by Marilyn Lester
Cady Huffman is quite the character and that is said in the very best possible way. She’s a charmer – a slightly kooky charmer – and that delightful quality makes for enormous fun and a terrific rapport with the audience. As for talent, Huffman is a triple threat on steroids: her range is mezzo to coloratura; she dances, including ballet; she plays a mean ukulele (electric); and if that’s not enough, she’s a natural comedienne. So when Huffman entered in colorful fishnet stockings and a long hoodie, it was no surprise. This was “hip hop Huffman,” singing a Sir Mix-A-Lot/ Richard Cheese ditty, “Baby Got Back” with appropriate “double bomb.” Unsure of this new persona, Huffman left the stage, opted for a do-over, and reentered as “cowgirl Cady” singing a spirited “Willamania” (Betty Comden/ Adolph Green/ Cy Coleman). Settling into a show girl style (a leotard, glittery drop necklace and silky tunic jacket) the statuesque Huffman regaled with tales of her tom boy past and voyage into show business, including an audition for Cy Coleman himself: “Hey Look Me Over” (Cy Coleman/ Carolyn Leigh).
Huffman is also smart. She self-directed this show, an undertaking that only the clear-headed and self-aware can pull off successfully. Huffman also has the perfect music director in pianist Eugene Gwozdz. Their personalities mesh perfectly, and beside an occasional humorous back and forth, with a little warbling from the earnest Gwozdz, the maestro plays a lush piano with very creative arrangements and underscoring. (Roger Cohen on drums played to the two with attentive rhythmic synergy.) Special guests were also a feature of this spirited show. Heather Curran, with her clear, pure soprano, took the stage with Huffman for “Ring of Keys” (Jeanine Tesori/ Lisa Kron) and “Maria” (Leonard Bernstein/ Stephen Sondheim). The harmony was spot-on delightful as was the chemistry between the two friends. Kenyon Phillips joined Huffman and Curran and with them performed a tune written by Huffman and Philips entitled “Leggo My Ego” – a fun kind of Broadway-style pop-rock number.
More fun came in the form of a sing-along. With Huffman on the ukulele the audience chimed in for “You Are My Sunshine” (attributed to Paul Rice/The Rice Brothers) with old-fashioned gusto. Coming as a surprise to many, Huffman revealed she’d studied opera in her past and demonstrated coloratura chops with an expressive and vocally controlled “Moon Song” (Jerry Herman). Two highlights of Tom Boy, Show Girl were “Chelsea Morning” (Joni Mitchell) sung with exquisite phrasing, and “Take My Breath Away” (Giorgio Moroder/ Tom Whitlock). This latter song was interspersed with the most amazing and breathtaking tale of Huffman’s night out with Tom Cruise – “the most exciting night of my life!” – a chaste interlude which included the premier of Top Gun,” after-after party at Cruise’s apartment, breakfast, private motorcycle ride with the star and another breakfast for the two of them – pretty exciting stuff, indeed!
With a tip of the tom-boy show-girl hat to The Producers, and her Tony-award-winning role of Ulla, Huffman reprised a hilarious “When You Got It, Flaunt It” (Mel Brooks). For an encore, Curran and Phillips joined Huffman for “You’ll Be Back” (Lin-Manuel Miranda), closing out a rousing evening in which that megawatt smile of Huffman’s lit up the stage and enthralled an audience primed for a walloping great time.
Cady Huffman: Tom Boy, Show Girl, Tuesday, September 27, 2016, 9:30 pm
Feinstein’s 54 Below, 254 West 54th Street, 646-476-3551, www.54below.com
