By Andrew Poretz***Singer Dawn Derow has long been a popular performer in the New York cabaret world. She has won both Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) awards and the coveted Bistro Award. She brought her latest show, Sing Happy, to the Triad Theatre for two performances, with sold-out shows and with a substantial livestream audience.
Sing Happy honored the many strong women characters written by Kander and Ebb for Broadway, film and television, for works such as Chicago, Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Liza With a Z. Derow was accompanied solely by her pianist and musical director, Ian Herman, with whom she has collaborated for several years. Sing Happy was directed by David Sabella and choregraphed by Jason Reiff. Al tolled, Derow displayed a wide range of talent, not only with her singing, but with comedy, along with Bob Fosse-inspired dance moves.
The show opened with a sexy and dramatic flair, with Derow in a chair, her back to the audience as she struck a pose. (The bentwood chair, a staple of Bob Fosse’s choreography for Kander and Ebb in Cabaret and Chicago, played a major supporting role in the show and in the choreography.) Derow made frequent use of the chair in various dance positions, incorporating slow motion and held suspensions. She 
especially nailed “Don’t Tell Mama” from Cabaret. That show’s storyline of the early days of Nazism prompted her to declare, “Who would have thought that 1930s Berlin would be making a comeback today?”
The star worked the room with a wireless mic while performing “One of the Boys” (Woman of the Year), stopping to arm wrestle a patron in the front row. In the wonderfully risqué “Arthur in the Afternoon” (Liza With a Z), her comic timing was impeccable, and she made fine use of the chair and Reiff’s dance moves. She quipped about Kander and Ebb, “For two gay guys, they sure knew how to make a woman tick!” Following “A Quiet Thing” (Flora the Red Menace)—beautifully placed in her soprano range—Derow declared, “This one’s for John Kander,” honoring Kander’s love of classical music and the operatic voice. Thus she went directly into “Two Little Words” from Steel Pier, which, as Derow noted, was operatic soprano Kristin Chenoweth’s Broadway debut.
Special guest star Karen Mason first appeared for a 
brief interview, by Derow before the two offered a sensational duet of “The Apple Doesn’t Fall Very Far from the Tree” (The Rink). Mason, in excellent voice, also performed an exquisite, moving solo of the powerful “Colored Lights,” also from The Rink.
Derow’s best segment of the night came with a fun and dramatic costume change for Kiss of the Spider Woman, singing its title song. There were several more costume and character changes—notably a rather clever take on “I Don’t Care Much” (Chicago) with a parka with writing on the back, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?”—alluding to the infamous jacket worn by Melania Trump several years ago, which she ultimately removed to reveal a sexy outfit. Singing at the piano, Derow performed a beautiful rendition of the marvelous “Isn’t It Better” from the film Funny Lady, with several more songs offered before her closing number, “How Lucky Can You Get,” from the same show.
Sing Happy may be Derow’s best cabaret show yet, with an amazing synchrony: well-written, choreographed and dazzlingly performed, with expert accompaniment by Ian Herman. Though it could easily be scaled up to a bigger show with a band, the intimacy of The Triad, with its look of a century-old vaudeville theater, was perfect.
Photos by Jeff Smith
