SUE'S REVIEWS: Winter Rhythms Report

DAY THREE 12/6: Lucille Carr-Kaffashan in EIGHT DAYS A WEEK: CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF BEATLES MUSIC. Aside from Lucille Carr-Kaffashan’s beautiful vocals, this show was brilliant. This uber-iconic, famous music was interwoven through a story with a time line of political and social happenings as the Beatles went through their various phases of writing. The hook was that Lucille traces her 60-year love affair from the time that she saw the Fab Four at their concert at the old Shea Stadium to today. This show was first presented 20 years ago and then 10 years ago. What’s that old line about how everything changes and yet nothing changes? Well, the section that included a heartfelt “Help/Yesterday” into “Let it Be” had several of us weeping as we applied it to where we are today—and she said nothing to lead us there… we just went! Stunning work. Lucille did a section using four of their tunes looking at the arc of a relationship; she playfully did what she called a “Granny Medley” telling us that John teased Paul about a phase that he went through as a songwriter after they started writing separately, and her “Blackbird/She’s Leaving Home” took on a whole new meaning paired together and in the way that she performed it. As I said, the choices and the script were BRILLIANT. This was story telling at it’s best with a beautiful voice as the bonus… the BEST of Cabaret! Props to the always wonderful Jeff Cubeta on piano and vocals and equally wonderful Matt Scharfglass on bass. This show was perfectly directed by David Hilder.

DAY THREE 12/6: Amy Loper & Kenny Passarelli in FOREVER IS NOW…A STORY OF LOVE, MUSIC & TRANSFORMATION. Picture this: a high-powered, Type A divorce attorney, Amy Loper, meets a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer bassist, Kenny Passarelli, who has played with everyone from Elton John to Dan Fogelberg to Hall and Oats to, well you name them and he’s probably played with them. Kenny started with Joe Walshe’s Barnstorm wherein he co-wrote the song “Rocky Mountain Way,” which was performed last night with Amy, reminding us of his past. BUT, this was the story of the two of them and where they are now. “Forever is Now” is an act that shows us that two folks in their 70s from extremely different backgrounds can find each other and find love and music—and then mutually transform into the singer-songwriting team that they are today. Led by Amy’s wonderfully “out there” mind, we got lyrics about everything from divorce to death to guilt to the bee waggle dance (you read correctly) to current topics such as older folks using electronics and AI. Can you say, “Eclectic?” WOW! One of my favorite tunes was the song about divorce called, “Please Return My Keys”… SO funny. But clearly there is also a darker side to the topics covered by Amy, which fits her sultry, alto vocal delivery. Kenny’s solo tunes were all so heartfelt. Amy started songwriting by using some of Kenny’s older melodies, writing lyrics to them. Now, in a transitional part of their relationship, they have learned how to collaborate in their songwriting and we, the audience, got to benefit by watching it play out on stage. This was just fun.