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It was to be expected that the show Ho Ho Ho! Kick Off the Season with Marta!featuring cabaret legend Marta Sanders at the Laurie Beechman in her first full-length offering in many seasons, would be absolutely heavenly. And it was, in abundance. But what came with this was an indescribable quality; Sanders has never lacked for elegance, finesse or vocal richness, and all of these were more than clearly evident as usual. More than this, though, is the feeling that Sanders has somehow aged like a fine wine;
the oft-irreverent jokes and thunderous belt notes that have been such a hallmark of her work since the 1980s are still there, and yet the evening was almost like watching a hybrid of Marilyn Maye and Sharon McNight. Perhaps this is simply a sign that she has officially grown into her iconic stature and is able to wear it like a de la Renta gown. Whatever the cause, the evening emerged a winner on all counts.
Gorgeously directed by Debra Zalkind (one of Sanders's castmates from the original Broadway company of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), holiday tunes
are very much on the menu here; these include "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Silent Night" sung in Spanish as "Noche de Paz," "Let it Snow," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and a sing-along medley of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." But it is the additional selections that are of far greater note. Sanders has joyously opted to include "Panache" by Phillip Namanworth (a truly great composer largely ignored lo these last several seasons, and which is also the title track for her latest CD), "Little Luncheonette" by the ever-excellent Francesca Blumenthal, and her signature song "Mary Mad Mary," by Dawn Hampton and Robert Peaco, with which she slaughtered New York audiences some years ago while performing it as part of the Off-Broadway review Crossroads alongside Terri White and others. There's also the delectably-humorous "Hunk on the Bus," written exclusively for her by Michael Greer, and such chestnuts as "Wonderful World" and "You Made Me Love You" (the latter is cherished by the lady and Gordon Cooper, her husband of three decades). She also employs characterization, and brilliantly so, in the side-splitting guise of Maria Dolores del Rio, a Castillian fortune teller and a woman scorned. In addition, the songwriting team of composer John McMahon and lyricist Jay Jeffries, hot off the success of their new show Aesop & Company, are represented here with the numbers "Been Around the Block" (also written exclusively for her) and "Magic in Manhattan," which includes such gems of wordsmithing as "Tourists imagine it's built for Plantagenets." All combine to fully deliver the evening as a beautifully-wrapped holiday package that is never anything less than a joy to receive.
are very much on the menu here; these include "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Silent Night" sung in Spanish as "Noche de Paz," "Let it Snow," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and a sing-along medley of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." But it is the additional selections that are of far greater note. Sanders has joyously opted to include "Panache" by Phillip Namanworth (a truly great composer largely ignored lo these last several seasons, and which is also the title track for her latest CD), "Little Luncheonette" by the ever-excellent Francesca Blumenthal, and her signature song "Mary Mad Mary," by Dawn Hampton and Robert Peaco, with which she slaughtered New York audiences some years ago while performing it as part of the Off-Broadway review Crossroads alongside Terri White and others. There's also the delectably-humorous "Hunk on the Bus," written exclusively for her by Michael Greer, and such chestnuts as "Wonderful World" and "You Made Me Love You" (the latter is cherished by the lady and Gordon Cooper, her husband of three decades). She also employs characterization, and brilliantly so, in the side-splitting guise of Maria Dolores del Rio, a Castillian fortune teller and a woman scorned. In addition, the songwriting team of composer John McMahon and lyricist Jay Jeffries, hot off the success of their new show Aesop & Company, are represented here with the numbers "Been Around the Block" (also written exclusively for her) and "Magic in Manhattan," which includes such gems of wordsmithing as "Tourists imagine it's built for Plantagenets." All combine to fully deliver the evening as a beautifully-wrapped holiday package that is never anything less than a joy to receive.
'Tis pity that Christmas can't last all year, for Ho Ho Ho! Kick Off the Season with Marta! would surely find itself ensconced at the Beechman or elsewhere as a perpetual sellout. Until it returns, one simply must remain content to wait for Sanders's next offering, which is certain to be as stellar as always.
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