Reviews
Cabaret And All That Jazz
By Beverly Creasey
May 10, 2006
It’s not the number of breaths we take that count, so the saying goes. It’s the moments which take our breath away. Jazz and cabaret aficionados know that one performance alone can contain a surfeit of thrills. Lucky us. Boston has a number of first class singers and musicians who can deliver showstopper after showstopper. Where musicals usually have one or two big moments per show, a cabaret act or jazz performance can have as many as there are songs. The best performers find – and communicate – a whole world in one song. Then they do it again with the next one.
Carrey and McMillan (with Doug Hammer on piano) mean business when it comes to cabaret. IN GOOD COMPANY (at Scullers last week) is their clever take on the greedy world out there, with songs about “How to Succeed…” without losing your moral compass. Their passionate paean to business: big-, show- and monkey-, ranges from Kander and Ebb (“Money, Money”) to Disney (“Whistle While You Work”). Every song packs a punch. Their two voices blend into a delicious harmony, sometimes changing lead, sometimes being each other’s backup singer (with snazzy choreography a la The Four Tops). When that gorgeously balanced sound mixes with Doug Hammer’s dazzling finger work (raining down notes in “Pennies from Heaven” or chasing the music in a frenzied “Carousel”), it’s magic.