By Andrew Poretz***Entertainer Chris Autore celebrated an astounding 75 years in show business at Don’t Tell Mama’s Brick Room with a solo cabaret debut of Look at Me Now. What’s particularly impressive is that Autore is not yet 80; he began his career at age five on the “Horn and Hardart Children’s Hour” on television in the 1950s. Wiry andenergetic, in every way, the singer appears and sounds decades younger than his years. Directed by Geoff Stoner, Autore was accompanied by pianist Ike Reeves, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Ray Marchica. An accomplished pianist himself, he accompanied himself several times during the evening.
The show opened with a video montage tracing Autore’s career from childhood performer to adulthood. After reminiscing about his early days on “Children’s Hour,” an adorable clip showed him singing on the program, towards the end of which he harmonized live with his five-year-old self. The evening was thus an autobiographical deep dive into the star’s entertainment and personal life, filled with stories and occasional name-dropping. The program included all or part of 30 songs. His Italian-American identity loomed large, beginning with “You’re Breaking My Hart (Mattinata)”— the songis an adaptation of the early 20th century original, “Mattinata” by Ruggiero Leoncavalio, with English lyrics by Pat Genaro and Sunny Skylar added in the late 1940s. It was followed by “Because of 
You” (Arthur Hammerstein, Dudley Wilkinson), which Autore sang with Tony Bennett at age six.
A surprise highlight was Autore’s gender-bending take on “I Enjoy Being a Girl” (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II), modified to the third-person “She Enjoys Being a Girl”—a rare choice for a male performer. The singer moved to the piano for a beautiful rendition of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (Carole King, Gerry Goffin), with its clever coda quoting the final line of “Tomorrow” from Annie (Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin). Slowing a song does not always deepen its impact, but it worked beautifully for “Go Away Little Girl” (Carole King, Gerry Goffin), stripping away the mawkishness of earlier pop versions. Autore noted that he adopted this approach from Donny Osmond, who now performs it similarly.His uptempo “A Day in the Life of a Fool” (Luiz Bonfá, Carl Sigman) was energized by Marchica’s brisk samba drummi
ng. “Being Alive” (Stephen Sondheim) evolved from a rubato ballad into a striking Latin-inflected interpretation, again driven by Marchica.
Watching Autore closely, one sees his acute musical awareness; he frequently cued the trio with subtle gestures, almost like a conductor.
Several selections came from Promises, Promises (Burt Bacharach, Hal David). After initially avoiding the high note in “Whoever You Are, I Love You,” Autore returned to it, successfully delivering the evening’s highest note. A jazzy “Almost Like Being in Love” (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner) featured Autore scatting at the break. After opening “What I Did for Love” (Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban) with a parody line—“Kiss my ass goodbye”—he delivered the song with 
conviction. He sang only a few lines of the show’s title song, “Oh! Look at Me Now” (Joe Bushkin, John DeVries), before closing with a strong finale, “We’ll Be Together Again” (Carl Fischer, Frankie Laine).
Autore is a fine entertainer. Charming and sincere, he has excellent rapport with hhis audience, and storytelling skills. His warm baritone seems untouched by time. One note about the performance is that he relied on an iPad to follow his script. Though handled discreetly, it was slightly distracting. That said, this was a very good New York debut for this forever young performer.
Photos by Jeff Harnar
