I'll Be Here: a musical cabaret

This is a lovely show. Elena Porter has curated a selection of some of the more dramatic musical theatre songs—almost art songs, it seems—by Stephen Sondheim and others to create a woman’s journey through love and heartbreak. She and keyboardist Steven Greenfield, both skilled musical performers, add a touch of dialogue to help shape the narrative. It works! All in all, it’s a warm and moving 55 minutes.

Yeah, so this one's a roller coaster. Elena and Stephen start light, then lift you up ... and then pull a Marvelous Mrs Maisel on you. I mean it's not like we weren't warned. Elena does ask Stephen why she needs to sing about sadness. Wham. 3 hanky 9-11 personal tragedy song. Most of the repertoire will be new to those of us not up on recent Broadway, but it's gorgeous and exquisite and so worth it.

Want to hear a life story with emotional depth, classic songs and fanatic singing abilities? I’ll be here : A musical Cabaret is just up your alley. This short and sweet cabaret was able to bring the audience into multiple feelings of different life experiences both good and bad. The best part of this cabaret is that when the emotion gets too strong, you must sing them, and sing as they did.

I’ll be here : A musical Cabaret is directed by Clinton Carew and written by Elena Porter. In this cabaret the audience gets to hear stories of Elena Porter past 10 years and all the ups and downs she has had during them. Bringing the audience both joyful and emotional heartfelt songs. We get to see how Elena Porter thinks about these past events and how she expresses her emotions to the audience.

The performance of the afternoon truly was a talented one, with Elena Porter singing live with a range of quick and slow songs and having a very impressive vocal range. We also get to see live music from Steven Greenfield playing the piano to all of the songs and accompanying Elena Porter in a few songs. This hour long performance really did provide a range of songs, fun facts, jokes, emotions and stories. But all was done in a manner that did not feel overwhelming, all these fun and unique pieces of story fell perfectly like puzzle pieces giving a great performance.

A technical element that added depth to the stories and to the songs was the lighting. The lighting was able to change the mood of the story and draw in the audience to the story. The lighting was also able to set the moods of the songs being performed helping with the changes of the story.

I personally was amazed by the talent of these two artists, they both know how to deliver a performance and to make sure that the story they are telling sticks with the audience. The song options were picked to truly fit with all the different parts of this story, and would recommend to anyone who loves to see an emotional piece.