Review: MICHAEL SINGS ELTON Provides Chelsea Table + Stage Audience With A Solid Michael Sobie Set

Los Angeles based conductor and musician Michael Sobie took a break from the enormous venues he is more accustomed to for a brief stop in New York City at Chelsea Table + Stage, where he played a set of Elton John songs for a small and cozy crowd of what appeared to be friends, joined on the stage by a small and cozy group of what were definitely friends. For seventy minutes the amiable singer and pianist romped his way through some of his favorite Elton John tunes, from the hits to the obscurities, chatting casually with an audience that was, strangely, scattered about a near-empty room, rather than gathered right up against the stage, where they could relate to the piano man. This is not a common occurance in cabaret and concert - often, a show doesn't catch the attention of the public (or even an artist's personal circle) and they have to play to an undersold house. It isn't the fault of the artist. Indeed, there is a well-known story about a time that the late Barbara Cook was playing the Café Carlyle and, because of a snowstorm, the house was less than half-full. The legendary singer stopped, at the very top of the show, to invite everyone to grab their plates and drinks and move up to the stage so that everyone in the room was up close and personal. No doubt can remain that those audience members would never forget that night. The enjoyable Michael Sobie/Elton John show only needed a snowstorm and a round of hot toddies to make it a swell evening... along with everyone moving their tables down front. Still, the Maestro did not let the sparseness of the crowd, nor the distance between him and the patrons, get him down or affect the quality of the music. It was nice show, pleasant, affable, comfortable.

Michale Sobie has a good singing voice and the training to use it;, it is a voice ideally suited to the music of Elton John. More to the point, Michael Sobie has hands ideally suited to compositions of Elton John. This writer had the good fortune to choose a seat (they let me choose, something that doesn't happen often) near Mr. Sobie's side of the piano, and although he was personality-pleasing and audibly-agreeable, getting to watch his hands bang on the keys was where the action was at. The man's got mad skills. He didn't have much conversation, but he had keyboard skills.

The lack of converstaion was a problem. It wasn't a big one, but it was one. Mr. Sobie's program had no structure to it at all, and maybe that is what he was going for, which is fine. He was congenial enough for a person to get a feel for his personality, and his singing was certainly easy to listen to, although he wasn't really reinventing the wheel - for the most part, what he played and sang came right off the record. There wasn't an apparent interest in finding his own spin on Sir Elton's songs, so much as an interest in honoring what the icon has given the world and, again, that's fine. But, unlike the three tables of people who actually were right up against the stage, there were some people in the room (like this writer) who don't know Michael Sobie, who would have liked to leave the club having learned a little bit about him. Fortunately, guest artist Julia Murney (a fine cabaret director) stopped the action just before her first number for an impromtu mini-interview, asking Michael why Elton, what is it about Elton's music, when did he first discover Elton. It was a true blessing in the evening, one that Murney mastered with the greatest of ease, and one that provided a moment of sweet humanity: Michael's remark that his mother loved Elton John and, as a gay child, he was duty-bound to love that which his mother loved. The music during the show was good, but that comment was relatable. Well done, Ms. Murney

Another touching moment of humanity came from Mr. Sobie's other guest artist, Joely Fisher, who was added to the roster a day or two ago, and who sang "Candle In The Wind" after remarking that, even though the song was written for Marilyn Monroe, and, later, re-purposed for Princess Diana, she feels like the emotion in the song can be applied to anyone that has been loved and lost. Then, in a genuinely tender moment of straightforward sincerity, Joely Fisher dedicated her performance to the recently deceased Anne Heche.

Rounding out the guest artists was an interestingly-voiced Ava Delaney, who acquitted herself nicely with"Rocket Man." All three of Mr. Sobie's guest artists were a welcome addition to the proceedings, and maybe it was the more casual nature of the show, maybe it was the positive vibe being cast off by Sobie himself, but this reporter didn't even feel that usual pang of anger when each of the ladies used a lyric sheet or a tablet to sing their songs. Regular readers know that singers who don't know their words is my biggest complaint about the cabaret and concert industry: It truly infuriates me. But on Monday night I just didn't care. After all, Bernie Taupin's lyrics can be notoriously difficult to remember (or understand... I mean, what do the lyrics to "Bennie and the Jets" mean, anyway?). For reasons unknown, it just didn't bother me that the three guest artists used their lyric sheets - I was just happy to be there to hear them sing these great songs.

What did bother me was that so few people came to see the show. Maybe it was a lack of advertising. Maybe it was the show title - let's face it, MICHAEL SINGS ELTON is not a good name for a concert, a cabaret, or even a piano bar set (which is, honestly, what this evening most resembled). Potential patrons need something that tells them what they are getting: the title needed Michael's last name in it, maybe even Elton's, and maybe a graphic of some kind. It was incredibly vague, and the only reason this writer ended up going in the first place is a determination to see new artists and to support Chelsea Table + Stage. Michael Sings Elton seems to have drifted into town, sauntered up onto the stage, and quietly slipped away, all random. Michael Sobie is a convivial fellow with musical talent and a likability about him. He deserved a better house at Chelsea Table + Stage on Monday night. Maybe an intimate crowd is what he wanted, but it's not likely that it is what the nightclub wanted. Maybe the teachable moment is that a performer should not rely on their friends to be their audience; your friends are not your customers - strangers are. And when a show at a nightclub is treated like a piano bar set instead of a concert or cabaret, the strangers out there don't get wind of it, they don't pay attention to it, and they don't come, which they should have because Michael Sobie is good. He's good enough for a full house... if that's what he wants. He's also good enough to write an actual show with some structure and little glimpses into who he is, throughout, because it looks like he is a person and an artist worth knowing and supporting.

Find great shows to see at Chelsea Table + Stage by visiting their website HERE.

THIS is the Michael Sobie website.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.