a segment featuring Broadway musicals on film, and Tatham produced a dramatic, committed interpretation of "Easy To Be Hard" from Hair, and a surprisingly strong belt for the climax of "Don't Rain On My Parade," from Funny Girl.

The three successive medleys after that--including a tribute to the Woody Allen classic Manhattan through five Gershwin songs sandwiched between Ezrin's "Rhapsody in Blue" riffs, a bit on movie theme songs (including Harkness trying to channel "Shaft"), and two songs from early '80s films ("It Might Be You" from Tootsie and "The Best That You Can Do" from Arthur)--didn't completely land and the latter two of the three could have easily been cut. But Tatham finished strong around the Scorsese film medley finale with poignant renditions of "Places That Belong To You" from Prince of Tides (which Tatham sang very much in the Barbra Streisand style, but without the vocal embellishments) and "Our Love Affair" from An Affair to Remember. Soundtrack New York was an entertaining show that also came across as a bit too ambitious and mannered, especially in its script and structure. But Joanne Tatham certainly possesses the professionalism, vocal chops, and glamorous stage presence to make this reviewer anxious to see her back in New York with a new show very soon. -END-