Now and Then: The Stories – Sally Mayes
Who else but the indomitable Sally Mayes would open a show with Frank Loesser’s “Hamlet” – a dizzying song made more so by a fabulous 1940ish Patrick Brady arrangement replete with back up?! Boogie-woogie fireworks ensue. Before she has a chance to catch her breath, the artist launches into the seriously funny “I’ll Get Up Tomorrow.” (Richard Maltby/ David Shire) This is the way Mayes likes her humor, seriously funny. She steps into character with no obvious consciousness of its drollness, an actress who understands the humanity of farce. At the piano, Tedd Firth plays as if controlling a brakeless bicycle.
“One of the things I love about New Yorkers is that everybody is in therapy. We Texans bury our rage and just climb up a bell tower,” she quips. John Bucchino’s wry “Painting My Kitchen” is a contemporary mad scene: My therapist said I should write about painting my kitchen/The most boring topic I ever heard/I can’t think of a word/Is she sadistic? Assigning me chores I could never complete so I’ll go ballistic…We watch (and listen) to her unravel. Music emphatically zig-zags.
This is the second of three shows Mayes put together as a reminder of her protean talent. “I know I look sophisticated, but I come from Livingston, Texas, a hell hole not to be believed.” There are always a few down home references and several broadly accented, country-tinted songs. Her own fine “Whiskey Lullaby” (with Ethan Fein) is vivid: He doesn’t pick up the money/Cause he knows it pays for his daddy’s drinks refers to a young boy performing in a bar. Perched on a stool, hands on her knees, all focus is on the vision.
Another of Mayes’ own songs (with Ethan Fein) is dedicated to her husband of 33 years. “Somebody Sent Me An Angel”, with twang in the vocal, emerges warm. Even the bassist sways. It’s a line dance, a two-step, a waltz, a fireside gaze. “Southbound Train” (Julie Gold) accompanied by melancholy violin, hands clasped on the microphone stand, muses. I remember your voice/And the sound of your goodbye drifts down like a leaf.
Michael O’Brien, Sally Mayes, Jessica Wright, Carolyn Montgomery
A third by the songwriter, “Dagmar, The Pirate King” (with Tex Arnold) nods to her mom who loved romance books or “pink novels.” Like thousands of women, she tended to think of characters as real… 6’8” his black hair straight and tied back with a string/He was wise and just and filled with lust…The singer is ostensibly married to a plumber. Wonderful.
“Shopping Cart of Love” (Christine Lavin) is a playlet. A woman suffering the worst day of her life- her fiancé runs off with the best friend, car, electronics…piles her grocery cart with compensatory bad-for-you foods only to be told it’s an express line and three must be put back. The list of what she’s buying is pitch perfect. There’s a stand-off until she’s rescued. The victim’s revenge fantasy, mostly a monologue, is pricelessly delivered. Mayes excels at pathos, sometimes humorous, at other times, pure.
Tedd Firth
A tandem “Superstar” (Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett) and “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (Burt Bachrach/ Hal David) arrives braided with superb back-up showing pop off at its best. Bruce Springsteen’s “The Fever”, or as Mayes sings, “feeva” is just as dynamically full out as the first song: When I turn down all the lights/And when I lay my head on the pillow/I can’t stop myself in thinking/”Baby, where are you tonight?” It’s a wail and a want. Where does she get her energy?! (And charisma?)
“After All” (Mayes with Tex Arnold) says ‘thanks for being here. We are symbiotic.’
If I were you, I’d book the third show.
Most of tonight’s superb arrangements are by Patrick Brady.
Opening Montage Courtesy of Green Room 42
Now and Then:The Stories – Sally Mayes
Tedd Firth- Music Director/Piano
Jessica Wright- Violin/ Vocals; Carolyn Montgomery- Vocals
Michael O’Brien- Bass
NEXT in Mayes’ unmissable series: The Great Big Huge Broadway
June 20 at 7 p.m.
Green Room 42
570 Tenth Avenue in YOTEL
