Review: Heather Frank Blooms In DEAR BLOSSOM at Don't Tell Mama

There appears to be a new feeling in the air in New York City this week… and it might just be the new artists working in the cabaret and concert circuit.  Only two days after witnessing the sold-out NYC debut of The Bean Tones at Birdland, I caught the equally sold-out debut of Heather Frank at Don’t Tell Mama.  And this was The Original Room at Don’t Tell Mama - the long one that seats more people.  Sold out!  Welcome to the scene, Heather Frank!  And welcome, Heather Frank is.

For her inaugural Manhattan show, Ms. Frank decided to present the music of Blossom Dearie, and the match is a little bit of perfect.  DEAR BLOSSOM is a charming evening of cabaret theater, and that lies squarely on the shoulders of its charming leading lady, Heather Frank.  Now, let’s not sugarcoat it - Heather has help, and it is Herculean.  She is working with one of the best bands in the business, and the three proficients backing her up don’t just back her up, they lift her up.  Tom Hubbard anchors the band with the deep, resonant sounds of his bass, David Silliman doesn’t just keep beat with his drums, he adds the personal touch with his own stories about working with Blossom Dearie, and Musical Director Gregory Toroian breathes life into the show from start to finish with his magnificent arrangements and fingers that fleetly fly over the piano keys - this is next level playing from a man who aces every show he does.  Very impressive.  But there, on the stage of the Don’t Tell Mama Original Room, in Alison Nusbaum’s center spot, is Heather Frank, a delightful delicacy of a cabaret performer with an originality that will make her a commodity.  It is apropos that she should choose Blossom Dearie as her subject for this show because Blossom Dearie was also an original.

During her performance, Ms. Frank mentions that moments in her life have had people tell her that she sounds like Blossom Dearie.  That is true, but it’s also a little too easy.  There is a tone and a timbre that is reminiscent of Ms. Dearie that lends itself well to the memory of the groundbreaker of the music industry and, specifically, women in the music industry.  Even though the similarities exist, Misses Dearie and Frank each have their own individuality.  Heather Frank has a pleasant singing voice well placed for a Blossom Dearie tribute, if a bit breathier than her honoree, but it is unique to her, and more uniqueness comes out when she is presenting her patter for the program.  The show, subtitled INSPIRED BY THE MUSICAL LIFE OF Blossom Dearie, follows a standard format utilized by many with a wish to do a tribute show.  There are facts shared about Dearie’s life and work, and there are times when the proceedings may savor a bit of a history lesson, but Ms. Frank has some things going for her that protect her from sounding like a TED Talk.  The first of these is that, even while dispensing the historical facts about Blossom Dearie, Heather Frank has a freedom about her that allows her to throw in personal asides to the audience.  She shares stories about herself and her life that may not specifically relate to Blossom Dearie, but they relate to something that happened to her at the same time as the Blossom Dearie story she’s telling, or they remind her of the Blossom Dearie song she is about to sing… this is a clever device in storytelling that allows Frank to break free of a narrative that may, perhaps, be becoming a bit impersonal - it also allows her audience to get to know her and what is very clearly a quick, dry wit.  Delicious.  It is this wit, these personal utterances, the realness, and a disarming charm that helps Heather Frank to smooth over any kinks in what might echo a Wikipedia script, and these peeks into her personal life happen on a refreshingly regular basis, and that’s what’s going to make her a cabaret stalwart, a performer that people will want to come to see over and over.

Of course, there is the singing, which is palatable and pleasant, nuanced and nurtured.  Frank’s is neither the best singing voice in the world nor the most powerful, but that doesn’t matter because it is pretty, there is technique, there is substance, it is absolutely authentic to her, and she knows how to use it, and not just as an instrument, but as an instrument of storytelling.  And she’s a good storyteller.  She and director Lina Koutrakos have crafted a script that flows in and out of songs at some places, sets up the songs for full presentation in other places, and that has a bona fide arc for both Blossom and Heather.  What this does is provide a framework for Frank’s vignettes in music, so that she can do the singing she came to do.  There are standout performances of famous Blossom Dearie songs like “Peel Me A Grape” (a highlight), “They Say It’s Spring” (the band was on fire for this one), “Rhode Island Is Famous For You” (really fun phrasing), and a stellar time travel moment when Frank & co. perform “Unpack Your Adjectives,” one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs Dearie vocalized.  There is a breathy, beautiful “A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square” rich with honesty, an “I Like You, You’re Nice” that captured the essence of Blossom Dearie, and a spectacularly presented “Hey John” that was an evening highlight, and all of it hung on a confidence and comfort that one does not often see in a debut performance.  But, then, this is not Heather Frank’s first rodeo.  It turns out that Heather Frank kicked off her cabaret career in 2018 in D.C.; it just took her a while to make her way to our fair city.  But she’s here, now, and with her sweet-sounding voice, the originality of her aesthetic, the team of artists with which she is surrounding herself, and that delicious dry humor, it is easy to see that she will quickly take her place among the artists of the community.  And she will be most welcome - the audience reaction at her October 22nd NYC debut is certainly proof of that.

Find great shows to see on the Don't Tell Mama website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher