By Andrew Poretz***Singer-songwriter Tracey Yarad brought the latest iteration of her All These Pretty Things one-woman show to the 59E59 Theaters “black box” space, in a presentation directed by the show’s co-writer Tessa Souter. All These Pretty Things, has been a work in progress for some time by the Aussie (also an accomplished photographer) who’s now based in New York. This reviewer caught a very intimate early version at a “Perez” house concert last year.
The simple set consisted of a rug with a meditative singing bowl at stage right, a keyboard at stage left, and a screen on the back wall of the stage for slides of photographs as well as relevant artwork commissioned for the project. At the outset, Yarad assumed a Lotus position on the rug and appeared to meditate, palms upward, for some seven minutes, several of which were before the lights went down. This “Zen” approach created a sense of spiritual calm for the audience as well as herself, as she alluded to after the performance.
Yarad was attired in all black, wearing a dress that would prove to be a major plot point later in the show.
The show is essentially a live-concept album consisting of monologues about Yarad’s real-life courtship, marriage and divorce from a narcissistic cad with whom she had a long mutual career as struggling performers; the narrative was matched with songs written by Yarad (either alone or with collaborators). Early on, she sang of them being “captives” on a cruise ship. Yarad sang all the songs and accompanied herself on a keyboard. These are clever and intelligent musical vignettes played in many musical styles and voicings, sometimes changing throughout a song.
Her ex, who is never seen in photographs, cheated on her with the young girl, whom they knew since age six, and had for many years treated as a daughter. The excellent “Dark Clouds Brewing” set the stage for this nefarious affair. The musical tension in her piano playing did a great job of exposing her growing, seething anger. Though the couple was unsuccessful in many attempts of conceiving a child due to his low fertility, he eventually married that (now adult) child, with whom he somehow fathered several children. While this stunning storyline could easily have devolved into a “Lifetime” movie, Yarad’s impeccable storytelling skills and wry humor − both in her delivery of the tightly written script and in her songs − made for a compelling piece of theatrical cabaret.
Yarad is an excellent singer and pianist and is an exceptional songwriter. For the most part, the songs are quite specific to her and to the rhythm of the show, but several of them could stand alone as works that could be covered by other artists. “Things`” is one of them. Here she sings the musings of a woman after a bad breakup, describing the detritus of a long but failed relationship. “It’s time to let go of things.” With photos of her former home and possessions shown behind her, the big reveal comes mid-song: her stunning black dress is actually her wedding dress, repurposed by dying black and worn as a kind of statement. When she made a costume change mid-song, in plain view of the audience, this action defiantly reclaimed her freedom and dignity.
The stories and songs from All These Pretty Things, with fuller arrangements and instrumentation that really do justice to Yarad’s strong, beautiful voice and material, were recorded for a CD. A hardcover book, available after the show, contains the CD, printed versions of the stories along with stunning reproductions of the artwork and some of the photos from the slides. The book also contains sheet music for all of the songs. The CD has had multiple plays on this reviewer’s DVD player. For more info, click here.
Photo by Diana Perez
