Off Broadway

Mary Cleere Haran

(Cafe Carlyle; $60)

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

Presented inhouse. Directed by Murphy Davis. Reviewed Jan. 9, 2001.
 
With: Richard Rodney Bennett, Linc Milliman.
 

When the wind whips and the mercury plummets, it's a good idea to recall the reasons for braving a Manhattan winter. Mary Cleere Haran could be put at the top of the list. The singer epitomizes an idea of glamour that's the quintessence of New York, or at least the imaginary one of yore: elegant, urbane, a little naughty. Her show at the Cafe Carlyle -- Haran's long-overdue debut at the fabled room -- is a captivating stroll through the American songbook between the two world wars.

Haran's stated aim is to celebrate the oft-underappreciated half of the songwriting art, the lyrics. Titled "Sweet & Lowdown," Haran's show was inspired by the publication of Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball's "Reading Lyrics," a compendium of American popular song lyrics.

"But Mary, all your shows are about lyrics," Haran quotes a friend saying when she mentioned the theme, and the point is well taken. Haran has long been known for exploring a song's meaning with rigor and finesse. Not a phrase is left unexamined, but there's nothing labored or dry about her interpretations. The singer has an easygoing earthiness that glows in the velvet textures of her voice; a natural warmth buffs the smart edges of her readings.

The repertoire for her new show holds a lot of delightful surprises. The first is the opener, Cole Porter's "It's De-Lovely," sung with a smooth, percolating flair and including all of the rarely heard verses. But Porter's peerlessly clever lyrics have been celebrated often and at length; with a few exceptions, Haran goes after more exotic game here.

Lorenz Hart's collaboration with Richard Rodgers gave birth to a fair share of standards, but Haran's choices are less familiar. She sings "Way Out West," an ode to the glories of Manhattan, with a soft twang in tune with the song's mock-Western melody. For "The Girl Friend," from a 1926 show of the same title, Haran uses an impish nasality to impersonate a coy period ingenue.

Ira Gershwin ("S'Wonderful," "Sweet & Lowdown"), Dorothy Fields ("A Fine Romance") and Irving Berlin (a sassy "Pack Up Your Sins and Go to the Devil") receive their due. But the greatest revelation of the show is the section devoted to the work of Al Dubin & Harry Warren.

Dubin and Warren haven't received the attention they deserve, Haran observes, because they did most of their work for Hollywood rather than Broadway. She neatly reclaims their legacy with smooth and intriguingly introspective versions of some of their most famous tunes. There's nothing tinny or brassy about her lovely version of "42nd Street," for example. In her interpretation, its takes on the moody coloring of a torch song. Better still is her breathtaking rendition of "Lullaby of Broadway," which does indeed have the cradling warmth of a lullaby.

Warm and embracing, too, is the piano work of Richard Rodney Bennett, who brings uncommon delicacy to every selection. The feathery textures of his playing matched, but never overshadowed, the easy grace of the singer herself.