Christine Andreas!!!

Another visit to the classiest (yet still affordable) cabaret spot in town, Below 54, where the glorious Christine Andreas presented her new show BE-MUSED, a look at songwriters and the singers who inspired them. Christine confesses that she doesn't like to choose a theme for her shows but this time she was able to sing her favourite songs under this handy umbrella; thus we heard songs from combinations such as Jerome Kern and Fred Astaire ("The Way You Look Tonight"), Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn and Frank Sinatra ("Come Fly With Me''/"The Tender Trap"/"Come Blow Your Horn"), Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto ("The Boy From Ipanema"), Bacharach & David and Dionne Warwick ("Alfie"/"What the World Needs Now'), Jimmy Webb and Richard Harris ("Didn't We?"/"The Moon's a Harsh Mistress"), Marguerite Monnot and Edith Piaf ("Milord"), Marilyn & Alan Bergman and Barbara Streisand ("The Summer Knows"), Lorenz Hart and Vivienne Segal ("Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") and even Christine's Oscar-nominated musical director Kenny Ascher and Kermit the Frog ("The Rainbow Connection"). Once more I was reminded of Christine's extraordinary interpretive powers with a lyric as I realised I was taking in the words of "Rainbow Connection" for the first time after countless hearings and even following the story of "Milord" quite clearly even though she was singing in French! My face was also aching from smiling so much throughout her show, such is the joy she engenders. The place was packed sardine tight, the food and service impeccable, and Christine exhorted us to return and see as many acts as  possible to make sure this wonderful venue enjoys a long and profitable life.
I saw Christine's husband Marty Silvestri and congratulated him on the three tracks I've heard from his new musical CASANOVA which he's written with collaborator Joel Higgins. They have a reading scheduled soon for potential backers and I suspect it won't be an easy sell in this day and age, a lavish romantic musical along the lines of SCARLET PIMPERNEL in which Christine starred on Broadway, but from what I've heard of the score they could very well be on to a winner.