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Sarah Dacey Charles: "Wrong!"

At: Don't Tell Mama

Reviewer: David Roberts for Theatre Reviews Limited

There are always songs our mothers wouldn't approve of. This, of course, is code for there are usually things about us our mothers actually don't approve of and we humans struggle with issues of acceptance from sometime before birth until sometime after our physical death. Sarah Dacey Charles' new show at Don't Tell Mama "Wrong!" is subtitled "Song's My Mother Wouldn't Approve Of!" and is a first-rate exploration in song of the longing for and the granting of unconditional and non-judgmental love.

The song list for Sarah Dacey Charles' program is impressive in its lack of "cabaret familiarity." It isn't that these songs are unsung on the cabaret stage ("I Hope I Get It" from "A Chorus Line" certainly is sung). They are refreshingly unfamiliar in that they are not heard often. Even in her choice of songs, Sarah Dacey Charles flirts with "wrongness" by selecting songs her audience (never mind her mother) might never have heard before.

There is the "title" song "Everybody Has A Right To Be Wrong" (James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn) which is familiar thanks in no small measure to Frank Sinatra and Robert Hazard and Lolly Vegas' "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" which was popularized by Cyndi Lauper. But even these are not heard often. The remainder of the program includes songs we might not have heard before but which we will want to hear again.

Of the sixteen songs, the following stand out as "on target" songs for the program's theme and perfect for showcasing Sarah Dacey Charles' voice. A veteran performer (currently in the ensemble of "Les Miserables" on Broadway) Sarah has a well-trained and well-rehearsed voice that is clear and extraordinarily beautiful in any range. Add to her vocal abilities her skills as an actor and what results is a combination of talent that embraces every song she chooses and makes it not only her own but her audience's song as well.

"Where Is The Tribe For Me?" (Walter Marks); "When I Was A Boy" (Dar Williams); "Neurotic You And Psychopathic Me" (Charles Gaynor); "Me" (Paula Cole); "Why Do They Shut Me Out Of Heaven" (Aaron Copeland and Emily Dickinson); and "I Am" (Babbie Green) are songs which address the wrong-headedness of looking to others for approval or trying to be someone or something other than you are. They (and Sarah Dacey Charles through them) even bravely face the issue of the individual's responsibility in creating or maintaining places of isolation and lack of self-esteem.

Sarah Dacey Charles is also very funny. Her comedic spirit adds considerable impact to several of the songs in "Wrong!" most notably "A Medley of Wrongness" (a hilarious medley of 45 songs) and "Let's Talk Dirty To The Animals" by Michael O'Donoghue. This song includes every word that still cannot be said on television (so the reader knows what words they are) and succeeds in being offensive on almost every level. And yet, no one minds very much because "saying those words" and still being loved and accepted is perhaps the ultimate litmus test of "wrong." If we can be who we are and have those around us accept that, then we are also free to accept others.

Sarah Dacey Charles and her musical director/accompanist work very well together and work very hard to equip their audience to feel comfortable as a pig among oranges. It is wrong to include an obtuse reference at the close of a review. So be it. Readers have one more opportunity (this time around) to hear Sarah Dacey Charles (Sunday March 25, 2001) and that same final opportunity to understand the reference. Don't miss it!

Reviewed on March 9, 2001

Marc Sabin is director for this engagement and Carl Danielsen is music director and at the piano. At Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. There is a $12.00 cover/two drink minimum (no credit cards). Reservations: (212) 757-0788.