By Michael Barbieri**** There are very few singers in cabaret as good at interpreting the songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman as Marieann Meringolo; her show Between Yesterday and Tomorrow at the Beach Cafe was proof positive of this fact.
Marieann Meringolo is a MAC Award winning recording artist, a Backstage Bistro Award winner for Outstanding Vocalis and, additionally, BroadwayWorld.com nominated her evening of Bergman songs for Best Tribute Show. She’s performed at many of New York’s most celebrated venues, including Feinstein’s/54 Below, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, Tavern on the Green, Iridium, the Metropolitan Room, the Rainbow Room, the Laurie Beechman Theater and more. She’s also appeared at venues across the U.S. and around the world. She’s recorded several acclaimed CDs, and for as long as I’ve known about her, she’s been considered one of cabaret’s best and brightest.
Meringolo has long had an affinity for the music of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, lyricists who’ve won countless awards, including three Academy Awards, two Grammys, two Golden Globes, four Emmys and a Cable Ace Award, among others. The Bergmans were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and their partnership has produced some of the best known songs in film, television and stage. From their songs for the film Yentl (with Michel Legrand), to the score for Broadway’s Ballroom (with Billy Goldenberg), to the multi-award winning hit “The Way We Were” (with Marvin Hamlisch), their songs are instant classics—and Meringolo has always sung their material beautifully.
Speaking of “The Way We Were,” Meringolo opened with a few phrases of the well-known song, which transitioned into “Where Do You Start?” (with Johnny Mandel). This lovely ballad about lost love and the feelings that follow was a fine starter and she was in excellent form—her gorgeous voice as smooth as silk. She then welcomed us, telling us how the Bergmans are her favorite songwriting team, which made this show especially meaningful to her. Her next number, a medley of “Nice and Easy” and “That Face” (both with Lew Spence), showed off Meringolo’s playful side. She started slowly and quietly, but as the tempo became bouncier and swingier, she began working her way through the room, toying delightfully with the audience.
“It Might Be You” (with Dave Grusin), from the film Tootsie, was paired with another well-known Bergman piece, “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” (Legrand). The latter song, in particular, was delivered with a sense of longing that showed Meringolo’s connection to the lyric and its underlying emotion. I was pleasantly surprised by her next selection, a song that I’d never heard, “I Was Born In Love with You” (Legrand). Here, she painted a darkly romantic picture, with her skillful interpretation of lyrics like “From another time, another place, from another world, I remember your face…stay with me now through the mists of forever.”
With two of her selections, “Little Girl Lost” (Legrand, as “Little Boy Lost”) and Ballroom’s “Fifty Percent,” Meringolo’s choice of switching the pronouns from male to female didn’t work for me. I certainly admired her being true to herself, and she still sang both numbers beautifully, but the changes took me out of the moment. I would also have liked a little more of the raw emotion “Fifty Percent” usually demands, although she did amp up the intensity of her delivery toward the end of the song.
Putting that aside, there were glorious moments like “Love Makes the Changes” (Legrand) and a medley of “The Way We Were with How Do You Keep the Music Playing/Summer Me Winter Me” (Hamlisch and Legrand), all of which showcased her powerful belt and her ability to deliver the Bergman’s songs with a wonderful simplicity. “Windmills of Your Mind” (Legrand) began slowly, but then went into an appropriately driving, swirling arrangement, and though the lyric is tricky, with mind-bending imagery, Meringolo still connected with it perfectly. That number was paired with “Between Yesterday and Tomorrow” (Legrand), a melancholy piece that showed off her acting skills as well. The final moments of this particular medley were so powerful they truly brought the house down! Brava!
Bravo also to Musical Director and pianist Doyle Newmyer and bassist Boots Maleson! Although there were just two of them, they provided lush and beautiful arrangements that complemented and supported Meringolo’s vocals. Kudos also to Will Nunziata, whose unobtrusive direction allowed Meringolo to deliver even the largest and most dramatic numbers openly and honestly without a trace of showboating.
Now, if I have two tiny bits of negative criticism, they would be that although the material was all superb, the tone of the evening as a whole was rather one-note—the songs seemed to blur together. I would’ve liked a few jauntier pieces to provide a little variety—perhaps “I Believe in Love” (with Kenny Loggins), from the 1977 film A Star Is Born, or maybe “I Love to Dance” or “More of the Same” from Ballroom. My second criticism was with Meringolo’s encore, “On My Way to You.” On its own, it felt like a sweet thank-you to the audience—a lovely way to end the evening. But just as I thought the number was over, she transitioned into a second song, “Something New in My Life” (both Legrand), which suddenly felt like overkill. But even these slight missteps could not diminish the power of Meringolo’s excellent performance.
Toward the end of the show, Meringolo explained the wide appeal of the Bergman’s work, saying we can all relate to their songs, because at one time or another, we’ve all lived them. Luckily, with material this good and a singer as accomplished as Marieann Meringolo, we can all live those songs again and again!
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