Review: Kym Johnson Makes Promising Cabaret Debut With WHAT I DID FOR LOVE at 54 Below

Every year, dozens of people make their cabaret debut, dozens of first-timers test the cabaret waters, dozens of neophytes step into what they hope will become a new lane for them.  Some of these debuts go very well, some of these first-timers shine brightly from center stage, some of these neophytes find an art form and community where they belong.  Sometimes, not so much.  It’s a gamble.

Last night Kym Johnson took that gamble at 54 Below, and it paid off.

Kym Johnson is not a household name to some people, but she is a household name to a niche crowd devoted to a steam engine of a show called Dancing With The Stars.  She was one of the competition show’s pro dancers for sixteen seasons in America, and three seasons in her home country of Australia.  She has a highly successful career as a terpsichorean and TV presenter, including a stint on Broadway, and she could continue to work in front of the television camera or even play a leading role on The Great White Way, so she doesn’t need the work in Cabaret and Concert.  But, as she explains in her show (of which there is an encore tonight - October 10th - at 7 pm), a milestone event in her life got her to thinking about doing something that terrified her, and doing a cabaret show terrified her, so she was off to the races.  And, for those not in the know, doing a cabaret show for the first time (sometimes for the fourth, fourteenth, or fortieth time) is terrifying.  It is also extremely rewarding, and if you find your footing, the reward can be greater than the terror, the result being a rollicking good time.  Kym Johnson showed last night that she has the makings of a credible, a right proper, cabaret artist.  This was a solid cabaret debut, and Ms. Johnson shows promise as a nightclub performer.

WHAT I DID FOR LOVE isn’t just the title of Kym Johnson’s show, it’s the story of her life.  The arc of the programming is all about love - love of dance, love of family, love of home, both in Australia and in the States, and love of something called a “tradie” - ok, that last one is a joke, and a good joke that Johnson sets up really well in her show’s script, which demonstrates a working knowledge of how to write a cabaret play.  Well done, Kym.  Factually, Johnson has spent a lot of time on her cabaret script, and it shows.  There is structure to the storytelling, and the storyteller in question has charm for days.  It is impossible not to like her.  She speaks her script (every word of which is memorized, along with all the lyrics to every song, A+) with an affable air; she knows the stories she is telling and how she wants to get there, and she has mapped out the route with good segues and setups.  This neophyte has done her homework.  There is no director listed for the show, so one assumes Miss Johnson either has good instincts or she has attended a number of similar shows, but there is also a strong chance she has leaned on Musical Director Billy Stritch, who may not be a cabaret director, but he is a Musical Director who has been at this long enough that some simple guidance over a pot of tea is akin to a workshop at the O’Neill.  Whatever the case may be, Kym Johnson has a good thing going here:  good story, good script, good singing voice, good stage presence, good time.  She has all the elements.

And on the subject of her singing voice, Kym Johnson has what it takes to sing in a cabaret show or a Broadway show.  Hers is a pretty voice that can get the job done.  It is pretty, and it has had some training - enough training to belt out an impressive “Get Happy” at the start of the show and to soothe a sweet “Close to You” at the end of it.  There is plenty of belting in What I Did For Love, and Johnson shows she has staying power, but there are also sentimental moments, like the title song, that allow Kym to show her more vulnerable performance qualities.  She is, in fact, able to show off more than her belting and her crooning - she gets to display an ability to sing while dancing.  Yes, DWTS fans, there is dancing in the Kym Johnson cabaret!  This is Johnson’s money maker because even though she sings well, even though she’s captivating as a person and as a storyteller, at the end of the day, Kym Johnson has made her name and her career by dancing, so getting to see her dance is going to be a thrill for any Dancing With The Stars fan (raises hand) or any newcomer to the Kym Johson legend, like my plus-one last night, who had never seen the TV programme, never heard of Kym Johnson, yet, still, got on his feet to ovate one of the dance numbers.  Both he and I were amazed (AMAZED) at how Trent Whiddon threw Kym over his head and around the stage.  Let’s be honest: the stage at 54 Below is a nice size stage… but it isn’t a dance floor.  Last night, it felt like a Broadway stage.  What Johnson and her special guest did for their two dance numbers was mightily noteworthy, and a lynchpin to the success of this cabaret and any that might be planned for the future.  After their second number, Kym remarked that this stuff isn’t as easy at her current age as it might have been a few *ahem* years ago, but there is no question that the mother of two still has all the skills that made her a fan favorite for all sixteen of her DWTS seasons.  Speaking personally, I cannot imagine how a person does the dance moves Kym did while singing “Sway” and “Whatever Lola Wants,” but I would pay to see her do it again.  It is massively important for our dancers to incorporate dance into their club acts.  We have seen Chita Rivera, Tony Yazbeck and Bianca Marroquín do it, as well as a few others, and Kym Johnson made the right choice when she opted to step it out with such impeccable style and flair.

For her non-dance-centric musical numbers, Johnson kept it simple.  The tale being told is a look at her life, with stories about many happy (and not-so-happy) memories, and those memories feature the music that was important to her at the time.  So Billy Stritch has provided Ms. Johnson with straightforward treatments of songs by The Captain and Tennille, Judy Garland, Nancy Sinatra, and Nancy’s daddy, Frank, that allow her to relive those memories, as well as honor the original artists and recordings.  In doing so, he lifts her up and places her in the right light for the performance she has in her vision, a vision that includes some delicious comedy bits with special guest Carson Kressley, who is genuinely funny and a pretty good singer, too - his “Pour Me a Man” wasn’t just a good space filler while Kym was changing one of her four beautiful outfits; it was some genuinely satisfying cabaret.  Has Carson had a solo show yet?  If he has, it’s time for another.   (It is worth noting that Carson and Trent were the announced special guests, but an impromptu moment brought a very special guest to the stage: Kym’s mother, Barbara Johnson, joined her for a little “Everything Old Is New Again”.)   Kim used her emotional vocal performances, melded with some acting moments to bring to the audience more character-based numbers like a personally informed “Somewhere That’s Green,” and some A Chorus Line with refreshed lyrics applying to her own life experience, and that’s what good cabaret is all about:  letting the audience get to know you, yourself, while showing them the characters living inside of your imagination.  There is very little, by way of critique, to offer Kym Johnson on the occasion of her first cabaret, though there is a smidgen of advice this cabaret aficionado can impart to the newly christened small-stage performer.

Breathe.

Last night, during this delightful and heartwarming piece of cabaret theater, Kym Johnson told us that 1) this was her “first ever cabaret” and 2) “This is my first time!” - she referred to it twice, maybe three times (I think the third time is when she said, “It terrifies me!”).  It was wonderful to hear her say it, to have her be open about it - it added to the immense (underline it) charm of the evening.  In life, it is so important to grow, to evolve, to try new things, to do things that terrify you, especially for an artist.  When an established television and stage performer decides she wants to do a solo show in a club, even though it terrifies her, it’s a fantastic thing.  And with it comes an emotion we don’t get to have every day, we don’t get to see every day.  Kym Johnson was a little nervous, a little scared, and a lot excited.  Watching anyone be this excited about something is intoxicating.  Speaking personally, this writer can barely remember what that excitement feels like, and getting to watch Kym Johnson live in that excitement in real time was joyful and wonderful, and it drew me (and, I suspect, the rest of her audience) right to her.  She had me in the palm of her hand.  But what comes with that excitement and nervousness and terror is a tendency to forget to breathe.  Just breathing can make all the difference in the world to one’s comfort level and confidence (and, to be clear: there was no sign of a lack of confidence last night, just a tightness of breath).  Tonight, when Kym Johnson does her show, I give her permission to breathe, to take a drink of water whenever she wants without feeling like she is interrupting the story, to talk to the audience as she would, were she talking to the guests at a dinner party in her own home.  I give her permission to be in the moment and enjoy the experience to the fullest because she’s got it.  She has what it takes to do this.  If she will keep Billy Stritch by her side (and hire a director to keep her storytelling intention en pointe), and remember that she’s got this, remember that she belongs, Kym Johnson can keep doing musical cabarets like this for as long as she wants - and she can continue to grow and explore and be excited about it.  And the audiences will keep coming to her and they will stay in the palm of her hand. 

Welcome to the club, Kym!

The wonderful WHAT I DID FOR LOVE band is Michael O'Brien on Bass, Rob Garcia on Drums, and Billy Stritch Musical Directing from the Piano.

See Kym Johnson at 54 Below tonight, October 10th, at 7 pm, by using THIS link, or on Livestream by using THIS link.

Visit the Kym Johnson Instagram HERE.

Visit the Billy Stritch website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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