Welcome to Theatre Reviews Limited

Looking for a specific show, playwright or
theatre topic? Use our new search agent!

Leslie Orofino: Moonlight Cocktails

At: The Oak Room

Reviewer: David Roberts for Theatre Reviews Limited

The moon and the light it reflects found its way into each of the songs in Leslie Orofino's latest performance ("Moonlight Cocktails") at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room. Ms. Orofino has a fine mezzo voice with some stunning alto hues which match perfectly the lyrics of the songs she has chosen for this particular program.

Moonlight is capable of producing wonder. Unlike its "daytime" counterpart the sun, the moon (favorite light source of the East and the mythic goddess) leaves its subjects less delineated than "old sol," their edges less defined, their exact color less important, their content more fluid. In this shadowy state, love often blossoms where it might not otherwise take root.

This same lack of differentiation also has a less than helpful side since what is less clear can sometimes cause (if not outright harm) some serious interpersonal missteps. Indifference can be mistaken for love and what appears to be lack of interest can be the mere nervousness of untried passion.

So any show with moonlight as its thematic center needs to include both possibilities; namely the successes humans find in loving and the emptiness that same passion can create. And Ms. Orofino's solid show does just that.

With the skills of a seasoned actor and the more than pleasant voice to match, Leslie Orofino breezes through more than twenty songs whose subject is our heroic attempt to finding meaning in relationship and integrity in loneliness.

Whether it is celebrating the success of love ("I'm Beginning to See the Light," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," "My Romance") the craziness and abandon of loving ("Is It Hot in Here," "My Foolish Heart," "Chase Me Charlie") or the pain of unrequited love (Arlen and Harburg's "Down with Love") Ms. Orofino's presence on the cabaret stage is secure and matchless. She knows how to dance with a lyric and respectfully challenge the value of a note.

Leslie Orofino's eyes belie a sprit that understands the joys and risks of falling in love and her voice translates those risks and joys to her audience with honesty and a sometimes uncanny authenticity, as it does in the juxtaposed "Blue Fool" by Bernie Hanighen and Alec Wilder and "Blue Moon" by Rodgers and Hart and in Ned Washington and Victor Young's "My Foolish Heart."

Veteran Orofino devotees seemed to wait for the appearance of a boa and the touching duet with Leslie's dad Bob McGuire. Although this reviewer enjoyed these personal touches, what is most impressive about Leslie Orofino is not just what has come before but her ability to be in the present where her audience is touched again and again by a soulful voice which carries on its breath the vicissitudes of love.

Reviewed on Sunday, October 15th at 2:00 p.m.

Directed by Louis D. Pietig. Musical Direction by Ross Patterson. John Loehrke, bass and Rex Benacasa, percussion. At the Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel, 59 West 44th Street. Performance schedule: Sunday, October 15th at 2:00 p.m. and Friday, October 20th at 9:30 p.m. At Friday's performance there will be a $40.00 music charge with a $15.00 food and drink minimum. Dinner is served at 7:00 p.m. For further information and reservation phone (212) 840-6800.