CHICAGO - MIDWEST CABARET REVIEWS

"HEAT AND TENSION" WITH SCOTT MONTGOMERY
AT DAVENPORT'S

Reviewed by Carla Gordon

The words "heat and tension" bring to mind that moment before the big clinch in romance movies. In the hands of Scott Montgomery, however, "heat and tension" take on additional meaning. Heat and tension refers to secrets from the salon floor ... the hair salon, that is.

Mr. Montgomery, hair stylist by day and a cabaret singer by night, offers a unique take on the salon experience introducing us to his favorite client, "Miss Universe". Scott even arranges for us to see Miss Universe, in the form of a plastic Wonder Woman doll pulled from the pocket of his beglittered smoking jacket. Miss Universe however is not in good voice, so Scotty takes on both the gentleman's and lady's parts of Cole Porter's "But In the Morning, No" asking and responding to dozens of questions in which the answer to each is "Yes, but in the morning, no." Impressively integrating voice and movement, Scott transforms again and again from one character to the other.

Mr. Montgomery offers up juicy tidbits about his favorite client including her utter devotion to beauty and of course, her sex life current and past. Reflecting on his client's stories, Montgomery presents "Blueberry Hill" (yes, the one where thrills were found). His delivery is fraught with teenage angst and it's quite funny.

Scotty shares that while he doesn't enjoy gossip about the other salon habitues, he does enjoy smut. Following is an energetic rendition of Tom Leher's "Smut." This song was introduced in the Sixties in the era of Lenny Bruce and the wake of court proceedings to decide whether so called pornography violated the law or represented free speech. Scott handled well one of my favorite lyrical passages in which Lehrer rhymes "philately" and "Lady Chatterly".

Scott, accompanied by Dan Stetzel on piano and Jeff Mattis on drums pulled out all the stops in Nick Gilder's "Hot Child in the City". Fusing bright lights, percussion and mega-watt physicality, Scotty's hot child finds a crescendo of white heat. He is frenetic and funny.

I have long been a fan of Scott Montgomery because he is a quality cabaret singer. He is among few vocalists blessed with a huge range who can move through the octaves without that feeling of no man's land in those notes between head voice and chest voice. His interpretations are heartfelt and his diction respectful of the consonants that enhance the clarity of the lyric. I think sometimes that Scott doesn't understand how good a cabaret singer he is. While the sparkly gender spanning costumes and the quirky stream of consciousness patter make for a fun evening, it is important that they not be allowed to smother the steak in favor of the sizzle. While the drums energize the show, pains must be taken in an intimate space like Davenport's that the vocalist is heard above all. And even comedy shows need quieter moments.

I have witnessed Scotty hold audiences in the palm of his hand singing ballads like "Tenderly"by Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence as well as Janis Ian's plaintive "Jesse". In the audience for "Heat and Tension", I laughed often and loud. But what I enjoy most is when Scotty just sings for me.

DAVENPORT'S is located at 1383 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL - 773-278-1830 - http://www.davenportspianobar.com/

Copyright, 2007 by Carla Gordon

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