THEATER REVIEWS : Hartley Serves Up a Cathartic Cabaret

Mariette Hartley must be a wonderful party host, and not just because there’s a little imp inside her ready to come out whenever a lull is about to set in. She also knows how to keep her private domestic messes out of the view of her guests.

“An Evening With Mariette Hartley,” at Upstairs at the Pasadena Playhouse, is emphatically not a dramatic recitation of her autobiographical book, “Breaking the Silence,” and even less a poor-me display by a celebrity who’s always been well-liked but never been a blazing star. Mitzie and Ken Welch’s script, in fact, rarely quotes from the book, which details a family torn by alcoholism and a father who committed a bloody suicide.

That wouldn’t be right for this host. Hartley’s very personalized cabaret act, directed by her husband Patrick Boyriven, uses songs to suggest--and not spell out--the course of her difficult family and childhood. Her mood-breaking asides show her to be a better joke-teller than singer--she quotes French-born Boyriven in his unsure English saying that her sense of humor is “far too self-defecating”--but she respects songcraft as a vehicle for emotional catharsis.

Her shaky medley of Disney movie tunes tries to link her youthful escape from family problems with a struggling acting career. But late in the show, the catharsis is in full force with her impassioned rendering (in very sure French) of Jacques Brel’s “Fils de Cesar,” aided by musical director-keyboardist Andy Howe’s discreet trio, with Karl Vincent on bass and Raymond Pounds on drums. “An Evening With Mariette Hartley,” Upstairs at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5:30 p.m. Ends April 25. $20; (818) 356-7529 or (213) 480-3232. Running time: 1 hour.