CABARET REVIEW: ANDREW LIPPA AT THE KING KONG ROOM

Since all the other cool theatre kids now play at the KingKongRoom, it was certainly high time for Andrew Lippa to join in the fun and present a showcase of his music. On Monday, Mr. Lippa performed songs both old and new, from his most famous musical, The Wild Party, to the upcoming A Little Princess, at the former Blue Room upstairs in the Supper Club.

Showtunes are meant to be in shows, and always lose a little something when removed and performed outside of context. How lovely, then, to get the context of the new songs before hearing them- it helps keep them as part of scenes, and makes them stronger. A song about Jewish siblings finding "their thing" from Jerry Christmas, an upcoming musical, is funny on its own, but performed as a scene by Lippa and Shoshana Bean, it becomes much richer and more appreciable. Ms. Bean also performed "Live Out Loud" from A Little Princess, making me hope that if she can make audiences believe that she's heavy in Hairspray, perhaps she'll be able to play a twelve-year-old in the new show, because the song clearly needs a voice as powerful as Ms. Bean's.

When Julia Murney came up to the microphone, Lippa announced that he'd intended for her to sing some new songs. And indeed, she sang a beautiful "I'm Not Waiting," a song Lippa wrote just for Murney about the pain of discovering that what is most desired is not what it had seemed to be. Immediately after, she returned to familiar ground, belting out the well-known "Ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya!" of The Wild Party's "Raise the Roof," which brought down the house. When she took on idina menzel's solo from The Wild Party, "Life of the Party," she had the whole room snapping along to the hot jazz.

There were also several non-show songs, including the truly moving true-story song ("A Night To Remember") about Lippa learning at a school reunion what kind of effect a random moment of kindness had on a girl years before. "Pretending to be Me" and "Still Life," similarly reflective songs gave a nice balance to the brighter and bouncier numbers.

Andrew Lippa will perform again at the Ars Nova Theater on December 15^th at 10:00 PM. Get tickets now- it's wonderful to watch a star rising.

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