Review: MY BODY, MY CABARET at Green Room 42 Honors Reproductive Rights

Entering Green Room 42 feels like stepping into a scene from La La Land, with gem-toned lights, an intimately set stage and hooded lamps on every table.  Onstage were the music director Jess Ong (they/he) on piano and Shun Lopez (he/him) on drums. Producer Rosie Couture announced the August 29 evening as an “intersection between performance and activism” and the audience was made aware all funds from the show would go to supporting companies that honor the themes of the night: Freedom, empowerment and the rights to control our own bodies and futures. The selected companies were the NY Abortion access fund, New York State's only abortion fund (https://www.nyaaf.org/) as well as the Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, which asserts itself to be working towards solidarity not charity as it battles food insecurity, promoting organizations that support  black and trans communities. To learn more visit: https://www.blacktransliberation.com/ . With this mission in mind, the cabaret began.

 Jamielynn Korotki (she/her) kicked off the night with the revolutionary “I want” song  “Finish the Fight” from Suffs. She was then joined by Gabrielle Medina (she/her), and Caelyn Arianna Charley Osbern (she/her) to sing “Schyuler Sisters” from Hamilton, inspiring women to join together in the “greatest city in the world”: “And when I meet Thomas Jefferson, I’m gonna compel him to include women in the sequel.”

Sticking with a theme of sisterhood, EJ Adiele (she/her) elevated the whole evening with her rendition of “Sister Act” from Sister Act. Adiele’s voice and presence had the whole room in the palm of her hand as she championed the power of deep relationships. She sang “I'm on the stage where I belong” and yes she absolutely does. 

“I’ll have my sisters, always will
And as a sister and a friend I’ll be a sister till the end
I’m part of one terrific sister act”

Next up was “Woman in the Arena” from the new musical Whitehouse Princess. This new show was written by Charlotte Daniels and Maureen Clare, performed by Nina Osso (she/they). The new work also showcased “The Proof”, sung by Isa Peña (she/her) and Emma Rogers (she/her). To learn more about Whitehouse Princess, visit https://www.whitehouseprincess.com/ .

Changing the tone, “If it's True” from Hadestown performed by Cadence Robin-Song (all pronouns) dove into the helplessness and hopelessness of the subject matter that can be easy to fall into. The song does a beautiful job of acknowledging pain and uncertainty and then finding hope in community, mayhaps even the community mentioned in the songs before.

“To be beaten and betrayed and then be told that nothing changes
I believe if there is still a will then there is still a way” 

The night continued on a further emotional heavy point with “Snow Angel” by Renee Rapp, sung by Gabrielle Medina (she/her), 

“I’ll make it through the winter if it kills me”

 “If it kills me, I tried”

The show’s hope meter then rose with “I Say No” from Heathers powerfully belted by Sienna Feldman (she/her), and “Take me or Leave Me” from Rent sung by Noelle Camryn (she/her) and Addy Siciliano (she/her), 

“Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be.”

Following the duet was a performance of “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, sung by Zion Camron Clement (he/they) which splotlighted the joy and freedom of belonging and the pain that comes from the lack of. Can we fight for more than just a corner?

“Why do I feel I don't belong anywhere I go?”

“Rivers belong where they can ramble. Eagles belong where they can fly. I've got to be where my spirit can run free gotta find my corner of the sky”

My personal highlight of the night was “Tired” from the new musical Dear Cassandra. Camelia Elías Sierra(she/her) captivated with a depth that blossomed through both her voice and acting. Valerie Slocomb(she/her) sported a voice that shimmered and soothed with an enchanting richness and the harmonies with the two singing together quickly became an earworm. The striking song featured inspired lyrics. Some of my favorites included:  

“We tell the truth over and over but our words get lost somewhere”

“We feel alone but still look around to make sure no one's there”

“Waiting for the day there wont be another story we’ve been telling for thousands of years”

“They say learn what happened so it doesn't repeat, but how can we learn what happens if no one listens when she speaks”

The new musical by Julia Crafton has recently released an album on Apple Music and Spotify, and  the whole show’s development can be followed at https://www.instagram.com/dearcassandramusical/ 

Not dropping the energy, Cybèle Fasquelle (she/her) sang “A New Life" from Jekyll and Hyde and was followed by “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from Funny Girl, sung by Ellie Wood (she/her) with a pricey money note at the end. The group all came together to end the night with the musical it started with: Suffs, this time with the song “Keep Marching”. In contrast to “Finish the Fight”, this song promotes embracing the neverending journey bodily autonomy and justice will forever be on. This may be daunting, but can be seen as an opportunity. What a privilege that we can’t predict how we will evolve, and that we get to fight for steps further down a path than previous battles have fought for.

“We did not end injustice and neither will you. But still, we made strides so we know you can too”

“The gains will feel small and the losses too large. Keep marching.”

“The future demands that we fight for it now”

This is the second annual performance of My Body my Cabaret. In the hope this series continues I would be remiss to not share where there was room to grow. The show’s title, “My Body my Cabaret,” is an attention grabber, and demands the songs in the show to hold a lot of emotional and political weight. It asks some songs to stretch into the message they want to tell, classic cabaret songs like “Take me or Leave Me”, and “Don’t Rain on my Parade” or a myriad of breakup songs ask how many contexts they can be performed in-which perhaps is a testament to the songs: that they can hold so many messages. It leaves room for the audience to self insert and draw their own connections. There is a crossroads between the new context which is created in the cabaret show itself, and the existing context the show comes from. This becomes intriguing when considering the new musicals involved, which I doubt any audience member knew the context for, so we created our own narratives and the songs got to only exist within the scope of the cabaret messaging. I wonder how knowing their original contexts might expand or modify the meaning audience members took away from the inclusion of the pieces in My Body My Cabaret. There is some amount of opportunity in leaving things open. On the other hand, the arc of the show as a whole was unclear and messy. Threading together some chronological themes, the show went from celebrating sisterhood to owning pain to pushing through, but there were major inconsistencies and outliers in this outline. Furthermore, the structure and order in which songs were presented created some whiplash. This partially is a product of an uptempo to ballad alternating pattern instead of linking songs with similar things to say together. The back and forth robbed me of what I felt could have been a more moving emotional climax catharsis and ending. The pieces were all there, especially in performances, but the structure could be reexamined. I would have loved for the singers, particularly those who sang songs which I had trouble connecting to the theme, to explain their choice. This could be through stories, statistics, or simply a blurb about why they selected the song they did. Sometimes, breaks like this can feel actor indulgent in cabarets, but I believe it would expand this show by bringing more perspectives into the oh so complex conversation and enhance the specific pathos performers were aiming to inflict. Transitions between pieces would give a place to justify some of the seemingly misplaced songs, and to more clearly examine the multitudes of bodily autonomy. Bodily autonomy is a broad subject, so breaking the show into explicitly different sections such as gender affirming care, abortion funds, female oppression, etc. could help clarify the specific choices being made. The cabaret sparked many interesting dialogues and it is wonderful that the donations made by the production go to companies furthering bodily autonomy. My biggest critque is that I wanted to hear more. Emcee and producer Rosie Couture (she/her), started the show saying “I won't talk much,” yet I was yearning for more of just that:talking. This is even more the case when she dropped lines like “Community and art is all we got and all we need”.

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Follow Rosie Couture on Instagram here.

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