Review: Therese Lee Mines Gold With PENNIES FROM HEAVEN at Don't Tell Mama

After garnering praise and awards for her debut cabaret RIDING THE BUS TO THE RED CARPET, Therese Lee has returned to New York (from her usual home out West) and to Don’t Tell Mama with a spectacular new show titled PENNIES FROM HEAVEN: MY LIFE IN BING CROSBY SONGS.  Now, that subtitle is important because it tells potential patrons what they are and are not getting.  This is not a Bing Crosby tribute show.  The legendary crooner and Academy Award-winning actor is mentioned, certainly, and there is even some light trivia discussed, as it pertains to Ms. Lee’s storytelling, but the dialogue and discussion are all about Therese.  And that’s wonderful.   Don’t get me wrong - I’m sure Bing Crosby had a life worth honoring and discussing, but let’s tell the truth here: we can Google that.  I don’t want to downplay the shows that do break down a famous person’s history or the artists who do those types of shows - I’ve seen some of that genre that really worked, particularly in the hands of the right performers.  But the real joy of going to see an intimate cabaret show (for this writer, at least) is going home feeling like one has gotten to know the artist with whom one just spent an hour (the ideal length of a right proper cabaret show).  This is something that I learned at the hands of Carol Hall, who was a truly great cabaret performer - when you went home from a Carol Hall show, you felt like you had spent an hour at a salon in her living room.  Therese Lee has created that kind of experience with her Sophomore outing.  Part one of the title is accurate because Pennies From Heaven was a big hit for Bing Crosby, and part two of the title is accurate because this is Therese Lee’s life on display - and what a display this is.

First of all (and this is maybe the most important thing), the script of PENNIES FROM HEAVEN is exquisite.  Underline it, bold it, italicize it.  It is one of the best cabaret scripts I’ve seen in a long time, maybe a really long time.  Lee touches, during her talkie-bits, on the fact that she and Director Jeff Harnar and Musical Director Christopher Denny have to conduct a certain number of rehearsals long-distance because she doesn’t live here.  So there's no real telling how the structure of the script was formulated, how the ebb and flow of the arc was created, or how the tales being told were chosen and crafted into the sentences and stanzas we are now hearing.  Well, whatever the portions that each member of Team Lee contributed to the script of Pennies From Heaven, all three should be commended for creating a cabaret play that is, from start to finish, impeccable.  Add to the word perfect script a score of songs that fit, seamlessly, the script, the Lee story, the Crosby history, and you have that rare thing that doesn’t come along every day, no matter how much we wish for it: a perfect show.   That’s right: perfect. 

Since cabaret is ostensibly (most of the time) centered around music, let’s look at that aspect of MY LIFE IN BING CROSBY SONGS.  Therese Lee has a genuinely pleasant voice to listen to.  Clear, concise, and pitch-perfect, Lee is able to land light and reedy soprano high notes, she is comfortable using a bright and bell-y belt when called for, and she is even skilled with some low rumbles that add mightily to her storytelling; and never, not once, at her August 20th premiere performance of PENNIES did she stray from the notes as planned.  There is training in Therese’s history, and it is on display, and with a well-deserved set of treatments from Mr. Denny, who isn’t just at the piano for PENNIES, he is also dueting with Lee on a couple of numbers.  It is always a treat to hear Denny’s voice raised in song, especially with the kind of harmonies he has created for himself and Lee, with whom he has a palpable chemistry.  Among Denny’s most significant treatments for the show are opening number “Accentuate The Positive/New Sun in the Sky,” a breathtaking take on “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” a meticulous melding of “Temptation” with “Just One More Chance,” and evening highlight, title cut “Pennies From Heaven.”  But please understand that this is just me singling out some highlights - the truth is that Mr. Denny’s work is, throughout, beyond compare, as always.

As for the genial leading lady of Pennies From Heaven - what a delight.  What an absolute delight to sit in a room with a performer who is so very funny, with comic timing designed to drop you into a laugh right in the middle of a story, and right when you don’t expect it.  She manages this so often during the performance that you find yourself anticipating the next comedy drop, like looking for the waiter at the wedding that has the tray of your favorite amuse-bouche.  Delicious.  But Pennies From Heaven isn’t all comic timing and cotton candy; there is pathos and passion, family reminiscences and relationships, all recounted with honesty and heart, especially a frank and feeling story regarding the height of the AIDS crisis and friends lost, a touching tale that this writer really appreciated.  It was a moving and memorable moment in the programming.  Lee and co. also light on the whole “White Christmas” phenomenon by weaving in the storytelling with the music in a flawless manner that keeps the trajectory on point while completely avoiding the twee aspect that often accompanies the subject of Christmas.  In all the ongoing aspects of the musical cabaret’s forward motion, the company matches the musical selections with the tales told like a good food and wine pairing, with Lee landing high marks with a well-crafted “Swinging on a Star” segment, a right proper “Both Sides Now” that actually features some Bing Crosby trivia, an underplayed but sweet “I Whistle A Happy Tune,” and a gorgeous “September Song” that Lee wisely reserves for the end of the show in a bona fide 'save the best for last' move.   There is a wide variety in both musical and vocal styles, all of it benefitting from Therese’s range as both a vocalist and an actress; there is a great deal of proper emotion and humanity, yet the proceedings never become cringey or self-indulging - perhaps that is because Pennies From Heaven rings authentic to the performer’s life and experience, which is what the title promised and, thankfully, delivered, wrapped around enjoyable musical entertainment.  Putting it in simplest terms:

Pennies is Perfect.

Therese Lee will play PENNIES FROM HEAVEN at Don't Tell Mama on September 19th and October 17th.    Tickets will be available on the Don't Tell Mama WEBSITE.

Therese Lee has an online presence HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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