off-stage right

I love those moments in life when you stop briefly, look around and say “wow, this is my life.”

For me there are more or less two themes to these moments – New York and theatre. I can be walking down a street and look up at the New York skyline and be overcome with amazement that I am in the City and my life has been centered here for more than a decade or  I can be in a rehearsal hall and be struck with awe that I get to work in the theatre.

And then there are moments like last night that the two themes merge and the experience is otherworldly.

New York among its many offerings has an endless supply of entertainment offerings – one such treasure is Feinstein’s at the Loew’s Regency.  Home of some of the greatest cabaret performances of the last 10 years. It is here that you can experience some of the most magical performances to be found.  Legend after legend graces the stage on a regular basis (as I learned last night 7 days a week).

I have always had great admiration for any one who can carry a tune – I can’t.  Not even a little.  I mean physically cannot even to save my life.  I have a doctors note to prove it.  So it isn’t surprising that my jaw drops for those that can.

But cabaret is a giant leap from being able to sing and is even a step up from say a Broadway performance.  It is up close and personal.  It requires a performer to put themselves out there without the guise of a character, without the protection of fellow cast members, and none of the security provided by a proscenium.

In a short time Feinstein’s has become legendary in its own right, so last night when I settled into my seat I was in awe that I was in New York and in this magical venue.  I looked around our table of 12 and was giddy to be surrounded by friends of the theatre.  I was actually electrified that I was in their company and that we were there to see none other than Tyne Daly who we had all worked with early last fall.  If you follow my Twitter and Facebook updates you know the friends I was lucky enough to be with (cheap ploy to get you to go follow my Tweets).

First I have to say Tyne is an amazing actor and an absolutely wonderful person.  She is generous, kind, intelligent and outright fabulous to work with.  I am not a music critic and my readers know I don’t really write reviews.

But I want folks to know how I felt in that room, surrounded by friends, listening to Tyne sing great songs (and looking beautiful) from the likes of Johnny Mercer, Al Jolson, Bessie Smith, and Jerry Herman.

I felt light, carefree, inspired.  The way you are supposed to feel when you experience a performance so deeply that it reaches inside of you and frees you from the confines of the real world into a space that only contains you and the performance you are bearing witness too.

As Tyne tossed witty comment after witty comment out to us and served up song after song, I pondered what she was sharing with us – to enjoy life, to let our imaginations soar, and to cherish the time we have along with each memory, moment and person in our lives.  While she sang, nothing could have removed the smile on my face or dampened the joy in my heart.

In other words the night was perfect and what a great performance delivers.

Go experience it yourself.

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