Review: MISS EMILY Bursts Onto The NY Scene at Chelsea Table + Stage

Miss Emily, a career rockstar who’s toured Europe and won a Juno, had never played a Manhattan gig before last Friday, when she arrived at the beautiful Chelsea stage, a bit more than a block off Broadway, in Manhattan’s fashion district, where she played a one woman show, rather than to a musical festival crowd. But she brought the glitz and the glam and the intensity of her performances to the stage, where her big voice filled the room, the way the best of Broadway could. Simply put, this chill venue has put together quite the lineup this summer, with strong talent across the gamut of what performers can bring to a cabaret room. And, rather than your shoes sticking to the floor of a downtown bar, you can keep it a little classier while soaking in a night of live music.

Emily shared a series of originals and got us clapping, from the first song. Her white guitar with gold detailing glinted in the dim lights, as she jammed along to a more rock-oriented song series, with lyrics that, nevertheless, often fell into that bluesy, jazzy vibe that so often strums at the soul of a listener. Hidden within these lyrics were nuggets of her own wisdom, just like a classic Broadway number, such as “sometime it’s better to lose” with lines like “if my love had been better and it wasn’t money” showing that the superficial factors can cloud the mind. Though, at times, I lost the thread of Emily’s song choice from one to another (as she had a general set to sing, rather than a formal song list) she clearly loves to perform, often throwing her fantastic voice across her range, bringing the open-air rock show to midtown.

The general tone of Emily’s music was fairly upbeat, backed by the strong voice and presence of the singer herself, who also remarked that she wanted to get back to “happy after the years of the pandemic.” Writing to celebrate “oneself,” she sang the song “Glory,” putting tremendous power into the lines, “I’ll be up here soaring, holding onto the glory.” She seemed to truly vibe when she sat down at the piano to sing one of her fans’ favorites from the pandemic era, “My Friend,” from her record, In Between. This song truly captured, in beautiful lyrics and vocals, the essence of moving on from anything or anyone in life, and reminded me of all the times we wish we can be with loved ones who are far away, with moving moments like “I wish that I could say to you I miss my friend” and “I don’t want to reminisce on the things I don’t miss” set alongside “for I have joy and I have loved every now and then.”

Classically, in the vein of many cabaret shows, Emily also shared inspirations from her own life, singing about the silver lining of finding new love and discussing how she remains passionate about performing with the song, “This Road,” with which she shared how “it may be less traveled but this road is mine.” Her talent for songwriting may have been best exemplified by an international song competition winner, Three Words. In it, the impactful line, “It was more than just for fun, all because of just three words...you were more than just a friend,” recalled many earlier moments from her show, where she drew the line between friend and lover. She ended with a song few cabaret performers would have the edge or gusto to sing, House of the Rising Sun, with slightly edited lyrics from the version made famous by The Animals. A folk song of ancient origin with unclear history, some believe the original reckons that church bells and the shackles of future weddings are soon to come. The irony or depth of the song selection is that Emily is set to be married too, though, hopefully, for her, this next journey of friendship is here to stay. I know that I’ll be looking forward to the next time she’s back on a New York stage!

Visit the Chelsea Table + Stage website HERE.

Miss Emily has a website HERE.

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