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“Starting Here, Starting Now” at the Metropolitan Room.
In her New York debut titled “Starting Here, Starting Now” at the Metropolitan Room, Adriana McPhee seemed to have a bit of a head start. She didn’t just spring out of nowhere. She’s West Coast based and this show started last month at Tom Rolla’s prestigious Gardenia Supper Club in Los Angeles.
On the final evening of a three night engagement here she appeared to be totally at home on the stage yet unaffected, ingenuous, charmingly happy to be here. The daughter of popular cabaret singer and voice teacher Peisha McPhee, she proves that old adage about the apple not falling far from the tree. This young lovely has the voice and the looks to go far and she has already been picked up and guided by the celebrated cabaret star, Miss Julie Wilson, who took her to Paris where she recently appeared with her.
This performance, with Julie Wilson in the audience cheering her on, started out as a solo turn, just Adriana alone on stage with pianist/musical director Matt Perri. Directed by Ryan Kasprzak, Adriana opened with “Where Am I Going” (Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields) and proceeded to answer the question in song using a fine selection of familiar numbers from the American Popular Songbook featuring Sondheim, Sergio Mendez, Maltby and Shire, etc. to tell her story.
Most impressive were Sondheim’s “Loving You” medlified with “Where Do You Start” by Johnny Mandel and the Bergmans. She fully established herself as a rising young cabaret star with that plus Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later” and wild, raucous but never out of control “Don’t Tell Mama” by Kander and Ebb before bringing on her mother Peisha McPhee for two duets. Their touching version of the Legrand/Bergmans “You Must Believe in Spring” was joyous and could have been written just for them, the mother and daughter showed such evident love and pride in each other and great enjoyment in making music together.
Adriana took back her stage to again delight her audience. She wound up the night to big applause with “Starting Here, Starting Now” (Malty and Shire) coupled with a beautiful “Many the Miles,” the only unfamiliar song in the set, music and lyric by Sara Bareilles. Watch for another appearance by this young and beautiful, really good singer |
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