By Bart Greenberg***The lovely Maude Maggart returned to Birdland at the end of 2025 with her program, A Tiny Match, a collection of numbers mostly from the early part of the last century (as is her wont). There was no particular theme to the presentation; it seemed to just be made up of some of her favorite songs. It was a lovely show overall, with Maggart’s languid manner, her youthful Joan Bennett face, and her particularly enchanting soprano undimmed 
in range and clarity. But there were problems…
With Gerald Sternbach serving as music director, Maggart shone with such numbers as “In Such a Night as This” (Marshall Barer, Hugh Martin), which included charming imitations of Judy Garland and Jeanette McDonald, offered with intoxicating style. A delightful discovery was Will Dillon’s tune from 1912, “Come and Take Me to the Cabaret,” which incorporated other popular tunes of the time such as “Every Little Movement (Has a Meaning of Its Own)” (Karl Hoshna, Otto Harbach). This type of material is the kind Maggart does better than anyone currently in cabaret.
Maggart seems to have a special kinship with Noel Coward, as she proved with a sweeping arrangement and an effortless vocal on “This Is a Changing World.” She also displayed a similar comfort with Coward’s chief competitor, Ivor Novello, with the sweet “We’ll Gather Lilacs in the Spring.” From the same era came such 
gems as “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” (Irving Berlin) and the George Gershwin, Arthur Jackson “I’m Drifting Along With the Tide.” She did get sultry with “Kiss of Fire” (Lester Allen, Robert Hill), which gave Sternbach the opportunity to be as passionate at the piano. And her glorious “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) was a masterpiece.
The two major flaws of the evening were time and memory. At slightly less than 55 minutes, the program felt abrupt and less than satisfying. Even more of a problem was Maggart’s dependency on her sheet music—arguably necessary for the silly and nonlogical list song “French Phrases” by Ray Jessell. But much of her material was a part of her standard repertoire that she should have been prepared for.
Her final numbers did make up a bit for the abrupt stop. A lovely, mostly a capella version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” (Gloria Shayne, Noel Regney) was certainly persuasive. And as an encore she offered up a sensitive and strong “Lost in the Stars” (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson)…numbers that Maggart can do at her best.
Photos by Bart Greenberg
