Karen Mason & Lee Roy Reams: It’s Today
Karen Mason & Lee Roy Reams
It’s Today
Iridium, NYC, May 31 2016
By Candace Leeds for Cabaret Scenes
Photo: Maryann Lopinto
Karen Mason and Lee Roy Reams regaled the Iridium audience with a joyful program celebrating the great Broadway songwriter Jerry Herman. Their ebullience and joie de vivre gave the show real zest, as they clearly enjoyed their collaboration.
Reams, a consummate showman, presented a powerful “Before the Parade Passes By” as part of a medley from Hello, Dolly!, and pranced and danced across the stage in red boa for “La Cage aux Folles” from the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name. Another lively crowd-pleaser was his rousing and super-charged “It’s Today,” inspired by a comment from Herman’s mother, just when he was looking for a number for his musical Mame. Reams let his emotions soar in the powerful “I Am What What I Am” (La Cage aux Folles), although his high belts showed a bit of strain.
Mason is the consummate cabaret singer who wrings emotion from every song and feels it from every pore of her body. She showed her intensity in “If He Walked Into My Life” (Mame) and a sense of nostalgic loss in “Song on the Sand” (La Cage aux Folles). She almost made us cry with “And I Was Beautiful” from Dear World.
As a finale, the duo’s “The Best of Times” (La Cage aux Folles), captured the spirit of the evening, as the audience sang along and cheered the brilliance of Jerry Herman and two great interpreters of his songs.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews, Regional
