Celia Berk: You Can’t Rush Spring

Melody Breyer-Grell | December 16, 2014

Celia Berk

You Can’t Rush Spring

Metropolitan Room, NYC, December 6, 2014

Reviewed by Melody Breyer-Grell for Cabaret Scenes

Celia Berk proved, once again, that one’s “second act” can be her most satisfying. As she repeatedly made mention of her corporate career, Berk conveyed that, although she enjoyed and prospered during that comfortable period of life, singing was her destiny.

Eschewing well-known standards, the performer dug deeply into the fringes of the Great American Songbook and came up with a melodious, often interesting selection of tunes—Stephen Sondheim’s rarely heard “Sand” and “Such a Wonderful Town” by Hubert “Tex” Arnold and Lew Spence set the varied tone.

Kern and Hammerstein’s “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” was delivered with a simplicity and clarity that seemed to be the trademark of Berk’s persona. Most happily, she displayed a playful appreciation of her Jewish roots, by interspersing Irving Berlin’s “Yiddisha Nightingale” with a Yiddish translation of Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro.” Ann Hampton Callaway’s “You Can’t Rush Spring” was spun out delicately, and Berk’s warm vocals accented the singer’s simple, yet accomplished stage persona.

She picked out her comrades wisely, choosing the unerring musical direction of Alex Rybeck, stage direction of Jeff Harnar, with Sean Harkness (guitar) and Michaels Goetz (bass).

Tags: Alex Rybeck, American Songbook, Ann Hampton Callaway, Celia Berk, Female Vocalist, Great American Songbook, Hubert “Tex” Arnold, Irving Berlin, Jeff Harnar, Jerome Kern, Lew Spence, Melody Breyer Grell, Metropolitan Room, Michaels Goetz, Nightclubs, O Mio Babbino Caro, Oscar Hammerstein, Popular Song, Puccini, Sean Harkness, Songbook, Stephen Sondheim, Supper Clubs, Tex Arnold, The Folks Who Live on the Hill, Vocalist, Yiddisha Nightingale, You Can’t Rush Spring