Review: MargOH! Channing Brought Her Boozy Story With Everything But The Bloodhounds Snappin' At Her Rear End In SIMPLY MARGOH! To Pangea

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the T!

Well, my lambs, it has to be gay heaven and I must be dead if a drag queen named MargOH! Channing brings her Boozy Chanteusey act to Pangea - and on a Saturday night no less. Now, Bobby must confess that in all the years we have been in NYC (nearly 30 of them), BT Shea - MargOH!'s creator - has also stalked the bars, clubs, and cabarets with everything from Judy/Liza lipsynch tributes to the birth of Ms. Channing herself, but we have never caught this well known, well-worn act until Saturday night. SIMPLY MARGOH! Was quite simply a good old fashioned cabaret act where the performer sings songs (some of them original - such as her I'M NOT A DRUNK, I JUST LOVE TO DRINK) some of them covers, with support from one piano, expertly womaned by Tracey Stark and the subtle hands of Joe Cosmo Cogen on the drums all woven into personal life events, funny stories, and anecdotes that have meaning to the singer, told in a way to bring a meaningful experience to the crowd. But this is DRAG darlings so Ms. Channing's cabaret was performed behind the beaded curtain of BT Shea's boozy chanteuse character who could barely stay on her bar stool while taking numerous sips from numerous cocktails. Whether talking or singing, sitting or standing MOC swayed back and forth to terrifying angles, joked about her booze, her life, her colostomy bag (and how she got it and got rid of it), taking the audience on a trip that also swayed from the ridiculous to the touching with emotion that almost compensated for her pitch deficiencies.

You see dearlings, to MargOH!, it would seem, musical notes on the page are simply suggestions and as she slurred her way through each of her 10(ish) numbers it became clear that, in a relatively clever way, she has parlayed an inability to sing into a relatively solid entertainment. The small but dedicated crowd on the night was, in the vernacular, slayed by her sways, loving each moment of comedy, pathos, and tin ear warbling. That's the act my dears - reminiscent of the night your dear Aunt Bella swanned out of a big fat Jewish wedding in her FAB blue sequinned evening dress, too dolled up to just go home, 3 sheets to the wind to find a karaoke bar where she took over the mic and refused to relinquish it way into the wee hours. Her original song, NEW YORK IS CLOSING, written with fab music director Stark, while a touch musically nightmarish in performance, also yielded some true touching poignancy. The same happened on the lady's cover of NEW YORK STATE OF MIND where her earthshaking vocal "feauxbrato" turned out the number to comic effect while mixing in some of the real feelings within the song. One must give a nod to Tracy Stark (the busiest woman in show business) for corralling her star within her musical limitations and supporting her fully in the manner of a Cosme McMoon to Florence Foster Jenkins (and if you're not gay enough to get that reference, Google is your friend.) For her finale, Ms. Channing practiced the drag craft of the lipsynch and crushed it on Judy's BY MYSELF leaving the stage to a standing audience and returning for her encore, where she suddenly realized she skipped an entire section of her show... And so back we went with the Boozy Chanteuse to hear her reminisce about cabaret luminaries who had passed recently, including her some-time vocal coach, the marvelous, Barbara Maier Gustern whose own final performance was on this very stage at Pangea. Dedicating her sweet rendition of SOME OTHER TIME to Barbara, MargOH! placed her heart in each note whether they belonged in the song or not. To be clear my dears, there were times throughout the evening that Bobby would wonder, "How in the heck is this show working?" It shouldn't have worked, but it did and it is all down to MargOH!'s charm, wit, and comedy chops, and also a little bit down to her singing. However many times her notes were a swing and a miss, Miss Channing sang out Louise in that charming, belchy, gin-soaked croak, giving it everything she had all while keeping in character and on her high heels - barely. To rain a little bit on MargOH!'s parade, the reinsertion of the number she had skipped plus the addition of a second full encore, SMILE, did push the show to the 90 Minute mark and in this writer's rainbow view, it was about 15 minutes too many. Bobby had packed up his notepad after the home run of the Judy lipsynch only to find out that there was so much more show to go.

All that notwithstanding, MargOH! Is an NYC drag legend that we experienced for the very first time, and the very slim tightrope of an act that she so skillfully, yet drunkenly walked did indeed work, and for fans of drag and MargOH! Channing herself, SIMPLY MARGOH! is a show to keep your eye out for in the future as we give this one a solid...

3 Out Of 5 Rainbows

See MargOH!'s InstaPictograms: HERE

Look Right up Her YouTube: HERE

Followe MargOH! On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

Ande Follow Her Husband, Entertainer MAN-ee Champagne: HERE

Tracy Stark Spins Her Webby: HERE

And Check Out Joe Cosmo Cogen: HERE

Also, Very Important For All Who Love NYC ALT-Cabaret - Pangea Is Running A Fund Raiser To Help Keep Downtown Alt Cabaret Thriving. Please Donate If You Can: HERE

"We hope, at this time of crisis, where we are experiencing the very real threat of the extinction of Downtown Arts, of alternative space, that you will help us preserve the totality of what we are... a hotbed of cutting edge performance, alt-cabaret, bold originality, elegant protest, and a unique brand of East Village hospitality that our neighborhood has been fighting to hang on to for the past two decades."

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