Review: HOT 'N' COLE

By Toby Zinman

For the Inquirer

It's a lovely cabaret setup: tables and candles, wine and roses, two pianos, tuxedos and glittery gowns.  Mauckingbird Theatre Co., specializing in adapting classic works  through a queer lens, has chosen Cole Porter's gorgeous songs—melodic, witty, sexy and sophisticated—as their  classic text. If you know the songs, it's a chance to hear them again, and if you don't, it's an entertaining discovery.

Or it would be, if the six performers sang well enough to do the songs justice. Luke Brahdt is the standout in the group that includes Michelle Eugene, John McCarthy, Nicole Renna, Jenna Rogalski and Philip Anthony Wilson. Hana J. Cai and David Jenkins accompany them.

Showcased are delectable songs like "Night and Day," "At Long Last Love," "In the Still of the Night," "It's Too Darn Hot," "What a Swell Party This Is," "Just One of Those Things" –the list of classics seems impossibly long.

Although the director, Brandon McShaffrey, has found amusing ways to dramatize the songs, and although the songs lend themselves nicely to the LGBT agenda, the lack of reliable pitch, the inadequate vocal range, the lack of volume compromise the show. What should be chic and urbane, seems too earnest and naïve as the singers try too hard for a style—and a note—they often miss.

Mauckingbird Theatre Co. at the Skybox at the Adrienne Theater. Through Feb.1 Tickets $15-25. Information: 215-923-8909 or www.mauckingbird.org