Review: BAY AREA CABARET PRESENTS MEOW MEOW at Venetian Room

Bay Area Cabaret opens its 22-23 season with a rare programming choice - post-modern diva Meow Meow, the alter ego of Melissa Madden Gray. Unusual in that Meow Meow modern cabaret choosing an in-your-face 20th century Weimar style that challenges and provokes audiences. This is not a show tunes and Great American Songbook evening and not everyone's palate for sure. Behind the comic façade and burlesque slapstick lies a thoughtful, talented chanteuse who allows the music to do the talking.

She plays on her unique appearance, looking like a windswept Joan Collins. Strutting onstage as the diva she is, Meow understatedly mentioned "It's a lot, I know". When no one threw flowers at her feet, she stopped the show to provide her own adoration. She play with the lighting tech, providing her own queues, often to mask he taking a gulp on wine straight out of the bottle or chewing hard candies. When she shockingly can't get the stage to revolve stagehands present her with a lazy susan and spin her around during a lovely cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees".

She's a natural comedienne which endears the audience, but she truly shines when she sinks her teeth into her wildly eclectic material. From her Pink Martini days she offered "I Lost Myself (I'm Hungry...and that ain't right) written by composer/collaborator Thomas Lauderdale as well as a co-written "Hotel Amour" from her same titled CD. Her delivery mesmerizing and emotive.

Kurt Weil and Bertolt Brecht are represented by "Pirate Jenny" from Three Penny Opera, boldly performed entirely in German. Same with 1929's "Surabaya Johnny", performed rather than just sung, understanding the context of the material. Another German cabaret song, "Alles Schwindel (It's All a Swindle)" may have pushed the limit of non-English presentations. Rounding out her European chanson homage is a lovely interpretation of "Sans toi (Without You)", music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Agnès Yarda performed en francaise.

Accompanying Meow Meow was Emmy award winning pianist/composer/singer and musical director Lance Horne, who's worked with a host of super talented performance artists such as; Rufus Wainwright, Vivian Bond and Taylor Mac. His light and lyrical touch is a perfect counterpoint to Meow's material. Closing the show was a haunting cover of Patti Griffin's "Kite Song", a call for overcoming grief and sadness and weathering the storms of life. A poignant, beautiful finale the unique persona that is Meow Meow.

Next up for Bay Area Cabaret is Broadway World's "Vocalist of the Year," and Mabel Mercer Foundation award winner Carole J. Bufford on November 20th. Tickets available at https://www.bayareacabaret.org/ or by calling (415)927-4636.

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