Friday Night's a Cabaret, Ol' Chum

Last Friday, Seattlest spent an enjoyable evening at the Columbia City Theatre. We were there to see the new Black Box Opera production, “Sondheim, Newman and Weill.” It’s a cabaret show made up of songs by, not surprisingly, Stephen Sondheim, Randy Newman and Kurt Weill.

We especially enjoyed the ensemble approach the company used. The four singers and the pianist created mini-scenes for each song, giving the whole show a comfortable continuity. In this way, each song became its own little world, and the show became more than just a laundry list of singer-standing-alone-in-front-of-the-piano song performances.

The songs chosen for Friday’s program also went together really well, which surprised us; this either speaks to Seattlest’s poor knowledge of the Sondheim/Newman/Weill oeuvre, or BBO’s wise selection of individual pieces. We suspect it’s a little of both.

Many of the performances were quite lovely. One song in particular, "Louisiana 1927," by Randy Newman, gave us goosebumps; the lyrics so perfectly mirrored the Katrina tragedy of 2005, and Carolyn Grönland sang them with conviction. Overall the show was very engaging. We believe the program changes each week, with different singers and different songs, so you may want to go two weeks in a row.

One thing we didn’t really like was the theatre itself. It is right next to Tutta Bella Pizzaria, and we could swear that we heard the ambient noise from the restaurant once or twice. The audience was seated at tables, and there was a drinks service throughout the program. The door connecting the bar and the theatre was noisy, and the movement of the waiters among the crowd created an overly-casual atmosphere. Audience members felt comfortable getting up from and returning to their tables while the singers were performing. A quick note: DON’T upstage the singers. It’s rude. Wait until the song is over and people are applauding.

Performances are Friday nights through April 21st at Columbia City Theatre. You can buy tickets here or at the door.

Black Box Opera Theater presents
Sondheim, Newman and Weill
Columbia City Theatre
4916 Rainier Ave South
Performances begin at 7:30