Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
In the past, I've said that the acid test for cabaret performers is in how much of their offstage persona they can bring on stage with them. Phyllis Pastore passes that test with flying colors. With a smile that could light up Gotham and a gurgling laugh that can make your heart giggle, she remains one of cabaret's sweethearts.
In her recent series of shows at the Duplex, Pastore
offered "Tribute: Songs I've Stolen From the Friends I
Have Left." With musical director D. Jay Bradley on piano, Marco Brehm on bass, and Leslie Anderson and Jennifer Pace on backup vocals, this was a lively, loose hour filled with guffaws and tender moments.
It was not a big or grandiose act. Rather, a
sweet, warm, enjoyable one that works because she makes you feel as though it's your best friend up there in the spotlight singing her heart out. It gives the audience pleasure just to participate in the process. Phyllis Pastore embraces a room with open arms and reveals herself with a sincerity other singers in town can learn from.
A veteran of the piano bars as well as cabaret, she cajoles and cavorts with a lot of "in" jokes and campy setups—to the delight of an audience filled with piano bar and cabaret friends.
There were several terrific highlights, including a tenderly phrased "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (Mann-Hilliard), Bob Dorough and Lynn Gibson's "Right on My Way Home," and a campy "When I See an Elephant Fly" (Wallace-
Washington).
Special guest Mark McCombs brought his riotous character
comedy to the stage in a raucous hillbilly turn that was R-rated fun. His whole bit had the room screaming with laughter.
But it was Phyllis Pastore who gave one heckuva show. With her backup singers, she tore the place apart singing the '80s disco anthem "It's Raining Men" (Shaffer-Jabara). Closing with a tender "In My Life" (Lennon-McCartney), a long-time staple in her shows, she made us all glad that this gal with the warm voice
and big heart is back on the scene again. - John Hoglund
"Montparnasse is not a place to go for dancing. It's a place to have cocktails and conversation. . . and where an American, Phyllis Pastore, sings. When Phyllis sings, the place is packed, season after season."
--Conde Nast Traveler, July 2002
- July 2002
"A warm and powerful presence. Pastore has a voice that's every bit as big as her heart. She belts the bluesy and bawdy . . . and she can caress a ballad with a girlish whisper."
--Wyman Wong, New York Daily News
"...just the medicine that Cabaret needs."
--Marco Brehm, New York City
"Not only does Pastore have a swell set of pipes, but . . . she beams with positive energy, her patter is funny and winning, her laugh is generous and spontaneous, and her smile can light up a room."
--Roy Sander, Backstage
"Whether tugging at the heart strings or just going for the silly, Pastore communicates forcefully and does something all too many performers in cabaret seem to forget about: She entertains. She also leaves the audience wanting more."
--John Hoglund, New York Native
"A powerful vocalist with an impressive high belt, Pastore seems comfortable singing just about every kind of song. She's a pip with a novelty number . . . [and] sings ballads with ineffable sensitivity . . ."
--Bob Harrington, Backstage
"...what she is serious about is entertaining her audience...Phyllis' versatility as an artist and her eclectic taste in music...demonstrated how she could belt out a showstopping number one minute, and then treat a Cole Porter classic with tenderness the next. And if that isn't enough, behind that great voice is an even greater sense of humor."
--Lisa Martland, The Stage, London, 1998
"I predict nothing less than stardom for this remarkable singer!"
--Bob Goodman, Stages, New York City
"Delivering a delicious blend of original material and theatrical tunes, the chanteuse blows the audience away with a voice of phenomenal magnitude. Her comic ability is terrific, and confidence is absolute. In fact, Pastore takes command of the stage with the power of a Merman . . ."
--Andrew Martin, Night and Day, New York City
- Various
Discography
At Last - 1999
Phyllis Pastore - Live in Germany! - 2001
CDs currently playing on Cabaretdio at www.cabaretdio.com
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Since arriving in New York in October, 1988, Ms. Pastore has been awarded the 1989 Bistro Award presented by Backstage for Outstanding Performance by a Female Vocalist. In 1990, she was nominated for a MAC Award by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs for Outstanding Debut Performance, and in 1995 was named Entertainer of the Year by CaB Magazine as a member of the cast in the revue Red, Hot and Cheap.
Phyllis has also appeared on live radio through the broadcast of New York Cabaret Nights, starring Steve Ross, where she was billed with Ann Hampton Callaway and Eartha Kitt. Since 1991, Ms. Pastore has been invited to perform at the annual Cabaret Convention, sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, held at Town Hall in NYC, where she has achieved critical acclaim. Phyllis has been the vocalist of choice for special engagements at New York's elegant Algonquin Hotel, Windows on the World, One If By Land, Tavern on the Green and the 21 Club (where she performed for honored guest, Ted Kennedy). She has also been chosen to perform at a number of fund-raisers for Congressman Steve Gunderson.
Recent years have taken Phyllis beyond the borders of the United States. She was the first cabaret singer to be invited to perform at the acclaimed Wexford Opera Festival in Wexford, Ireland. She spent the 1995 winter season in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, performing at Wyndham's Sugar Bay Resort. Phyllis is going into her 8th season performing at Montparnasse/The Piano Bar in Mykonos, Greece, where she charms European audiences with American popular music. In November, 2001 Phyllis completed her first tour in Germany where she performed six concerts in six cities. The tour concluded in Hamburg where she performed to an audience of 2000 people as a part of the World AIDS Day benefit. She was on the bill with such popular artists as Terrance Trent Darby and the musical group Alcazar.
Ms. Pastore has sung with 16 and 20 piece orchestras, 4 and 6 piece jazz combos, a 14 piece country/western band, and (much to their chagrin!) a dixieland band on the street in front of the Lincoln Center in NYC!
In short, Ms. Pastore has proven to be a dynamic and versatile performer, at home both on the big stage and in the intimate setting of the cabaret.
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