BWW Reviews: Luke Grooms Returns to Germano's Trattoria Feb. 18 for One Night Only

It was back on December 8, 2010 that I had the pleasure to see Luke Grooms perform for the very first time at the intimate Germano's Trattoria. Housed on the second floor of the lovely Italian restaurant, Cyd Wolfe and her husband Germano have established a successful quaint home for cabaret performers.  The food is terrific, the piano in tune, sound wonderful , and one can expect talented performers whenever you attend.

I thoroughly enjoyed Luke Grooms and I highly recommend his show set  which is set for one night only, Feb. 18.

I can tell you on Dec. 8, his show was a potpourri e of music. He loves to present the music of lesser known composers like Benji  Pasek and Justin Paul. Grooms, a big hulk of a man, began his set with their "Nothing Ever Happens", a great beginning. He mentioned that Pasek and Paul were working on a musical based on the film "James and the Giant Peach". He followed that with another Pasek and Paul number, "Part of the Painting" which was lovely.

He then went to a work by Kerrigan and Lowdemilk entitled "Run Away With Me".

The composer of Bat Boy Lawrence O'Keefe was next. He sang "The Sensitive Sons".

There were two more Pasek and Paul compositions, "Ready to Be Loved" which has been recorded by Shoshanna Bean and "Dispensable".

Another composer featured was Scott Alan. Grooms sang "Always" and a poignant number called "Blessing" which dealt with an individual "coming out" to his parents.

Grooms ended his show with another Scott Alan song "Home". His encore, sans microphone, was "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables done beautifully and deserved the wild applause given.

I happened to see Grooms in DC at the Shakespeare Theatre's wonderful  rendition of Candide. He was excited about returning to Germano's.

Germano's is located at 300 S. High Street in the middle of Baltimore's famed Little Italy. Doors open at 6 p.m. when food and drink will be available. (Try their cappuccino and delicious tiramisu.) Tickets are $10 and for reservations, call 410-752-4515.

Visit www.lukegrooms.com.

Also visit www.pasekandpaul.com. Listen to their music. I expect great things from them.

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.