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Like so many million other schoolchildren from New York in the 1970s, your humble writer and his siblings would race home every day to watch "The Magic Garden," the daily half-hour TV show presented by co-hostesses Carole Demas and Paula Janis on WPIX-TV Channel 11; therein, the two took their throng of youthful spectators through a magical thirty minutes of song, stories, short plays, lessons about the world, and such characters as Sherlock the pink squirrel and Flapper the bird (both given virtual life by the great puppeteer Cary Antebi) as well as journeys with the Storybox, the Chucklepatch, and the Magic Tree growing lollipop sticks.

What most of those children didn't know was that Demas had already also established herself as a powerhouse of musical theatre, portraying Luisa in The Fantasticks for two seasons in the late 1960s, brilliantly playing Sandy in the original production of Grease, a legendary turn as the title character in the out-of-town tryouts of No, No, Nanette, and her portrayal of Genevieve in the first Los Angeles workshop of The Baker's Wife, while composer Stephen Schwartz was still tweaking the show for Broadway.

Now, let's jump ahead to 1995. The cabaret Eighty Eight's was still one of the undisputed King of Clubs, and all members of the nightlife press looked very much forward to the brilliant evening on the last Monday in June, when Erv Raible and his staff presented the Eighty Eight's Summer Cabaret Preview, in which all of the performers slated for shows that season would perform one song from their planned act as a teaser, so that reviewers could decide which shows they'd like to see. Demas closed the first act and performed "Meadowlark," at which point this writer approached her at intermission, thanked her for all she and Paula Janis had given to us as children over the years, and how much I looked forward to reviewing her act. To which she replied, "I hate to tell you this, but I may have to cancel it. There have been some unforeseen circumstances, and...well, I'm just so sorry. But I'll be back in cabaret, and I'd be honored if you'd come see me then and review the show." The circumstances did exist, she canceled the show, and now that she's finally pulled out all the stops in every way possible and brought her evening to the Laurie Beechman Theatre, it's hardly a secret that it was worth the fifteen-year wait for every blessed second.

 

Entitled Carole Demas: Summer Nights, an obvious play on her role as Sandy, the evening emerges as not only a phenomenally-inventive evening of showmanship, but a most wonderful throwback to the glory days of 1970s cabaret at such rooms as Reno Sweeney and the Grand Finale. Demas does make use of show tunes and the Great American Songbook, but these are in far less abundance than the pop-rock sensibility she employs by such masters as Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Loudon Wainwright III and even the Beatles, and the result is so heaven-sent that at times she appears almost a cross of Judy Collins and Betty Buckley, besides steadfastly remaining her own true self. It's obvious to call her a vocal champion a few numbers into the evening, when she embarks on a pairing of "What The World Needs Now" and "Carefully Taught," but her patter is equally exquisite, as with a beautiful setup about her family in Brooklyn during the Dodgers-Yankees World Series, which gives way to a glorious version of "Somewhere Between Old and New York." An amusing story about one of her nights at The Fantasticks with another actor's stage prop gone horribly wrong is also a winner, and she takes a break midway through to give her outstanding musical director Ian Herman the chance to dazzle the crowd with his composition "Too Fast," a veritable symphony of ragtime and jazz.

 

Demas reclaims the stage for a true treat; she brings Paula Janis out of the audience along with guitar, to afford the two the chance to once again delight audiences with "The Hello Song," to the squealing thrill of all the fortysomethings assembled who adore them both. As if that wasn't enough, she follows with "Summer Nights" and is joined by both Ms. Janis and Ilene Kristen, who played Patty Simcox in the original production of Grease, providing backup vocals as the Pink Ladies, and young Josh Franklin, who recently returned from Grease's national tour as Danny Zuko. Proving she's also no slouch at a number a bit more soulful, in this case namely Eubie Blake's "My Handyman," she once again tears into "Meadowlark" with relish (after informing us that David Merrick used to refer to it as "that damned song about the bird!"). Demas winds up with Billy Joel's "I've Loved These Days," as a testament to how life was in the 1970s while living and working in California, and sends the mega-enthusiastic crowd on their way with a final encore of "A Quiet Thing," which couldn't be rendered more perfectly.

Besides Ian Herman, who does a singularly spectacular job with the lady's music and arrangements, mention must be given to guitarist Sean Harkness, who scores goal after goal and never more so than on such Beatles tunes as "Something," and a surprise windup to the evening, Demas's rendition of Lennon/McCartney's "The End." And the most overwhelming element of all is her delivery of the Paul Simon chestnut "Old Friends," which she informs the audience she chose because, "I was twenty-eight years old in 1968 when this song came out, and I always wondered what it would be like to sing it when I was actually seventy." That statement alone is a mindblower; the lady is physically and vocally ageless, and both looks and sounds as though she just emerged from a 1973 time capsule. And special mention must be given to the resplendent Charles Repole, for lending his brilliant directorial hand to the proceedings.

The point cannot be driven home more strongly. Carole Demas is a knockout in every possible way. She'll re-appear at the Beechman on July 24th at 7pm, and simply shouldn't be missed.

To see Carole Demas in Grease with Barry Bostwick and the American Dance Machine:

 

To see Carole Demas and Paula Janis in a cherished clip from "The Magic Garden":

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