On Tuesday, February 17th, with the scattered pheromones of Valentine’s Day still lingering in the nippy air, award-winning New York City cabaret figures Laurie Krauz and Daryl Kojak presented their zesty SETS V.2 at the Manhattan performance venue Don’t Tell Mama.  There was lots of music and a few stories, but patently no “theme” in this show!  Prior to this lively 75 minutes of entertainment, my past experiences with the charismatic Ms. Krauz perform was watching the singer do a single song in a variety show which featured many different artists. Krauz’ choice of humorous, often raunchy, and sometimes over-the-top material often stood in distinct contrast to other artists’ preferred choices of big, wet ballads.  I immediately recognized that Laurie Krauz was a performer who could “keep them in stitches, doubled in half.”  But this singer is more than just a “funny girl”.  Far, far more.  SETS v.2 was my first all-Laurie musical showcase.  The evening indeed confirmed what I sorta knew already: Krauz can more than hold her own with a full-length show! Indeed, SETS V.2 had no shortage of what made me a fan of hers at first sight.  Here’s one example: Laurie’s take on Nina Simone’s I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl, with its deliciously dirty double entendres, was perfectly suited for the singer’s unique charms.  Perfectly adorned by Kojak’s piano work, this number was a crowd-pleaser for sure. Daryl Kojak, by the way, has been Krauz’ creative partner for 35(!) years.  Kojak was also the show’s Musical Director and the V-E-R-Y hardworking pianist for the evening.  I cannot overstate just how skillful Daryl is with those 88 keys.

Many cabaret artists have a sense of humor– and many people would even argue that humor is an essential element in the artist-audience relationship.  But Krauz has more than just a sense of HUMOR.  She has a sense of FUN.  Her dynamic, animated, and playful spirit is evident from the moment she walks on the stage. When she gets to play the raconteur, she has some funny stories.  One of them is about being rescued by firemen, and another is about Brian Stokes Mitchell.  The encounter with BSM was innocent, but the night’s song which was inspired by it– an oh-so-funny and oh-so-sexy version of Honeysuckle Rose— was yet another naughty crowd-pleaser.  But Krauz also shared nostalgic stories about her long relationship with Mr. Kojak, which included references to some NYC performance venues which are sadly no longer around (B.B. King, Danny’s Skylight Room…).  She even read a passage from Anne Frank’s diary: that well-known passage about how the young Ms. Frank held on to the belief, despite her overwhelmingly bleak circumstances, that people were “really good at heart”.  It was an inspiration for everyone in the audience that night, particularly in these tense times.  

Of course, Krauz’ patented style of musical comedy and bawdiness has a strong creative foundation. This lady can SING– and it doesn’t take too long into SETS V.2 for her to prove it.  She shows her impressive range early on with The Gershwins’ Fascinating Rhythm.  Later on, her take on Carole King’s Way Over Yonder was yet another fine display of her vocal capability. Krauz’ well-earned skills allow her to dabble in some daring musical eccentricities; Her persona can move from mirthful, to romantic, to sultry, to all-out sexy, and even to world-weary– but she’s ALWAYS distinctly Laurie. She is also an expert in the musical art of scat, which she often breaks into when the audience least expects it. Th show’s opener, Strangers In The Night is, appropriately, feverishly romantic– as is If I Love Again later on.  Her Angel Eyes is the perfect party song– especially if your preferred party venue is a smoky verboten lounge:

“So drink up, all you people, Order anything you see;
Have fun, you happy people, The drink and the laughs’ on me.”

I’ll drink to THAT!

Present that night were many of Krauz’ peers in the cabaret community, including Aaron Lee Battle, Karen Mack, Sue Matsuki, Kati Neiheisel, Richard Skipper, Elvira Tortora, and Conor Weiss.

In a show with many, many highlights, two moments stood out as my favorites: The first was, appropriately enough,  My Favorite Things.  Under Krauz’ interpretation, along with truly magical piano work by Mr. Kojak, the 67-year old song finally “came of age”.  Krauz morphed the candy-colored fantasy of the original to a breathtaking, nostalgic, longing anthem of adulthood.  Another of my new guilty pleasures acquired that night was Pencil Thin Papa, which captured the cleverly coded naughtiness which made Krauz stand out to me as an artist in the first place. The closing number of the night was The Gershwin’s  Love Is Here to Stay, which struck me as a love song to her audience.  Let’s hope for more “love-making” in the future!

Visit www.LaurieKrauz.com for more!