BWW Reviews: Alexandra Billings Returns by Popular Demand to Sterling's

Alexandra Billings, my pick for Best Female Cabaret Artist of 2009, celebrated her birthday at Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's on Sunday March 28. This unpredictably outrageous comedienne/actress/singer, who can belt out a tune with the greatest of the great, never ceases to amaze me.

Her 90 minute set literally flew by and was once again the most enjoyable of this or any season. It was a brand new show, as her song list was totally changed from November. Some patter was the same, but most of the comedy seemed improvised, as she held the audience in the palm of her hand throughout. She captivated the crowd not only with her divaish charisma, but was so invested in each song, I felt like I was experiencing it for the very first time. Take Sondheim's "You Are Not Alone" from Into the Woods. She opened with this and performed it like a 3-act play slowly introducing a sad story, taking it to a dramatic high and in the finale, infusing her listeners with a very personal message of comfort and hope. Other highlights of the evening included: the beautifully plaintive "It Goes Like It Goes" from the film Norma Rae, a loving tribute to the cabaret folks of her past in Chicago, "Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens", the lilting standards "Blue Skies" and "Just in Time", a tribute to Liza Minnelli with "Maybe This Time" and her two closing Frank Wildhorn powerhouse tunes "This Is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde and "Home Again". There was a bitchy "I'm Not My Mother" by David Friedman, to which Billings forgot the lyrics and read them off wonderful musical director Bill Newlin's music sheet, and a deliciously delirious tune entitled "I'm 27" that sounded like it could have been Noel Coward amusing himself at being the youngest member of an aging, dying off crowd.

There were comic salutes to Earth Kitt, Ethel Merman, Chita Rivera, Shelley Winters, Tallulah Bankhead and a special Joan Crawford and Bette Davis takeoff via a short scene from What Ever Happned to Baby Jane? She kept the audience in stitches and kept it all moving along without a single lull.

My friend, who had never seen Billings perform cabaret before, summed it all up best: "I'd go see Alex Billings read the phone book". What an awesomely talented and one-of-a-kind engaging performer!

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