New York Adult Entertainment: Cy Coleman’s tunes swing in a musical tribute
The connective theme seems to be love won and lost, and life’s ups and downs, with plenty of bittersweet twists in the witty lyrics and syncopated music. The onstage band is smooth and polished, led by musical director Billy Stritch. He plays piano while coolly singing the title song, among others, and also provides a lovely, contemplative version of “It Amazes Me.”
His fellow performers, Tony Award-winner Lillias White, Sally Mayes, Rachel York, Howard McGillin and David Burnham — Broadway veterans all — know how to deliver a song with style. They sing solos or pair off on various duets with great success, notably Stritch and White together on the title song from “Little Me.”
Mayes gives a sassy rendition of Dorothy Fields’ “Nobody Does It Like Me.” White injects weary humor into her performance of “The Oldest Profession,” a song about a tired prostitute from the musical “The Life.” Burnham conjures up a credible Rat Pack image in his exuberant version of “Witchcraft.” McGillin is easily suave, as when he sings “You Fascinate Me So,” and York suitably glamorous and sultry, especially in the rueful ballad “Come Summer.”