Reviewed by Joe Regan Jr. – June 5, 2012
Maude Maggart was one of the hottest attractions at the late, lamented Oak Room at the Algonquin. Introduced to the New York cabaret community by Andrea Marcovicci at the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Convention in 2004, I was fortunate to be at her solo show debut in San Francisco because it coincided with my Stanford University class reunion. From a theatrical family, Maggart draws upon her family histories to create uniquely themed acts. “Into the Garden” is a potpourri of garden and “green” songs from the 1800s through the mid-1900s. And like Marcovicci, Maggart is famous for singing forgotten verses to songs that you may instantly recognize once she sings the choruses.
Photo by Stephen Sorokoff
Looking lovely and sexy in a pale see-through long gown which leaves very little to the imagination about her womanly body, Maggart begins by singing only the verses to four songs: “Come Into the Garden, Maude” (A. L. Tennyson-Michael Balfe,) “Crinoline Days” (Irving Berlin,) “I’ve Told Every Little Star” (Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II) and “When I Grow Too Old To Dream” by the same team (only the verses by Hammerstein II were familiar to me). Her reedy vocal range and her baby face suit these songs perfectly and when she explains that A. L. Tennyson wrote those lyrics in 1857 and they were set to music much later, it sets a theme for other selections in “Into the Garden” when the other famous words (from the Bible and Shakespeare) are borrowed by other composers and lyricists.
The first full selection we hear after this medley is Noel Coward’s lament “Where Are The Songs” in which he mourns what has happened to the good old songs of the 1800s. Coward’s contemporary, who never became as popular in the United States, was Ivor Novello and we are treated to the beautiful “We’ll Gather Lilacs” created before World War I. Coward himself borrows from a published poem for “The Stately Homes of England” which is paired with the familiar “A Room With A View.” At this time I must mention Maggart’s superb music director and arranger, John Boswell, who enriches each melody on the vocal breaks with symphonic like piano solos and great zest.
The full “Crinoline Days” is paired with Berlin’s Aimee Semple McPherson inspired “Pack Up Your Sins,” a sexy rouser of a Charleston number which Maggart delivers with great animation.
The unknown William Dillon’s “Take Me To the Cabaret,” written in 1912, introduces the songs of the great music hall star Marie Lloyd. Maggart tells us that Lloyd was famous for singing with an innocent face in little girl outfits but with movements that made the most innocuous lyrics seem very dirty. One of the most familiar is “Every Little Movement” (Otto Harbach-Karl Hoschna) and is followed by “That Society Bear” (Irving Berlin,) and the very risqué “Your Daddy Did the Same Thing Fifty Years Ago” (Al Piantadosi-Joe McCarthy-Joe Goodwin.)
One of Maggart’s great finds is another Kern-Hammerstein II rarity, “Can I Forget You,” with a long beautiful verse, which Maggart’s wistful beauty embraces to heart-breaking effect. At times when she stands ramrod straight in right profile Maggart’s focus is spine-tingling.
Maggart then relates the death of Kern and how Hammerstein, in the hospital, sang to him the complete lyrics to “I’ve Told Every Little Star” and “All the Things You Are.” Kern was found on the street without identity and was taken to the same hospital that Stephen Foster died in and it was through his ASCAP identification that the hospital learned who he was. Throughout the show, Maggart relates the heritage of Foster and minstrel shows of the songwriters of the last two centuries.
Using part of the Bible’s lyrics, Maggart sings Pete Seeger’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” slowly and movingly and then pops into Cole Porter’s “Experiment,” another naughty transition. Her final number, before the encore, was the great “A Hundred Years From Today” (Joe Young-Ned Washington-Victor Young.)
The encore: Herman Hopfield’s “As Time Goes By,” sung without the verse, is a moving finish to a wonderful evening. All singers should take advantage of Maggart’s show to discover a wealth of forgotten treasures and then there are those rare verses which should be sung to enhance the standards. Maggart is a mature and stunning performer of the Great American Songbook.
Maude Maggart’s “Into the Garden” will be performed at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM with additional 10:30 PM shows on Friday and Saturday evenings through June 16. All shows have a $40.00 cover with $60.00 premium seats and $75.00 up front seats in addition to a $40 food and drink minimum. There are a select number of seats with a $40 cover and no food and beverage minimum. Please call 212 399-4095 for reservations. Maude Maggart’s personal website is www.maudemaggart.com
Posted by Sandi Durell
on June 7, 2012. Filed under Cabaret,Cabaret and Interviews - Sandi Durell,COLUMNS,ENTERTAIMENT.
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