There are plenty of words to describe Centenary Stage’s newest Summerfest production “Closer Than Ever,” which concludes its two-week run on Sunday, August 9. But one says it best:
“Cabaret.”
You see the same mental picture as me, right? Think: the cozy intimacy of a small theater; tight spotlights focused on a lonely onstage figure; evening wear and glitz.
The show debuted in 1989 when musical duo David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr. set out to create a cabaret evening of songs for a Greenwich Village nightclub. Centenary Stage Company echoes the intimate atmosphere of that long-ago New York arts scene by setting the show in the Edith Kutz Black Box Theatre. Close your eyes and you can almost smell the cigarette smoke.
The set is simple and functional: a collection of four doors spaced across the stage. They’re central to the choreography in the first song, and become convenient entrances and exits between the later numbers. Chris D’Angelo’s lighting becomes the chief set design, altering the mood from sunny upbeat cheer to the moody, darkened ambience of a nightclub.
The show unfolds as a musical revue. There’s no overarching plot connecting the numbers, no dialogue, and no recurring characters. In the playbill, the show’s six performers are identified via generic monikers a la “Woman 1” and “Man 2.”
Instead, each song acts as a short story within a musical anthology. Julie Galorenzo is particularly gifted at channeling a different character in each number. In “You Want To Be My Friend,” she’s a Southern-accented loudmouth; in “Back on Base,” a jazz-scatting woman on the prowl with the comic chops of Maya Rudolph. Later, in an Act 2 song called simply “There,” she channels the brittle impatience of a wife who’s found the limits of romantic connection in the day-to-day.
In the less comic songs, the performers imbue the tunes with distinct senses of character. Cassandra Krajcik brings poise and polish, especially to the emotional outburst of “Patterns.” Alex Perone’s approachability adds sympathy and humor, especially in “There.” John Leone occupies his parts with gentlemanly grace, and, when the score calls for it, unleashes his Broadway-honed powerhouse of a vibrato to command the space. Nearly out of sight, Evan Finkbeiner and John Bowen serve admirably as the two instrumentalists, especially in Act 2 when the sharp divide between onstage and offstage blurs.
If there’s an arc in this medley of tunes, it’s the tonal shift between the two acts. Act 1 may remind Centenary regulars of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” from a Summerfest past. The shows share familiar takes on romantic love—mostly, aside from a few exceptions like the tender “At Night She Comes Home to Me” and the hilariously naughty “Miss Byrd,” that it sucks. Dating sucks, men suck, women suck. Married life? In these songs, still not a great deal. But being alone? Oh, no, that sucks worst of all.
The show returns from intermission with something more serious, and arguably more interesting, to say about love. We’re in the mature stages now, examining parenthood (mostly fatherhood), the experience of caring for aging parents, and the decision to stay committed to relationships through the wear and tear of decades. The penultimate song “Father of Fathers” in particular reaches a peak of sweet poignancy in its intergenerational examination of fatherhood. And in the ending number, even without dialogue, the show finds a satisfying thematic close.
The era of cabarets may be past. That’s a shame. Centenary’s production of “Closer Than Ever” is a reminder of their charms. At a Broadway show, we’re watching epic action from a distance—on my ticket budget, at least. In cabaret, we’re all invited to come closer to the performers, in a space that shrinks the distance between us physically and emotionally. It’s a place to not just hear the songs, but feel them.
The six performers in “Closer Than Ever” have the emotional and vocal range to carry us through these explorations of love and life across time. In this intimate homage to the cabaret tradition, Centenary makes the case that it’s an art worth reviving.
Centenary’s production of “Closer Than Ever” continues now through August 9. For more information, visit https://www.centenarystageco.org/closer-than-ever.
Chip O'Chang is an educator, fiction writer, and lifelong resident of New Jersey. He has also written for My Life Publications and NJ Indy. He lives in the NJ Skylands with his partner, two cats, and and a bearded dragon.
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
