Review: Jeff Harnar's CONFESSIONS OF A NEW YORKER at 54 Below Is a Joyous Ride
Harnar celebrated some of NYC's talented songwriters in the 4/1 show. Catch him at Birdland on 6/9 with a show honoring Cole Porter
New York City cabaret fixture Jeff Harnar turns his attention to songwriters from the city that never sleeps at his latest show, Confessions of a New Yorker. He brought the charming show to 54 Below on April 1, 2025. You can’t help but leave humming the infectious tunes with inventive new arrangements by Music Director Alex Rybeck. He opened the show with a Latin-inspired “Come Back to Me” (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever), slow and deliberate but powerful, starting with just drummer Dan Gross banging out the beat on bongos. Harnar joins in, layering his vocals wonderfully on the percussion, building tension until finally Rybeck and Ritt Henn join in on piano and bass, respectively.
With the overwhelming amount of shows centering on New York City, it was a smart choice to honor the city via its songwriters rather than strictly songs about the city, so overplayed he even lampoons it with a clever parody of that one very famous Kander & Ebb song, with lyrics by Dale Gonyea – “Don’t make me sing that song again – New York, New York.” Harnar’s excellent comedic delivery on that and other songs – including the hilarious Portia-Nelson/">Portia Nelson song from which he got the title for the evening, “Confessions of a New Yorker” – had the crowd guffawing throughout the night.
The theme allowed Harnar to pull out some rare gems, including a touching song by MD Alex Rybeck (with lyrics by Hello, Dolly! book writer Michael Stewart) called "What a Funny Boy He Is." Another highlight was a clever mashup honoring some rarely performed songs by the iconic NYC lyric-writing duo Comden & Green. He sat down and joined Rybeck at the piano for a duet on that mashup, the bouncy “Strange Duet” blending into the even bouncier “Wrong Note Rag,” which they sang in falsetto. Rybeck’s arrangements skillfully wove both songs together into a unified whole. It’s the perfect evening for fans of the Great American Songbook to be introduced to some new songs that share the sensibilities of that era, and some gems that you won’t often get the chance to hear live. The songs you’re probably familiar with have been reinvented with clever new arrangements or parody lyrics – one highlight from the night imagined what Sondheim’s lyrics to Oklahoma would have been like (with parody lyrics by Rick Crom).
Harnar is a masterful cabaret performer, with acting chops to match his superb vocal ability, and his song selection wonderfully highlighted his natural ability to clearly enunciate lyrics and imbue them with feeling. In Bob and Jim Walton’s hilarious “The Shape of New York” Harnar goes through the many streets and neighborhoods referenced in the song, shining a laser pointer on a map of the city while comparing them to a certain part of the male anatomy, a faux-innocent lilt in his voice.
In between songs, he shared anecdotes from his time living in New York and his feelings about the city, and his personal connections to some of the people who’d written the songs he was singing. It was a lovely show celebrating a city Harnar obviously has a deep affection for.
Learn more about Jeff Harnar and where to follow him on his website at jeffharnar.com
He’ll be back at Birdland on June 9th at 7 pm with a show honoring another great NYC songwriter, Cole Porter, with his celebrated show IT’S DE-LOVELY. Tickets are available on Birdland’s website.
(Header photo credit: Kevin Alvey)
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