Katherine Jenkins: Viva la Diva
Katherine Jenkins
Viva la Diva
Café Carlyle, NYC, April 11, 2016
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
It was “Viva la diva!” when classical super-crossover mezzo soprano, Katherine Jenkins made her debut at the Café Carlyle, bringing an eclectic song list including Bizet’s “Habanera” (Carmen) to Billy Joel’s “She’s Got a Way.”
She’s got a way of delivering classical, theater and pop songs that has caught audience attention around the world, from concert stages and war zones to recording studios. The Welch beauty burst on the scene in 2003 and took off at high speed, ever since bringing glamour, sex appeal and pop tunes to the classical scene. Jenkins has recorded ten CDs, appeared on television’s Dancing with the Stars and, after her last performance at the Carlyle, she will jet off to Windsor Castle for a performance for Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th Birthday.
Yet cabaret is not a big stage. Its style is intimacy and the Café Carlyle is a leading venue of intimacy. There is no fourth wall and it is up to the singer to palpably connect with the audience sitting at her feet. She must make them care about her and any tinge of dishonesty can smash the connection.
On many levels, Katherine Jenkins, with a winsome magnetism, open personality and a trained voice, has learned the cabaret game. With only a pianist/musical director accompanist, Gerard Steichen, she connects quite well with the audience, setting up her selections neatly with short warm patter. For example, “She’s Got a Way” was dedicated to her baby daughter, and she introduced her husband in the audience with “O Sole Mio” (Giovanni Capurro/Eduardo di Capua). Why this song? She told the story of meeting him on a blind date, but the connection to this selection is unclear, unless he is Italian. And, for her father, she sang “Pie Jesu,” music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is clearly a favorite with Jenkins.
The show is well balanced with Jenkins calling up tenor Kyle Barisich for duets with Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart’s theatrical power ballads “All I Ask of You” and “The Music of the Night.”
Jenkins delivers her songs with rich, distinct round tones and passion. It is arguable if her voice is comparable to major operatic mezzos, but she tours with Il Divo and Andrea Bocceli and, in that realm, she is a proven winner in her career.
A downside to the show is the over-amplification of her voice, beginning with her dramatically haunting entrance singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” By the end of the show, her rendition of “Time to Say Goodbye” (Francesco Sartori/Lucio Quarantotto) was just that.
Katherine Jenkins continues at the Café Carlyle through April 16.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews, Regional
