By Bart Greenberg***Singer, actor, writer and director, David Sabella, arrived at The Laurie Beechman Theatre during Pride week to celebrate the life and the work of Peter Allen, another multi-hyphenite. Entitled Unlike An Other Man: David Sabella Sings Peter Allen, the show charted Allen’s career and personal life while sharing a good deal about his interpreters as well. Sharing an innate theatricality, a passion for performing, a deep sense of compassion for outsiders and a few misguided attempts to hide their sexuality, Sabella and Allen was a fine match for the cabaret world.
Another fine match was Sabella and his musical team. Music director Mark Hartman performed yeoman service, and even got a chance to show off his dazzling prowess on the piano while covering for the star’s costume change. Other members of the quartet were bassist Sherisse Rogers, drummer Ray Marchica and woodwind player Jeff Schiller. All supported the energetic singer throughout.
Sabella hit all the very theatrical highlights of Allen’s career, including such standards as “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (with Carole Bayer Sager), “Everything Old Is New Again” and “Arthur’s Theme” (with Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Sager). Allen wrote his section of the song about being trapped between the moon and New York City while being held in a circling pattern over JFK. But some of the most compelling moments in the set came from some lesser-known work, such as a mash up of “Six-Thirty Sunday Morning/NY IDK About You” and “I Could Marry the Rain” (Marc Shaiman), a bittersweet contemplation about being a “Chelsea boy” when the night of revelry ends. The story applied to both the singer and the songwriter, increasing the emotional wallop.
Sabella has a major career as a cabaret director and he brought the same skills to his own show. He used the entire space available to vary the stage picture and to increase the energy of the evening. His true identity as a performer, under the glitz and glamour, is that he is a classic saloon singer, whether on big emotional selections such as “When I Get My Name in Lights” or heartbreakers like “I Honestly Love You” (Jeff Barry). All of these skills, as well as his fine abilities as a story teller came together to create this exciting evening.
