Marcovicci Turns the Mike Over to Some ‘New Voices’

Cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci’s performance at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall Saturday night was subtitled “New Words, A Celebration of Contemporary Songwriting.” Toward that end, it consisted entirely of new songs by lesser-known writers, many of the numbers coming from her latest album, “New Voices.”

It was a worthy gesture from a performer frequently identified as the queen of New York cabaret. And, for the most part, the material she chose was of fairly high quality. But Marcovicci’s familiar affection for numbers filled with angst and pathos tended to dominate, and there were more than a few tunes that would have benefited from a lighter touch. She justified the choices by suggesting that today’s songwriters are less accepting of the traditional, my-one-and-only-love lyrics, preferring instead to view love as yet another uncertainty of contemporary life.

However, some of the better songs on her program were filled with humor. Guest artist Alan Chapman sang his hilariously satirical “Everybody Wants to Be Sondheim but Me”; Marcovicci did Babbie Green’s gentle “At the Pound” and concluded with Craig Carnelia’s upbeat “Just Where They Should Be.”

Of the darker numbers, Stephen Schwartz’s tender anthem to the death of a friend, “Life Goes On,” was a revelation of the potential power--too rarely realized--of contemporary songwriting. Best of all, Green, also a guest performer, very nearly stole the show with an untitled, almost painfully illuminating number--sung in the voice of an 8-year-old--about the impact of divorce upon a young child.

Marcovicci’s performance was a carefully controlled exercise in stage theatricality, filled with choreographed moves from the microphone to the apron of the stage to the piano. Despite the studied quality of her presentation, a packed house responded enthusiastically to Marcovicci’s every move. Her voice has become much richer and better controlled over the years, but she tended to diminish many of her readings by placing too great an emphasis upon vowel sounds and upon the sound of her voice. By constantly pausing on syllables to hold long notes, she frequently distorted the natural phrasing of her songs. It was a technique difficult to understand in the context of her frequent identification as a major star of cabaret--an art in which the interpretation of a song’s message is primary.

Still, Marcovicci must be praised for her continued championing of new, unknown songwriters. And, on this program, for placing their work front and center in the spotlight.