AND THEN THERE WERE 8: A MetroStar Is Born ….Soon

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The search for singing talent is in full swing on West 22^nd Street. Here is the latest report on the doings and undoings of MetroStar contestants, those singers competing in the singing contest at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Room for a chance to have an all-expenses-paid nightclub engagement there.  Competing is also great exposure, performing experience—and a learning experience as our reporter on the scene, Kathleen France continues to tell us. The competition continues each Monday through August 30.  What follows is a wrap-up of the last two Mondays.  Earlier reports by Kathleen, writing from the perspective of someone who was a contestant last year, can be found elsewhere on this website.

Chop, chop!  A major cut had to be made on Monday, August 2, according to the MetroStar rules.  Participating, were the performers who had survived the first cut.  They’d received the most votes from judges and audiences, after over 50 singers had performed, spread out over three nights. Each of the 19 had one more chance to sing, knowing only the top 10 scorers would continue, with two of them being eliminated the following week. Those who made the top 10, each had to sing two songs on August 9: a ballad and a contrasting up-tempo number.

I arrived at the Metropolitan Room on August 2, to a mass of people.  When you have 19 performers inviting all of their friends to come support them, and there is limited seating, and if people are not making reservations, it causes a slight problem.  Fifteen minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, the reservations were at capacity, there was a huge wait list and people were still showing up to get in.  Numerous people were turned away from the event, because there was simply not enough space to accommodate everyone.  Seating was tight, because the Metropolitan Room wanted to let as many people into the event as possible.  The show went up a bit late so everyone could be seated. This is a great time to reiterate the need to make reservations for shows.  This way, the Metropolitan Room has a clear picture of how many people will be attending, it allows them to staff accordingly, so they may better serve you.  Plus, they will know exactly how much wiggle room they have, to allow wait list people in to see the show. In August, audience members get only one ballot instead of the regular two they received for the initial rounds.

They’d planned to select 18 to continue, but it was 19, due to a tie.  Since they don’t pick the top vote-getters in each preliminary evening, but rather those who get the most votes from the whole pool, I always find it interesting how many performers are selected from each of those three July nights.  Out of the singers who made it through this year, five were from the very first night, and seven from each of the other nights. As cuts progress throughout the August Mondays, the 19 become 10, then 8, then 5, then the top 3, and then the grand prize winner.  The second and third place winners get to be the opening acts for the winner.

Our permanent judges, cabaret reviewers Roy Sander and Rob Lester, were joined on August 2 by the first group of guest judges to provide additional scoring.  They were cabaret performer/Tony nominee Sharon McNight, former President of MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) and multi MAC Award-winner  Ricky Ritzel and David Kenney, whose radio show, “Everything Old Is New Again,” is a fixture on Sunday nights at 9pm on WBAI.   On August 9, guest judges were the married singers Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock, who recently played the Algonquin’s Oak Room, longtime radio hosts Valerie Smaldone, currently on WOR, and Lise Avery of the syndicated show "Anything Goes," which plays standards. McNight, Ritzel, Comstock and Fasano have all had Metropolitan Room engagements as well. McNight, who just returned from teaching cabaret skills at the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University, was called upon to make some comments.  As a performer, I love getting feedback, and after watching the hilarious Sharon McNight host the 2010 MAC Awards, I was so excited when she spoke up.  The first thing she said was, "Don't sing with your eyes shut," which gave me flashbacks to last week's article of things my director taught me.  I don't think singers realize they do this.  It completely cuts you off from connecting with the audience.  Obviously, if my director Lina Koutrakos and Sharon McNight are both bringing it up, it must be a common occurrence that can greatly affect your performance.  She mentioned pianist and musical director, the late Dick Gallagher, who said, "Cabaret is being yourself on purpose."  I love that statement.  She spoke about how everything we do must have a meaning behind it - even our movements.  As singers we can get so caught up in the technique of singing, or we can just go through the motions, instead of really diving in to the piece, word by word, to clearly portray the true intention of the lyrics.  The artists who take the time to do this, touch us in a way that others do not, and they are the performers who are remembered at the end of the night.

Some of the 19, selected comic songs for their second round of competition.  Jan Brennan started the night off with an arrangement of the songs "I Want to Be a Prima Donna” and “Glitter and Be Gay," followed by Amy Rivard who did "Alto's Lament."  A funny, sexy number about the joys of “Making Love Alone” was done – solo, of course ---by Marcie Chasen, and it sent up more than a few giggles from the audience.  None of these three women made it to the next round.

And then we had unique songs that work perfectly in cabaret settings, with touching emotional lyrics. Tracy Nichole Franklin did "I Never Danced With You." Jenna Tomsko did "On My Way to You."  They did not get into the top 10 either.

Handling classic, older musical theatre material instead, were Kareen Foster and Jenn Newman.  Kareen performed "Summertime," from Porgy and Bess, which is such a beautiful song.  Jenn Newman did "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1927 Show Boat. Sandy Hanson did a jazzy "Speak Low" from the 1943 Broadway musical One Touch of Venus, originally performed by Mary Martin, and composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Ogden Nash. These classics make me all warm and cozy inside when I hear them.  None of these women became part of the next round either.  Nor did Ruth Carlin who sang “Fallin’,” from the 1979 musical They’re Playing Our Song.

Taking on a Broadway song from the current era, Ruben Ramos performed “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” from Avenue Q. He became part of the Top 10 for August 9.  That night, each of the ten received immediate comments, on mic, from two or more judges.  I love it when we get to this point of the competition.  Not only do we get to see more of what the performers can do, but we get to hear the judges’ critiques as well.  I like this a lot because it provides insight into what these seasoned professionals think.  It helps me learn more about my craft.

Obviously, I have my own opinion as to what I think about each contestant's performance.  I know if I feel connected to them as an audience member, if I understand the lyrics through both diction and emotional intent.  I have my own opinions and I like to see if the judges feel the same way as I do.  Many times, they were right there with me, and sometimes, their opinions differed from mine. Sometimes, their opinions differed from each other.  This, I feel, is what makes this competition a great thing, because it lets you realize that different songs, different lyrics and different people, touch their audience in varied ways. What works for some may not work for others.  As singers, we need to realize this, learn from it, and try to keep our performances as honest as possible to try to connect with as many audience members as possible.  Sometimes, this criticism is very hard to take.  Sometimes, we take it personally.  As a performer, you may feel that you have poured your heart and soul into a piece, but your physicality or focus may have interfered with getting your intent across to the people watching you.  It's hard to hear constructive criticism, or different ideas of delivery,  when you feel you've given your best.  I know many of the performers that night left feeling unsure of themselves.  Everyone in cabaret, even the pros, is constantly trying to work the lyric and be emotionally invested in the material, in order to take their audience on a journey.  It is a continuous learning process.

When Ruben returned as one of the Top 10, he was one of the first to sing his two back-to-back numbers and await some comments from judges.  Ruben is a big teddy bear.  He steps on stage and you just want to hug him. ---- at least, I do.  He began with “Southbound Train” by Julie Gold and followed with “I Don’t Remember Christmas” by Maltby & Shire.  He is emotionally connected to his songs, but what he needed to work on this week was his focus and physicality. Judge Valerie Smaldone thought that because his focus was above the audience, instead of looking directly at us, she couldn't connect with him as much as she would have liked.  Roy Sander told him he has such a sweet quality, but he needs to watch his physicality because he was holding tension in his arms. If he relaxed them more, it would free up his movement.  Roy also happened to know “I Don't Remember  Christmas” so well, that he pointed out to Ruben that he had left part of it out, and asked if that had been a choice or an “oops” moment.  He admitted that it was an “oops.”  Many in the audience would never have known, because Ruben covered it up so well.  Roy said he wanted more dynamics in the song and, thinking quickly on his feet, Ruben said, "Yes, that was in the verse I cut out." The audience got a good laugh out of that.  We love to see the real person behind the artist.

For her August 2 choice with the Top 19, Amy Beth Williams did Stephen Sondheim’s "I Never Do Anything Twice," which I thought was a great number for her, although I think it would have been stronger  had she cut a verse.  But she was not cut herself; she became one of the Top 10.  When she returned the next week, she began by explaining that she hadn’t planned to speak before her first number, but felt she should now point something out.  "Yes," she said, "It's not déjà vu. You have heard this piece before ---- earlier this evening."  And then she sang, "I Don't Remember Christmas."  As an audience member, I found that it was actually interesting, seeing someone of the opposite sex perform the same song. Roy Sander mentioned Amy Beth's grace of presence and intelligence in her performance.  Lise Avery agreed with something that Eric Comstock had mentioned earlier of Amy Beth's soprano selection, “I’ll Be Seeing You” --- that sometimes lowering the keys of certain songs puts them into a more truthful place, more like speaking the words and this sometimes brings more emotional freedom and realness to the song.

T. Oliver Reed gave me goose bumps with his rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” which brought him into the next round. On each of his appearances, he has broken the ice by confidently walking on stage and saying into the mic, "Vote for me."  Giggles go up from the audience.  He had some great patter into his first song, "Broken Vow," and then did the Broadway song "Feelin’ Good," by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.  Barbara Fasano said, "Wow, you've got some chops!" and I think the entire audience was in agreement.  He has a powerful voice, but can also flip into a soaring, floaty falsetto. The female judges both noticed the exact same thing I first noticed about T, after the voice, of course.  Barbara said he was stiff.  She wanted him to be himself and said, "Bring the sweetness of you just standing here into the song."  Valerie Smaldone said she wanted him to move his hips and let it go!  Many singers who have classical training do what I call "Opera-man stance."  The feet are planted, the spine elongated, the chest broadened, the presentational arms extended, and the gorgeous notes come out. T has a touch of this rigidity, and I feel like just shaking him a little bit to loosen him up.

For her August 2 appearance, Janice Hall had combined two Spanish songs that worked nicely together: "Dos Gardenias” and “Besame Mucho." Her two-song set began with "Come On-a My House," originally recorded by Rosemary Clooney.  Barbara Fasano complimented Janice on her lovely, warm and creamy sound, but said that it is difficult for people to select songs that are so associated with other singers. These are called "signature songs," like Barbra Streisand and "People." Whenever you sing the song "People," the audience member will automatically think of Streisand. Fasano also said, that in order to make these types of songs effective, we must change them up a bit, make them our own.  Janice’s second pick was “When the World was Young” (“Ah, in addressing that one," Fasano  advised, "Make it of the moment.  Tell us the story, and let us see what's inside you."  She felt that the song was being treated as a “museum piece,” and Janice needed to “bring it into the twenty-first century;” think about something happening now.  Roy Sander then spoke up to say he thought it had worked well.

We had some jazz singers as well.  Michelle Samuels looked like a pro, counting off musical director Nate Buccieri on the keys, for "The Gypsy in My Soul."  She got one of the coveted Top 10 slots, too.  She has a smoky, sultry, unique voice and kind of chews on her words as she sings.  I love it.  She sang "I'm a Fool To Want You" and "Old Devil Moon."  Roy Sander said that he enjoyed her quiet, understated intensity, but wanted her to lower the microphone because it was blocking the audience from seeing her face.  He also wanted her to bring her focus down to the audience so we could connect with her more.  Eric Comstock said that he would have liked to have had her do some patter in between her two songs because the first song was heavy with emotion, and then she went into an up-tempo swing number, and as an audience member, he needed some time to adjust to that new feeling.  The quick shift made him feel uneasy and he wanted Michelle to guide us into the next moment.  When all the judges’ and audience votes were added, it was learned that she was one of the two who would not be competing on August 16.  Also in a jazz vein, Connie James sang the beautiful "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe," from the 1940 musical Cabin In The Sky, originally made famous by Ethel Waters.  Having originally come from a musical theatre background, I just loved hearing all of the selections from my favorite shows.  She moved on to the Top 10, where she presented a wonderful interpretation of the country tune "Ghost Riders in the Sky." Rob Lester said he enjoyed Connie's voice, it had a silky quality, but he worried that sometimes she may have more style than substance.  She is an accomplished studio singer.  He wanted her to work more on her emotional connection to the lyric.  Valerie Smaldone wanted her to work a bit on diction because she missed some of the words.

There were many accomplished cabaret artists in the crowd this week - Karen Oberlin, Hector Coris, Susan Winter and Deb Berman, to name a few.  Audience members seemed to be excited to come out and support the contestants and vote their favorites through to the next round.  I happened to get seated near some Alison Nusbaum supporters.  She is one of the rebels of the group!  Alison Nusbaum, who joked her name had been spelled incorrectly on both of the ballots so far, and that her name was not Alsion or Aslion, but Alison, sang the ABBA song "Money, Money, Money," while working the crowd.  She has great comic timing and her first song this past Monday, "Old-Fashioned Love Story," from Andrew Lippa’s musical The Wild Party, was a funny way to warm up the audience and showed a lot of personality.  She then did "Tell Me On a Sunday."  Rob Lester mentioned that we all know that Alison could sing funny songs, but it was so nice to hear her do a serious piece and show us another side of herself.  It showed her versatility.  He also mentioned that she had wonderful usage of the space in between songs.  I loved this, because sometimes as singers we think so much about the notes that we don't focus on using the silent moments in the song. Stillness can be very affective, and he thought Alison did well with use of the silent moments in the story.

Marissa Mulder’s first August choice was “Detour Ahead,” and she returned the next week on a night where she had to run uptown to perform her debut cabaret show at Don't Tell Mama, after singing for the Metropolitan Room audience.  Talk about a busy night!  I love it when the contestants greet us with some patter.  It allows me to get to know them as a person, instead of just jumping right into the song.  Marissa started off beautifully by easing us in to her comic first number with a story about dating to lead into “The Apathetic Man." Her second piece was "It's Amazing the Things that Float."  I always love her song selections.  They are so unique and have such great lyrics.  I think the cabaret people appreciate this, but "normal" people may identify more with popular songs they know.  Barbara Fasano told Marissa she has so much heart when she sings, that all she has to do is relax into the song and her emotions will come out naturally, without her having to push or emphasize certain lyrics she wants to come out.  Sometimes less is more, and when you have a natural gift of emotionally connecting to the lyric, like Marissa does, it's great to know that you can relax and breathe into the piece and that those emotions are indeed coming through. Marissa was the other person who will not be competing as the Top 10 is trimmed to the top 8 for the evening of Monday, August 16.

Ending the evening as the last performer was that spunky little ball of fire, Cindy Marchionda. On August 2, she sang one of my  favorite hilarious numbers, which I saw her do in her debut show.  The four-foot-eleven-and-three-quarters-tall singer did a rousing rendition of "Short People," followed by an interesting arrangement of The Beatles’ "Got to Get You Into My Life," with a bit of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooh, Baby Baby” woven in.   Roy Sander said he liked her funny patter set-up and the nuances in "Short People," and he thought that the arrangement of her other choice made a surprising, dramatic statement.  Valerie Smaldone loved the way she related to the audience and thought she had a fun, sexy personality.

I can feel a general nervousness in the air as we move further along in the competition.  The pressure of singing two songs, and receiving a critique from the judges in front of the audience, is a bit more stressful for the performers.  There were many accomplished, award-winning cabaret artists in the crowd on August 9:  Karen Oberlin, Hector Coris, Susan Winter and Deb Berman, to name a few. Everyone seemed to be excited to come out and support the contestants and vote their favorites through to the next round.

This cutting down to the Top 10 is difficult, and where I got knocked out of the competition last year.  I just want to mention that I don't want the contestants who do not make it to be discouraged in any way.  A number of performers that I personally happen to love and think are very talented, for one reason or another didn't make it.  This is a contest chosen by people who have different opinions and perspectives, and just because you are not the next MetroStar, do not let that stifle your love of performing.  Take what you learn from this competition and let it help you fly!

As we get down to the final rounds, I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens next!

See www.MetropiltanRoom.com for updates, reservations, and info on all their regular nightly shows.

For more on Kathleen France, see www.Kathleen France.com

CATCH-UP ON CABARET is made possible via the generosity of Jamie deRoy and friends