By Melissa Griegel…
Director of Operations at Chelsea Table + Stage Frankie Gabriel took to the stage to announce that Samantha Pauly (Six) will be doing a monthly residency at the venue. The show, An Evening with Samantha Pauly, was the kickoff of the residency that will feature different guest stars and songs each month. The singer and actress originated the role of Katherine Howard on Broadway in Six. She took to the stage and announced her “three amazing guests” and called for us to be “as rowdy as humanly possible”. This evening’s special guests were Eleri Ward (Acoustic Sondheim), Trent Saunders (Hadestown), and Brittney “Britt” Mack (Six).
Pauly’s set included a mix of pop and Broadway. She chose two songs from Ariana Grande, “God is a Woman” and “POV”, along with a few tunes from other current popular artists such as “When the Party’s Over” from Billie Eilish and “good 4 u” from Olivia Rodrigo. Pauly sang sitting on a stool for the majority of the set, occasionally accompanying herself on the guitar.
Pauly played Eva Perón in Evita on the West End at Regent’s Park Open Air Theater. Her auditions for both this role and for Six overlapped and came at a time when she was discouraged with auditioning and was thinking about taking a break from theater. “It was a weird three-week chunk of time where I was thinking, ‘I’m done. I’m done with theater. I don’t think it’s for me; I need a break. The universe was like: ‘hold on b*tch—wait a second’…The things that are meant for you will always find you.” She followed this by singing a lovely rendition of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”.
She called good friend Eleri Ward to the stage to sing a duet and play guitar with her for “Unworthy of Your Love” from Assassins. “I never sang this song with anyone else,” she told the audience. Her second guest star was Trent Saunders who was in Evita with her in London. “Trent became a very good friend of mine during the show and I don’t know how I would have made it over there without him.” She did an online poll asking the evening’s attendees if they wanted to hear them sing a song together from Evita or Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde won out. “This was one of my first professional shows when I graduated college. And they said, ‘A wig is going to look dumb; will you dye your hair?’ So I dyed my hair blonde!” Her hair got so damaged from the show that she ended up “chopping off” her hair afterward to make way for new healthy hair to grown in. They sang “Take it Like a Man” from the show.
Pauly included two additional Broadway songs during the evening, “Flowers” from Hadestown and “Waving Through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen. “I love this song,” she said of the latter, “It really captures how I feel sometimes suffering from depression and anxiety. Is anyone actually listening?” Her final guest star was her “best friend in the whole world” Brittney Mack. Mack arrived on stage to loud applause from the many Six fans in the crowd. Pauly said that usually after her shows, she is happy to meet with people, take photos, and sign autographs. “Unfortunately I am not able to do that tonight because the two of us have to speed-race off because we are technically Grammy nominees and tonight is the Grammy nominee party.” This was received with even more wild applause. To the absolute delight of their fans, Mack and Pauly did the duet “For Good” from Wicked.
Backing Pauly on stage was Musical Director and pianist Adam Cole Klepper, percussionist Jed Feder, bassist/guitarist Nick Potoki, and guitarist David Mayers.
Chelsea Table + Stage (100 West 26th Street) is a wonderful new cabaret and music venue showcasing musicians, singers, and Broadway performers. Enjoy the state-of-the-art sound and lighting, seasonal menus, and have a drink at the rooftop Sandbar after the show to continue your evening. You can order tickets for Pauly’s upcoming shows and view the rest of the venue’s line-up on www.chelseatableandstage.com. The next two Pauly shows are February 27th and March 27th.
Photos by Melissa Griegel
