Adrienne Haan presents “One World” An international show sung in eleven languages in Review
Adrienne Haan, chanteuse
Richard Danley, piano; Bart Shatto, chanteur; Mike Campenni, drums
Triad Theater, New York, NY
October 13, 2021
If indeed there is to be any hope for our fractured world, it is to be found in the power of music, on this occasion the specific gifts of Adrienne Haan. I have reviewed Ms. Haan several times in these pages, always with pleasure, and “One World” was no exception.
Ms. Haan is high-energy, which is not to say manic. In the intimate confines of the Triad Theater, the sheer power of her voice at climaxes was gratifying, and she also found the intimate moments when appropriate. She has the thing which cannot be taught: charm.
The program was a tour-de-force of linguistic investigation. I wish classical singers had such curiosity. A total of eleven languages were employed: English, French, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Luxembourgish, Mandarin, and finally Italian. The only one I found to be somewhat less idiomatic than the rest was the English. (And the final ‘e’ neutral in French.) And Ms. Haan doesn’t stop exploring: Zulu is on the menu for her next show.
I can guarantee that this is the only theatrical/cabaret show, perhaps anywhere, but certainly in the United States, where you will hear the Luxembourg national anthem, sung in Luxembourgish.
The playlist I was given announced that she would open with Kander and Ebb’s iconic Willkommen, Bienvenu, performed memorably by Joel Grey in Cabaret. Instead she gave us Liza’s (Minnelli) equally iconic Life is a Cabaret. That leads me to my only tiny quibble- I wish Ms. Haan would branch into the slightly more sinister, cynical, world-weary, louche, dangerous colors of cabaret. A largely see-through outfit isn’t going to satisfy that. Evidently that’s not really Ms. Haan’s temperament, and I can truly understand why, in view of the pandemic and various political evolutions to the “right” (the only pointed commentary she made), that she chose to keep things positive and harmonious.
For me, the most successful numbers (no surprise) were the Yiddish Bokserboym and the Hebrew song for the Holocaust remembrance of 2020 Rikmah Enoshit Achat (One Human Tissue), both sung with exquisite poignancy and identification.
Insistence on a perky up-tempo spoiled Besame mucho. She has a way of ending all the up-tempo songs with a sort of ‘whoop’ cry—once is fine, but not every time. Ms. Haan’s own composition Contemplation, sung in English, was lovely. Only in New York (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and La Vie en rose and Milord were well done. Although Haan’s repertoire covers songs etched permanently in our cultural collective memory by the famous: Minnelli, Andrews, Piaf, Dietrich, Aznavour, etc., what I so admire about her is that she never goes for a cheap imitation, she finds her own originality with the material, which is no mean feat.
I could have lived without the German version of Superfragilisticexpialidicious; and although I understand I’m in the minority, I absolutely cringe whenever I hear anything associated with Andrea Bocelli, in this case, Il Preghiere/The Prayer (wonderfully partnered with her regular singing partner Bart Shatto) and Con te partirò. For me, they’re clichéd, just not good as music, when there’s so much high-quality rarely performed material available. At this point, let me mention the superior quality of her music director, pianist Richard Danley, assisted by Mike Campenni on percussion.
This very generous program which began late was welcomed with enthusiasm by her devoted fans in the nearly sold-out Triad. As an encore, Ms. Haan offered a whirlwind tour of some early Broadway musical theater songs from Showboat, Porgy and Bess and the like, unchallenging for the listeners. One part of it, a frantic Summertime had the wrong mood. I urge Ms. Haan to continue to branch out, while acknowledging what a treasure she is in an increasingly shrinking field, and what pleasure her positivity brings to the world.
