By Andrew Poretz …
Victoria Guthrie, a former model, currently a working actress with many credits, made her cabaret debut this month at Don’t Tell Mama. Theater Pizzazz was on hand for the first of three performances of Stages of Love: An Evening of Romantic Stories, which shares some of her personal anecdotes of dalliances, flings, and her romantic philosophy, weaving them together with a variety of song pairings.
Ms. Guthrie had solid backing from musical director and pianist Kent Dennis, bassist Matt Scharfglass and drummer Don Kelly.
The show started with some promise. Ms. Guthrie made a spectacular entrance in a pink, goddess-like outfit that flaunted her perfect figure, bedecked in baubles, bangles and beads. I was told Ms. Guthrie is a competitive bodybuilder, and it shows: she’s a knockout. She opened with “The Lady is a Tramp”—no Ella, but not bad. She had a strong performance on Peggy Lee’s “Fever,” and told a funny story of a “Ken doll” of a boyfriend.
Then came “The Gentleman is a Dope.” Ms. Guthrie forgot the words and needed to start over. Throughout the performance, she occasionally furtively glanced at a script on the piano or needed a prompt from Mr. Dennis. Lack of preparation or first-time jitters might have caused this, so getting these glitches out of the way should help for later performances this summer. She bounced back with a well-acted “Send In the Clowns,” coming closer to pulling down the mask.
It was jarring when Ms. Guthrie abruptly left the stage of the Brick Room while the band played an instrumental. The audience chattily treated this as an odd intermission. She returned in a sexy black outfit with fringes. This gratuitous costume change added nothing to the show and disrupted the flow. (For effective costume changes in an intimate venue with no backstage, there is no better example than Quinn Lemley’s Rita Hayward show at this venue. There, Quinn borrowed the Hollywood glamour device of the folding screen, changing outfits multiple times while continuing her patter.)
Ms. Guthrie’s voice is not unpleasant, and her singing is generally competent, but she can be pitchy and has a tendency to warble on extended notes. A mismatched “romantic” duet with pianist Mr. Dennis would have been the show’s high point, had both performers not been off-key for much of it.
A swell medley of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Diamonds Are Forever” took advantage of Ms. Guthrie’s sex-kittenish appeal and her glamorous fashion sense.
When Ms. Guthrie’s tale of the “perfect man” who literally disappeared, she showed great vulnerability and let the audience see beyond the glamour. “Bang Bang” (Sonny Bono) was a great choice. She reached a powerful truth in her delivery here, singing with only piano accompaniment on a spare arrangement. The story and her dramatic approach here were excellent.
The final songs, particularly “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” were undermined by her vocal limitations. When Ms. Guthrie performed numbers more in her wheelhouse, she fared much better. She sounded great on Michael Nesmith’s “Different Drum,” a song made famous by Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies.
Frankly, it seems somewhat unfair to review a performer’s debut show at an esteemed cabaret venue. Any new performer may be undone by nerves, insufficient preparation, and choices that don’t quite work. In Ms. Guthrie’s first foray, she was up against many such challenges. She was brave to request a review so prematurely. She has many supportive friends to fill the room while she perfects her act. The material isn’t bad, and Ms. Guthrie is a good and appealing storyteller. With a few tweaks and some vocal correction, the act has some potential.
Ms. Guthrie was directed by Emma Tattenbaum-Fine, with musical supervision by Diane Tauser.
Victoria Guthrie: Stages of Love took place on June 9, with additional performances scheduled for July 15 and August 11 at Don’t Tell Mama (343 West 46th Street, between Ninth and Eighth Avenues). (www.donttellmamanyc.com).
Photos: Michael Carlyle
