ST The lights flickered and only one of my two dates had arrived to meet me at the Casco Bay Cabaret at SPACE last Friday night (Chris Gray was a no-show until intermission). Host Kelly Nesbitt was initially dressed as a freckle, then a snowbird ready for the Florida beaches with visor, oversized shades, high heels, and thick northern accent. In the switch-up from her more demure demeanor from the last cabaret, Nesbitt pulled off her bold character between acts without being too abrasive. Up first was Brent McCoy, smiling through his routine while juggling up to three diabolos at once. More action followed as Iman Lizaru tossed bowling pins, balls, rings, and feathers into the air with precision. Micah Blue Smaldone played fictional Grecian Mihalis Sardeli. Despite his close association with Chriss Sutherland, who had been known to sing in his own made-up language during his Cerberus Shoal days, we have confirmed that Sardeli was actually singing in Greek.
CG Pissed off my dates, but I managed to catch some highlights: Robert Stillman opened the second half with some new work, a one-man band setup (keyboard, cymbal/kickdrum, melodica — a tube you blow into and play through mini-keyboard) scoring silent archival films, this one of early 20th-century trout fishers. Better yet was Seekonk’s Sarah Ramey, who took a break from NYC life to deliver a devastating medley of Leonard Cohen songs. Faintly plucking acoustic guitar as her voice slowly engulfed the house, Ramey finished with a verse from the legendary “Hallelujah”; crowd response indicated that every man in the audience fell in love, while all of the women had their hearts ripped out.
The Cabaret grew tiring in the second act, as variety shows are prone to do. Kelly Nesbitt, dressed like a ghost from a Nintendo game, grew increasingly wonderful and ridiculous as the night progressed, but acts became more demanding when they ought to have become breezier. Sequencing aside though, the most consistent Cabaret yet.
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