For the opening number of her show In Residential Care at New York City’s cabaret hotpsot Pangea, larger-than-life cantante Amanda Reckonwith kicked off with a dazzling mashup of two songs perfectly suited for her over-the-top persona: the eternal Rogers and Hammerstein showtune I Enjoy being a Girl and the newer generations’ anthem for equality, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.  Ms. Reckonwith doesn’t merely segue from one tune to another; she songfully saunters between the two, adding a few spicy ad libs.   The effect is no less than phenomenal, especially when she hits that final delectable note in the iconic lyrics: “I was born this WAAAAAAAAY!…”.  And this was just the first number.  How do you top that intro?

But before we go any further, we have to answer the question: Who is Amanda Reckonwith? In her own words, Reckonwith is her generation’s most famous “spento soprano”: an established opera diva who desires to break into popular music and Broadway.  Regardless of her backstory or future goals, it was clear that this lady knows how to earn applause, which is one showbiz phenomenon that hasn’t changed through the decades.  This Divine Miss R. is classy, sassy, and just a little bit naughty– although, always a lady, her adults-only asides are so cleverly candied that you could even bring the “bambini” to her show.  But back to those roots in opera: Reckonwith showed off her hardworking throat with O Mio Babbino Caro (Oh My Dear Papa) an aria from Gianni Schicchi.  The audience was challenged by Amanda’s parallel powers: We were awed by her superior vocal talents, yet couldn’t help but to laugh out loud at her patently mirthful delivery.  Remember, this diva has her heavily mascaraed eyes set on the Great White Way… so, appropriately, her next song was the unambiguously named, oft-redone jazz standard Broadway.  This confection of a song, just begging to be heard again, is so sweet that it may even make your teeth ache.  Just get a load of those lyrics:  “Broadway, Broadway, Everybody’s happy and gay; Where the night is brighter than day, Up along Broadway!  Sweethearts and beaus, Dressed up in their Sunday best clothes; On their way to movies and shows, Up along Broadway…!” In addition to renewing one’s faith in New York City, the song was also an excellent showcase for the piano talents of Mark Hartman (AKA “Maestro Marco Carouomo”), who was also the Musical Director and Arranger of this show.  Hartman also acted as something of an “advisor” to our leading lady.  When he informed Amanda that her next song selection, Gypsy in My Soul, may be “culturally insensitive” to some, our lady replaced the G-word in the lyrics with impromptu suggestions from the audience. It was a riotous cabaret moment that, at the risk of sounding cliched, had to be seen to be seen and heard to be believed. But then again, many moments that night at Pangea were the cabaret equivalents of defying gravity.  One was Reckonwith’s heartbreaker He’s No Good, from the underappreciated 1997 Broadway show The Life.  As someone who has never had the chance to see The Life in any incarnation, this reviewer was indeed appreciative for this choice of song.  A stand-alone performance within a show full of showstoppers, it was perhaps the finest example of the singer’s impressive range.  The same can be said of the darkly comic To Keep My Love Alive, from A Connecticut Yankee.  This one could easily be nicknamed “The Ballad of a Black Widow”.  

Reckonwith’s Special Guest that night was Aaron Lee Battle, Back Stage Bistro Award Winner for Outstanding Vocalist.  The audience was treated to a soulful, lush rendition of The Human Heart from the 1990 musical Once on This Island.  Battle returned later for the transgenerational favorite The Best Is Yet To Come.  Listening to the singer deliver those famous lyrics “Wait ’til you’re locked in my embrace, Wait ’til I draw you near! Wait ’til you see that sunshine place, Ain’t nothin’ like it here!” could replace your once daily antidepressant.  Aaron Lee Battle may have been Reckonwith’s Special Guest, but what’s an internationally famous diva to do when the OTHER guest, Chita Rivera, has her flight cancelled?  Sing both parts in A Boy Like That/I Have a Love from West Side Story, of course!  Amanda more than rose to the challenge, even indulging with two mics on stage: one for “Maria”, one for “Anita”.  This impromptu “duet” could only be described as “F to the L-A-W-L-E-S-S!”…

Whether she’s pulling a young beauty from the audience to join her for a tango (As in That Tempting Tango) or indulging the audience with Le Jazz Hot from the gender-bending (ahem…) musical Victor/Victoria, Amanda Reckonwith makes everything her own.  With this performer’s oh-so-unique history and persona, how could she not?  Therefore, her scat version of Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies became the only version you’ll ever need to hear, and the bittersweet How Did We Come to This?/America, from The Wild Party (specially arranged by Mark Hartman), sounded more relevant than ever as we enter the second half of 2023.  Working her way through three costume changes and four martinis, Reckonworth didn’t miss a single note or a single chance to deliver ’em the old, shall we say, “razzle dazzle” (ahem…) , from her first entrance to the stage to the show’s encore– which, as you may have predicted, was yet another showstopper.  So, to re-ask the question from before, “Who is Amanda Reckonwith?” The short answer is: She’s not just a performer.  She’s an EXPERIENCE!

Amanda Reckonwith is Artist in Residence at “the lovely Pancetta Pangea“, 178 Second Ave., NYC, every third Saturday through December 2023.  For more information, other performance dates, and merchandise, visit http://www.AmandaReckonwith.com

Amanda Reckonwith’s In Residential Care was written, directed, and performed by David Sabella, with Musical Direction and Arrangement by Mark Hartman.  Visit www.DavidSabella.com for more!