Review: JULIE SINGS JULE at Birdland Closes The Cabaret Deal For Julie Benko

Well, it’s been quite a year for Julie Benko, hasn’t it?   The story of the Funny Girl revival is already a part of theatrical legend, and even though the triumph of Lea Michele cannot be denied, it is pretty well understood that Julie Benko is the star who was born of the entire Funny Girl trajectory.  The singing actress has emerged as a force with which to be reckoned, with a new Broadway show (the upcoming HARMONY by Barry Manilow), a CD recorded with husband Jason Yeager, a holiday EP on the way, one of the best social media platforms in the industry, and a nightclub career that is snowballing into one of the great happenings of the 2022 - 2023 season.  Julie Benko is a star, right and proper, and we all watched it happen in real time, and we all benefit from her new standing in the community, but ESPECIALLY the patrons of the nightclub scene, where Julie and Jason have been plying their craft since August of 2022, when Jim Caruso said to them, “We would like to make Birdland your artistic home.”  Well, since that first show at Birdland, Jason and Julie have been part of the family, and they have made Birdland a better place to be (is that even possible?).

For their latest outing, JULIE SINGS JULE, Jason took his usual place at the piano, while Julie stood center stage and, for eighty blissful minutes, they made magic - magic out of songs we all already know, magic out of their mutual mad skills as musicians, and magic out of the love that so clearly permeates the air when they are on a stage together.   Julie Sings Jule is just one of the best club acts an audience could hope to see, be they in NYC, in a club somewhere around the country, on a cruise ship, or at a Women’s Club Luncheon.  The whole show, thanks to the people who created and performed it, is sheer perfection, and here’s why.

Julie Sings Jule is a tribute show.  Obviously.  Tribute shows can be a bit tricky, if you’re not careful.  They can end up playing like a Learning Annex tutorial or they can end up leaving audience members bummed out that their favorite tune by the honoree wasn’t included or, worst of all, they can leave patrons walking out the door with absolutely no idea who they just watched for nearly ninety minutes.   Julie Sings Jule does none of that.  The program is filled with trivia, facts, histories about Jule Styne - but not the boring old things you can find on Wikipedia.  For every factoid dispensed about Styne there is an intimate story about his personal life, his marriage, his demons, his desires, and there is always (and this is the secret weapon) a tie-in to something that Julie Benko has felt, thought, experienced, or welcomed into her life with Jule Styne.  The audience gets to learn about Jule, they get to learn about Julie, they get to learn about Julie and Jason, and they go home feeling like they just spent an evening with friends, dear friends that are funny (oh, so funny), and talented (really, super-talented), and that’s what it should feel like when you leave a club after a show.  Jason and Julie have a shorthand, a sense of humor that comes out when they flirt with each other (yes, they flirt, right before your very eyes), and they have a deep respect for one another, as people and as artists.  If you’re close enough to the stage, observe the way he looks at her when she is singing; there is so much pride, so much joy - it almost makes it hard to breathe, like during “I Fall In Love Too Easily” - pure joy.  And when any song breaks so that Jason can play one of his remarkable piano solos, Julie’s attention is on him, it is only on him, it is on nobody but him - he is her focus and he is her priority.

Of course, Julie also makes sure to give her attention to the other members of the band, and well she should, because they are simply marvelous.  They are wonderful, they are incredible, they are all of the good descriptives..  With Andy Warren on Trumpet, Jay Sawyer on Drums, and Michael O’Brien on Bass, Jule Styne’s catalogue of songs resonates with all the richness and reward that it deserves, and that fans of the legendary composer would wish for..  The entire cast of musicians took the Styne compositions and the Yeager arrangements and turned them into an evening of entertainment that warrants leaving home in a heat wave and that audiences will remember.  On Monday night, the Julie Sings Jule team was firing on all six cylinders, and this is what we have come to expect when we walk in the door at Birdland.

Musically speaking, Benko is a marvel.  It is always a treat to find a singer who can belt out a proper “Don’t Rain On My Parade” moments after displaying the most perfect, crystal clear soprano in the world, like Julie did with “Let’s See What Happens,” a mostly forgotten creation from Darling of The Day, this performance of which, were it recorded or, perhaps, filmed for the internet could bring about a renewed interest.  With Jason’s gorgeous treatment and Julie’s glorious vocals, it was an evening highlight in a night filled with excellence.  It is a genuine pleasure to watch a performer who can do a deep dive into their skills, both interpretive and Thespianic, as Julie did with “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry,” and then turn around and do prop comedy, as was the case with the classic story song “If.”   Thanks to the combination of all of the talented performers on the stage and an impeccable (underline it) script, Julie Sings Jule is a production that is completely beyond reproach, one that contains two particularly special creations, by way of a “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” that must be seen to be believed, and a “Time” themed medley that shows off both Benko and Yeager at their very best - and you really do have to love a cabaret show that has an overture, one that includes music from Subways Are For Sleeping (and, ps, there is even a number from SUBWAYS in the body of the show, as a bonus).  This woman is not only a true blue musical theater actor of the highest order, she is a musical storyteller to watch and keep watching, and this man is not only a musical savant with mind blowing skills, he is a natural born actor with super cute comic timing, and deadpan capabilities.  Julie and Jason (officially the cutest couple in the business, now) have created a tribute show that this writer believes would have made Jule Styne stand a little taller, with pride, for the way in which they are honoring and preserving his legacy, with love, with respect, and with absolute artistry.  

Thank goodness for the revival of Funny Girl, for it gave us all Julie Benko.  She would have gotten here eventually, but she’s here, now, today, and we are all the better for it.

Find other great shows to see on the Birdland website HERE.

Visit the Julie Benko website HERE and the Jason Yeager website HERE.

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

To post a comment, you must register and login.