Jennifer Sheehan at the Metropolitan Room “I Know A Place: Spend A Night in the Sensational ‘60s!” Music Direction by James Followell Reviewed by David Roberts and Joseph Verlezza Theatre Reviews Limited
One of the most significant elements of Jennifer Sheehan’s return engagement to the Metropolitan Room with her show appropriately titled “I Know A Place: Spend A Night in the 60’s is its ability to embrace the lyric written during that era. That decade which lived up to the familiar phrase “musical revolution” produced a collective of paramount artists that transitioned from pop to Motown, the British invasion, the Beatles, soft rock, and folk rock. The era’s music that captured joy and optimism and subsequently faded into a searching lyric that questioned human nature, ended with a pulse of anger as poets’ words were sung in protest of a nation at war.
What is most remarkable and intriguing is the emotional translation given by Ms. Sheehan to every facet of each genre. Her voice is pure and bold, trained and truthful. This is not a sentimental remembrance of how it was; this is present and as the lyrics unfold she captures the moment and understands the purpose of that moment, infusing words with emotion, sometimes melting your heart or bringing a tear to your eye as you are swept away to a familiar place. The experience is real, never clouded with soppy theatrics unless those histrionics are provided to punctuate or stress the poignancy of the experience. The program moves swiftly with the musical numbers interspersed with a more intimate conversational patter that is sometimes personal and always informative. All of this results in an engaging friendship with her audience.
Jennifer Sheehan guides the audience through an extensive history of the music of the 1960’s. It is remarkable to see a vocalist who did not “live the ‘60’s” capture the essence of the decade’s vicissitudes with such a degree of authenticity and compassion. Ms. Sheehan not only renders these gifts of the ‘60’s with vocal dexterity, she also captures the subtle nuances of the music with uncanny accuracy.
Using the lyric from Tony Hatch’s “I Know A Place,” Ms. Sheehan explores all the places physical, emotional, and spiritual that characterized the 1960’s: “I know a place where we can go/I know a place where the lights are low/You're gonna love this place I know/I know a place where we can go.” The evening’s program is consistently engaging; however, there are a few “places” in the evening that deserve special note. The Burt Bacharach and Hal David medley and the Beatles medley capture the essence of an era flooded with themes of relationship and love. Ms. Sheehan exhibits remarkable vocal control throughout these important songs.
When she shares her renditions of Paul Simon’s “Old Friends” and “Bookends” and Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman’s “Both Sides Now” and “Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” Jennifer displays her persuasive vocal skills to draw the audience into the eye of the era’s emotional storm. The love that “made the world go round” (Bob Merrill) is that same love that underscores the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim’s “With So Little to be Sure Of” and Ms. Sheehan successfully explores the subtleties of that love that transfixed and transformed an era.
The music of the 1960’s chronicled the changes in the decade from a time of hope to a time of deep questioning about the future of humankind. Jennifer Sheehan’s knowledge of this era is exact and profound. With the last album in 1969, 1970 marked the “end of an era.” Sheehan celebrates the high ideals of the 1960’s, the high ideals, the struggle for self-awareness, the desire for unity, the quest for self-awareness.
JENNIFER SHEEHAN – “I KNOW A PLACE: SPEND A NIGHT IN THE SENSATIONAL ‘60s!”
Jennifer Sheehan’s final appearance at The Metropolitan Room is on Saturday October 27 at 7:00 p.m. Doors open 45 minutes prior to performances. The Metropolitan Room is located at 34 West 22nd Street in Manhattan. There is a $25.00 per person Music Charge and a Two Drink Minimum with a $5.00 discount for MAC/Industry Members. For further information visit http://metropolitanroom.com/
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, October 27, 2012
CEOExpress
