Review: Jeremy Sussman's Entertaining Encore of FROM NO BUSINESS TO SHOW BUSINESS at Don't Tell Mama

At an age when most performers are content to take a well-earned bow, Jeremy Sussman is hitting his stride. Last Thursday, February 26 at 7 pm, the self-described “recovering contract lawyer” returned to the cozy stage of Don't Tell Mama for an encore performance of his autobiographical cabaret, From No Business to Show Business.

Directed with a gentle, guiding hand by Geoff Stoner, and backed by the sterling trio of Gregory Toroian on piano, Skip Ward on bass, and David Silliman on drums, Sussman’s show traced a life that began with following his parent's wishes and culminating in theatrical joy.

Now 83, Sussman ambled onto the stage with an impish grin, launching into "There's No Business Like Show Business" by Irving Berlin. The arrangement was colorful and cleverly elastic, with a push-pull tempo that slowed and surged as if mirroring Sussman’s own winding path to performance. His delivery may not have been polished to Broadway sheen, but he more than made up for it with sincerity and charm.

The storytelling, Sussman’s strongest suit, carried us into his first brush with the stage: answering a newspaper ad to audition for a small production of South Pacific. With a twinkle in his eye, he segued into "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Despite a couple of lyric fluffs, Sussman delivered a jolly, full-bodied rendition that captured the giddy thrill of discovering the stage lights for the first time.

A turning point came when Sussman happened upon a cabaret class at 92NY, taught by Collette Black. There, he fell for the intimate artform - where storytelling reigns and imperfection is often part of the charm.

Among the evening’s most delightful anecdotes was the revelation that one of his father’s friends was none other than Danny Kaye, who, Sussman shared with boyish glee, once patted his mother’s tummy while he was still inside. This charming story led into a swinging rendition of “Rhythm in My Nursery Rhymes” (Cahn/Raye/Lunceford/Chaplin), delivered with playful flair.

Sussman proved particularly adept at novelty numbers. Donning a train driver's hat, he bounded into "Alabamy Bound" while recounting his departure for college. A humorous tale about “fakebooks” (those clandestine bibles of musicians everywhere) added insider sparkle.

Yet beneath the levity ran a poignant throughline - his parents’ deep fear of poverty and their insistence that he pursue a stable profession. That tension expressed in "Guess I'll Hang My Dreams Out to Dry" by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.

The audience was joyfully enlisted for "One Meat Ball", made famous by folk-blues singer Josh White, creating a communal highlight that had the room humming and laughing in equal measure. Another standout was “Samovar the Lawyer” from A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, performed with gusto - proof that even obscure material can shine in the right hands.

Throughout the evening, Sussman’s off-kilter wit and warmth reminded us why cabaret remains such a treasured form. In From No Business to Show Business, he charts a journey from obligation to passion, from contract law to curtain calls. It may have taken him a few decades to arrive, but Jeremy Sussman has found his spotlight - and at Don’t Tell Mama, it fit him just fine.