Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano Neue Galerie Cabaret

A concert for those of you following Comstock/Fasano’s weekly offering ‘72nd and Song,’ unaware fans, and those hungry for sophisticated online entertainment, this is a jazz oriented, “zig-zag” through genres by the veteran couple who do it best. “We know you’re out there,” Fasano opens. “We’re picturing you here in this beautiful room.”

“Comes Once in a Lifetime” (Jule Styne/Betty Comden & Adolph Green) and “Lucky to be Me” (Leonard Bernstein/Betty Comden & Adolph Green) are a jolt of happy starting the evening off with a smile. ‘Love the claps and snaps. Burton Lane/Ralph Freed’s “How About You?” follows suit, inserting …and Doctor Fauci’s looks give me a thrill…“The song was introduced on screen by Mickey and Judy and if you need last names, in the words of the great Bobby Short, there’s the door,” Comstock quips.

“New York, as we know,” he continues, “is a riddle wrapped in a conundrum, wrapped in a knish. Its soundtrack is diverse, complex and sometimes cacophonous, but if you’re really lucky, you find the right person to shut out all that noise.” “I Cannot Hear the City”(Marvin Hamlisch/ Craig Carnelia – Sweet Smell of Success) is a beautiful song rendered with palpable complicity and tenderness, side by side from the piano bench.

“Remember” (Stephen Sondheim – A Little Night Music) is given a more contemporary arrangement than that to which we’re accustomed. Comstock manages to keep its integrity making it sound more relevant. This is true of a number of this evening’s choices. Fasano’s version of “Marcie” utilizes superb control and sliding octaves while jazz-tinting musical approach. (Joni Mitchell, whose work was “a bit of a mantra” for the vocalist back when) Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin’s “My Ship” (Lady in the Dark) is straight ahead and affecting.

A medley from the couple’s show Downtown Abbey Road features three songs by Friedrich Hollander who followed Marlene Dietrich to Hollywood – the first written with Sammy Lerner, the second and third with Frank Loesser. A snippet of the iconic “Falling in Love Again” (in German, then English) leads into breezy, urbane interpretations of “I’ve Be in Love Before” and “You’ve Got That Look.” Comstock’s “Just a Gigolo” (Leonello Casucci/Julius Brammer/Irving Caesar) is aptly fatigued, resigned, and just a tad bemused. Again, arrangement is original.

“Put on Your Sunday Clothes” (Jerry Herman- Hello, Dolly!) creates a footbridge to a swinging “Broadway” (Teddy McRae/Bill Bird/Henri Wood.) A capella and counterpoint are nifty. Performance is effervescent. Keep your splendid silent sun;/Keep your woods, O Nature, and the quiet places by the woods; …Give me interminable eyes! give me women! give me comrades and lovers by the thousand!… Give me such shows! give me the streets of Manhattan!…the erudite Comstock quotes Walt Whitman’s ‘Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun.’

The concert closes with Kenny Rankin/Ruth Batchelor’s “Haven’t We Met?” with wishes that we “bump into each other on the street and hug in the not to far future.” It’s sunshiny and expansive.

No advance registration is required to view digital presentations of Cabaret at Café Sabarsky, which will remain online on demand.  This performance is being offered at no charge, and we are so glad that we can connect and bring the community together with the power of music.

About Alix Cohen (1706 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.