by Deirdre Donovan

 

The holidays came early at Don’t Tell Mama, as Robin Kradles took the stage with her vivacious new solo show, “Gambling on Love.”  Kradles stirred in all the right ingredients for a spicy holiday brew:  a dash of glamour, a splash of fun, a sprinkling of anecdotes, and meaty selections from the Great American Songbook.

 

 

At first sight, in her silvery-blue sequined gown and turquoise costume jewelry, it seemed like Kradles was going to treat us to one of her trademark drag queen performances, in which she used to lip-synchs icons like Marlene Dietrich and other greats.  But what we got on this brisk Saturday evening in Mama’s Brick Room was something else:  Kradles showed off her own singing chops and vocal style.  So say what you will about this cabaret artist, the gal is gutsy and proved that she can forge new paths in her career and carve out some hot new territory as a singer.

 

According to an online interview, Kradles’ new show evolved from a gig she did at the gala, “Night of a Thousand Gowns,” which had a Casino Royale theme.  She purportedly fell in love with the material and decided to develop it into a full–length show of casino-themed tunes. 

 

Kradles shone brightest when she took traditional cabaret songs and turned them into her own campy versions.  She started out with a classic from the musical Guys and Dolls’ (and made famous by Old Blue Eyes) “Luck Be a Lady,” which set the tone and established the theme for the show.  She then segued into “Taking a Chance on Love,” a tune whose title nearly says it all.  True, not every love affair can be lasting.  But this song whispers that romance is in the air and “the Ace of Hearts is high.” 

 

The songs kept spinning from the stage like a roulette wheel at Caesar’s Palace.  There were, of course, some surprises like Jerry Herman’s song “Las Vegas” from his unproduced musical Miss Spectacular.  If the song didn’t sound as familiar as some chestnuts on the program, it surely kept the show in synch with its gambling milieu and glamorous atmosphere.

 

Can one have too much of a good thing?  Well, Kradles addressed that question with the fantasy ballad, “Thirteen Men.”  Forget your triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).  This song was fun, oozed tons of testosterone, and adhered to the variety-is-the-spice-of-life philosophy.

 

There were many other standards of the cabaret repertoire on the menu, including “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” (Kradles, of course, nodded to Marlene Dietrich before launching her own take), and “A Sunday Kind of Love.”  All were deliciously delivered, with Kradles alternately planted at center stage, standing next to the piano (with the incredible Rick Jensen at the ivories), or straddling a stool to contemplate the mystery of love.

 

Although breezy and romantic selections ruled the evening, and were rightly in keeping with the show’s twin themes of gambling and love, one of the real zingers was Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk’s “Mean to Me,” which had a surprising semantic twist at its close.  Plucked from the movie Love Me or Leave Me, Kradles sang the song with the appropriate edge, allowing the words and music to work their own magic:  “You treat me coldly each day in the year./You always scold me whenever somebody is near, dear./It must be/great fun to be mean to me./You shouldn't for can't you see/what you mean to me.”

 

While the next few songs--“Say It Isn’t So,” “OK, Cupid,” (words and music by Richard Becker) and “The Man I Love”-- continued to peel the onion of love, it was the statistically titled “Fifty Percent” that best pointed out its paradoxical qualities.  Is love irrational?  Irresistible?  Half-empty?  Half-full?  Ah, yes.  Love is a slippery slope indeed.

 

For the last leg of the show, there was a triptych of songs that teased out the twin themes of love and gambling to the nth degree:  the intimate “Talk to Me, Baby;” the skeptical “Lies of Handsome Men;” and the infectious “Viva Las Vegas.”  All three were punctuated with charming patter from Kradles.  Okay, Kradles, now and then, went up on her lines.  But her faithful piano player Rick Jensen, who accompanied her on stage, always tossed her a line—and the audience smiled.  This hour-long presentation wasn’t about perfection.  It truly was about celebrating the spirit of cabaret, love, and life.

 

The show wrapped up with—what else?—“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”  Indeed, anybody who had the luck of dropping by Mama’s Brick Room on November 25^th and listening to what Kradles had whipped up, thanks to her team Lennie Watts, Rick Jensen, Collette Black, Sidney Meyer and Carmen Elisa Cancél,

went home happy. 

 

 

One performance only, November 25^th.

At Don’t Tell Mama, 343 West 46^th Street, Manhattan.

For more information, visit online www.donttellmamanyc.com or www.robinkradles.com or phone 212-757-0788 (after 4:00PM)

Running time:  approximately 65 minutes with no intermission.