Oct. 1: Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano
Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano
Helluva Town: A New York Soundtrack
October 1 at 7:00 pm
Metropolitan Room
34 W. 22nd St., NYC
212.206.0440
Eric & Barbara reprise there 2011 show. Here’s what our Elizabeth Ahlfors wrote at the time:
When you hear that a show is about New York, think of all those songs to choose from — “42nd Street,” “The Sidewalks of New York” (“East side, west side, all around the town…”) “New York State of Mind,” and on and on.
But that’s not what Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano are about. Instead of heading down the road more traveled, this couple of swells creates another route into the Big Apple, and their target is the soul of the city. Helluva Town: A New York Soundtrack isn’t so much about New York City as falling in love with the New York life. Fasano was a Long Island girl with big dreams; you know, those New York City kinda dreams you saw in the movies and heard in songs. Comstock was born and raised in New Jersey and yearned to go to the Café Carlyle and see Bobby Short. Obviously a precocious lad.
They have a vast encyclopedia of popular music and lore, and they know how to deliver it with snap, crackle and pop — phrasing that snaps and wit that crackles, adding up to a show that pops. In a program of songs ranging from Jerry Herman to Joni Mitchell, they include the pensive “My Time of Day” by Frank Loesser, and Fasano’s nostalgic rendering of a Harry Warren and Al Dubin tune, “The River and Me.” The more familiar Warren/Dubin song — “She’s a Latin from Manhattan” — shiny and new in a crackerjack piano arrangement by Comstock is paired with “You Discover You’re in New York.” (Harry Warren with Leo Robin.)
“I Wouldn’t Trade You” by John Pizzarelli and wife Jessica Molaskey, is a well-crafted gem, and another amusing tune was Jim Lowe’s snippy look at “The Hamptons.” Fasano is a standout with Joni Mitchell’s melancholy “Marcie” and Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer’s intense anthem, “My Shining Hour.” Comstock salutes Billy Strayhorn’s jazzy swing with “You’re the One” and “Strollin’,” a bopping-down-the-street tune by Horace Silver and Jon Hendricks.
The show runs a hefty hour and a half, but don’t ask me what they should cut out, because every song is a gem and performed with polish and flair. The addition of Sean Smith on bass adds extra musical shine.
Through this compendium of American songs, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano give New Yorkers and their dreams, romances, heartaches and excitement a primo seal of approval, proving, yes, it’s a helluva town.
Category: New York City, New York City Cabaret Pick of The Week, Pick of the Week
