19 May Marsha Bartenetti: When I Fall in Love…
Review by Eliot Zwiebach | May 2, 2016
When I Fall in Love…
Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, April 30, 2016
Reviewed by Elliot Zwiebach for Cabaret Scenes
Marsha Bartenetti is an evocative singer with a smooth, silky voice and the ability to charm an audience with her easy-going manner and on-point delivery.
In a show about the vicissitudes of love, she was particularly effective on tender ballads, offering a gentle, thoughtful “You Go to My Head” a sweet, measured, believable “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and a simple, lovely “As Time Goes By”
But she was also totally in control on up-tempos, with an effective, effortless arrangement of “Them There Eyes” and an enthusiastic “I Love Being Here with You” that demonstrated her utter joy in singing.
Bartenetti got tremendous support throughout the evening on piano from Musical Director Steve Rawlins, whose excellent arrangements gave the singer plenty of room to showcase her voice.
In a fast-moving show with succinct, effective patter, Bartenetti moved through the various stages of love, from a coquettish “When I Fall in Love” to a reflective “Ten Cents a Dance” to a solid, sultry “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” to a warm version of “Orange Colored Sky”
There was also a definitive version of “I’ve Never Been to Me” which Bartenetti acknowledged she recorded right before another version by singer Charlene became a number 1 hit.
She closed the show by directing a love letter to the audience in general and her husband specifically — a soft, sultry “But Beautiful” that was … beautiful, no buts about it.