Wendy Lane Is In My Ears...Wendy Lane Bailey, That Is

A lightly-packed house can go one of two ways for a cabaret artist; at best it can either cause a groundswell of enthusiastic support from the small crowd gathered, or it can become a virtual snoozefest for all. Given the ghastly and snowy weather pounded forth upon New York several days prior to this writing, it was unsurprising that vocalist Wendy Lane Bailey did, in fact, have an audience that was far below capacity, at the Metropolitan Room on February 27th. However, both she and her self-titled show, though not completely without scant shortcomings, proved that the lady is nothing if not a consummate crowd-pleaser.

With a shock of flame-red hair, a black-garbed voluptuous frame, and an impressively rangy voice with a not-unremarkable amount of soulful depth regardless of octave, at the outset one wasn't quite sure where her choice of material would lead. Mary Chapin Carpenter's "I Feel Lucky" seemed an unusual selection to start, particularly since it's performed by so many other cabaret artists, and then customarily with a full band, as opposed to merely piano accompaniment. This sometimes-rocky beginning, however, was nearly forgotten moments later with an intriguing slow-swing rendition of "Walkin' After Midnight," and by the time she assumed her comfortable position somewhere between classical cabaret and pop, on "I Got Lucky In The Hall" by Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller, it was clear that Bailey was exactly where she belonged. She seemed best suited for the songs she chose to couple with one another, among them Amanda McBroom and Michele Brourman's "Breathing" with "So In Love" by Cole Porter, "Once In A Blue Moon" with the Joni Mitchell opus "Night Ride Home" (which also featured superb technical direction by Ted Stafford), and a particularly stirring "Silver Heart" by Michele Brourman, with a new (and heartfelt) working of the pop hit "Shut Up And Drive." Composer Brourman herself served as musical director (which was lovely for those audience members who only know the lady for such cabaret standards as the song "My Favorite Year"). And as an additional treat, Bailey brought a friend to the stage for a guest performance; it was none other than Laurel Masse, a founding member of the Manhattan Transfer, who first joined her for a delicious "It's Never Perfect" (also penned by Brourman along with Sheilah Rae), and then the trio delivered a gorgeously-updated rendering of "Monotonous" from New Faces Of 1952, written by June Carroll and Arthur Siegel and originally made famous by Eartha Kitt in her Broadway debut.

If there was any truly unfortunate decision made by Bailey in selecting her material, it came with her reworking of the Johnny Cash tune "Ring Of Fire." Recent musical history has shown that any revamp of the song will most largely be unsuccessful (as in Adam Lambert's sitar-oriented version in the eighth season of "American Idol"), no matter how marvelous June Carter and Merle Kilgore proved when they penned it originally. That said, however, Bailey at all times is never anything less than the essence of what a true cabaret chanteuse should be on a stage; charming, personable, and a top-notch communicator both through her voice and her patter, which at times is simply side-splitting.

Ergo, it's best left to Wendy Lane Bailey to decide whether to continue in this vein and attempt a combination of the two styles, or to swing her repertoire over to a more traditional cabaret catalogue, or to attempt to develop the sort of sophisticated-rock style of artists such as Lina Koutrakos. Whichever road she chooses to travel, this writer couldn't wish her more success, and assures audiences that she is wholeheartedly worth catching whatever the decision.