Donna McKechnie: A Visit with Kander & Ebb

Donna McKechnie

A Visit with Kander & Ebb

Feinstein’s/54 Below, NYC – April 19, 2016

Reviewed by Joel Benjamin for Cabaret Scenes

Donna McKechnie called her A Visit with Kander & Ebb “a dressing room dream.” The dream has been fulfilled with warmth, vigor, humor and the help of two younger performers, Emily Mechler and Matt Dengler, who were cast mates in last season’s The Visit.  

McKechnie understudied Chita Rivera in that Kander & Ebb masterpiece and had plenty of time to spin her creative wheels with her two charming cohorts. The result was an act centered on The Visit as a jumping off point to visit other Kander & Ebb songs.

The three opened the show with a sardonic “Money, Money” followed by the first of the selections from The Visit, “I Will Never Leave You,” the ass-kissing song performed by the Eunuchs in the show. Others included: the hilarious “I Walk Awa,” about the benefits of widowhood; “You, You, You” and “Love and Love Alone,” both desperate expressions of longing, tremulously delivered by McKechnie.

Equally razor-edged was “So What,” a bitter look at life and the closest Kander & Ebb  came to writing a Weill/Brecht-like song, for which McKechnie seemed to gather all of her life’s disappointments into one song.

Three songs in a row explored love: Mechler’s “My Own Space” delighted in her much-needed independence; Dengler made “I Don’t Care Much” a poignant study of sublimating one’s real feelings behind a wall of nonchalance; and “Isn’t This Better?,” a clear-eyed look at mature relationships, became a study in self-deception as sung by McKechnie, latching onto her deepest emotions.

There was some charming dancing and visits to other Kander & Ebb shows, with each performer displaying his or her rich talents. The two younger triple-threats stimulated McKechnie to new heights of interpretation and openness.

McKechnie picked the perfect finale in “Yes” from 70, Girls, 70. Its exuberant message of optimism and humor gave a mature alternative to the bitter songs that came before it, and she absolutely soared.

Ian Herman’s piano mastery kept the show on an even keel.

Tags: 70 Girls 70, A Visit with Kander & Ebb, American Songbook, Brecht, Broadway, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Chita Rivera, Clubs, Composers, Donna McKechnie, Emily Mechler, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Great American Songbook, I Don’t Care Much, I Walk Away, I Will Never Leave You, Ian Herman, Isn’t This Better?, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Jazz Vocalists, Joel Benjamin, Love and Love Alone, lyricists, Matt Dengler, Money Money, Musicals, Musicians, My Own Space, Nightclubs, NYC, Popular Song, Revues, Show Tunes, Singers, So What, Songbook, Standards, Supper Clubs, The Visit, Venues, Vocalists, Weill, Yes, You You You

Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews, Regional