By Marcia Blondin***That title: “I Never Knew His Name” is but one song that Sue Matzuki loves to sing, and she was suitably introspective in her ope
ning night show, This Broad’s Way at the Casa Karma Red Room at Act2PV in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Her melancholy was tinged with a bit of grief that this beautiful song was cut from the Tony-nominated Broadway musical called The Civil War. Cabaret stars like Sue will keep these unknown treasures alive in front of small audiences like ours, sung from intimate stages and venues.
Musical Director David Maiocco and Sue go back roughly thirty years working together seamlessly, and their perfor
mance indicates their mutual respect. Sue is easy onstage, and she had a few of her Fiesta de Cabaret students from late last year in the audience as well as a few friends from New York. Her audience inhaled the jazzed-up various medleys and mashups of Broadway musical numbers that often did not relate to one another but worked like a charm! The best-known duet, first performed by Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand 62 years ago, was given a facelift by Cate Valcic and Sue as they belted out Happy Days/Get Happy. And we did.
Ms. Matsuki has won so many awards; it’s easy to see 
why she is in such high demand as an entertainer, vocal coach and teacher around the United States and now Mexico! Sue is far more at home singing portions of musicals written decades ago than any song produced today; she is an Old Soul, to be sure. She has decades ahead of her in her career and will continue to touch so many singers coming up. They are eager and grateful to learn her grand sense of belonging onstage with ease and grace.
It was a pleasure to see her once more here in Puerto Vallarta, and I hope, like many others, she will find reasons to return again and again.
