The kickoff song in  Ethian Mathias’  appropriately named solo show  Wait ‘Til You See What’s Next  is a bona fide underheard musical gem: the titular number from the 1969 Broadway musical  Celebration&n bsp;by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones.   With lyrics like  “See the sunlight rise;  Feel it touch the sky.  I wanna stay alive; until the day I die!   I wanna CELEBRATE… every day!”, it’s an infectiously joyous anthem to living life, and it’s a promising way to start a show– particularly a show which emphasizes its theme of looking forward to a bright future.   Mathias sings the song with confident (Remember that word…) conviction.   After that opener, the audience in attendance at Manhattan’s  The Green Room 42  on Thursday, July 9th rightfully predicted that there was much more joy ahead.

Mathias is certainly not a brand-new presence in New York City’s large and colorful cabaret community, nor is this his first solo show.   Among other accolades, the singer won the envied MAC Award for “Best Debut: Male” earlier in 2026, and also won the prestigious Broadway World Cabaret Award for “Best Debut Show” in 2025.    Wait ‘Til You See What’s Next  was  directed by  Eric Michael Gillett  with musical  direction by  Michael Lavine.  Lavine was also the hard-working pianist for the evening.   Mathias’ new solo show succeeded with flying colors, thanks to a deceptively simple combination: the artist’s seemingly innate yet well-trained talent, his charming stage presence, and his well-chosen selection of songs– with a few creative touches thrown in as well.

So, let’s start with that aforementioned talent: This young man can SING! He never appears like he is struggling with any notes: Even the grandest, most challenging notes seem to emanate smoothly and effortlessly from his mouth. His range becomes particularly notable with the second song of the night,  If You Can’t Find Me, I’m Here  from Stephen Sondheim’s 1966 telemusical Evening Primrose. Mathias hits some particularly robust notes in that one, which is accented by some fine piano work by Lavine.    I Hear Bells, from David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr., is another example of the singer’s range.      Later on, Ethan shows his skills again in a big way with the perfectly chosen I’ll Jump (Paul Loesel/Scott Burkell), which is timeless, inspirational, and awash with metaphor. It’s also a particularly challenging song to perform, without much breathing space in between the notes.   Mathias meets that challenge very well, with his delivery of the song’s conclusion being particularly impressive.    

Of course, talent transcends generation, as does the appreciation of musical history.   Mathias describes himself as a lover of “all kinds of music”.   Once again, this is the audience’s gain.   The selection of songs in Wait ‘Til You See What’s Next ranged from the familiar 1968 Beatles classic pop hit Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, to many rare baubles from Broadway musical history.   In one particularly impressive segment, the singer performed the aria Si Tra i Ceppi (a “pop song”– from the 1750’s, Ethan joked) segueing into the upbeat foot-tapper The Joint is REALLY Jumpin’ at Carnegie Hall, complete with “He’s hep, he’s hep, he’s hep!”   When Methias said he liked  “all kinds of music”, he REALLY meant it.   This was a climax of the show and a real audience-pleaser… and yet another example of the singer’s range.  

Many reviewers make much of Mathias’ age, pointing out that the performer isn’t old enough to order a cocktail, even though top shelf cocktails and cabaret patently go hand in hand.  Mathias has a sense of humor about this, intentionally (?) provoking laughs from the audience with statements like “My friends and I often joke about how when you’re around 14 or 15, you sort of ‘wake up’, and all these things that always seemed so important just don’t seem to matter much anymore!” and “When I look in the mirror, I still see the person I once was!”   That said, many of his song selections do indeed seem to follow a certain theme about growing into adulthood as a young artist, such as Sondheim’s How Will I Know from Death Takes a Holiday and Getting Tall from Nine.   But perhaps the finest example of this is I Can See It, from The Fantasticks, a duet with Lavine that was both funny and provocative.   Once again, it was a high moment of the show and yet another crowd pleaser.   But most importantly, when it comes to the subject of age: Mathias’ voice may be unblemished, but his stage presence is anything but naive or vulnerable. To re-state from previously, he is a very confident performer.  

The finale of Mathias’ show (I won’t reveal the encore afterward!) was the titular Wait ‘Til You See What’s Next, by Jason Robert Brown.   It was an unambiguous promise to the cabaret world that there’s more coming from this artist: a promise– hint, hint– waiting to be fulfilled. Believe the hype!

See more at www.EthanMathias.com