Search - Lisa Kirk :: Sings at the Plaza

LISA KIRK--One of the Best Cabaret Performers Ever!!!

HP Cohen | 06/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I purchased the LP of Lisa Kirk at the Plaza it became a recording that I treasured for years. I considered her to be one of the best cabaret/Broadway performers and played the LP until the grooves started to disappear. Now thanks to Sepia Records the glorious LP has been restored to CD with other Kirk added tracks!!



Lisa Kirk was among a handful of glorious entertainers who captured the essence of an era. I was lucky enough to have seen her steal the Jerry Herman show "Mack and Mabel" with her fabulous "Tap Your Troubles Away."

She appeared on Broadway, in clubs, on recordings and on TV and always walked away leaving audiences crying for more. She also was the Rosalind Russell singing voice of Mama Rose in the film "Gypsy."



Here at the Plaza she performs in a breathtaking manner, and leaves the stage captivating everyone who is there to see her. She thrills like few can (Julie Wilson at the St Regis and Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall come to mind.) Her renditions of Far Away Places, Limehouse Blues and the speciality number Good Little Girls are pure magic. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To and Why Can't You Behave are fantastic.



In addition to the Plaza show the CD has twelve additional Lisa Kirk performances and among them are great interpretations of classic tunes like But Not For Me, My Funny Valentine, Always True To You in My Fashion and others.



The lady had a gift that is spotlighted here--a throaty, sassy, sensational voice--a great intrepreter of tunes. Too bad that there are not many recordings of this fabulous lady--but lucky for us that Sepia has released this CD. Highly recommended."

Wonderful album for Kirk fans

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 05/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of those musical theatre singers sadly known to far too-knew, Lisa Kirk was one of the most talented singers to emerge from the golden age of Broadway. Movie star-gorgeous with a smokey, sensual singing voice equally at home in an intimate ballad or big-belting showstopper, Kirk starrred in the original casts of Rodgers & Hammerstein's ALLEGRO, Cole Porter's KISS ME, KATE, and Jerry Herman's MACK & MABEL (and also provided the singing for Rosalind Russell in the movie version of GYPSY), yet it's her appearances on the nightclub and cabaret circuit which sealed Lisa's reputation as an all-round entertainer.



Kirk's 1958 Plaza Hotel cabaret captures her at the pinnacle of vocal prowess and critical success. Bolstered by The 4 Saints and a young musical director named Donald Pippin, Lisa performs standards including "Anything Goes", "Far Away Places" (a track which always has me clutching for the repeat button), "I Travel Light" and "Hi Lili, Hi-Lo" with delicious panache and a sly, knowing wit. Kirk even sings a strikingly original jazz version of her signature KATE number "Why Can't You Behave?". Recorded in the studio with a specially-invited audience, LISA KIRK SINGS AT THE PLAZA is one of the most charming, satisfying cabaret albums you'll ever have the pleasure of listening to.



Sepia has already furnished us with an album of early Kirk pop recordings (I FEEL A SONG COMIN' ON), but this may very well be the definitive CD for Lisa Kirk's fans. Bonus tracks include two extremely rare recordings from her 1956 appearance in a TV musical entitled THE HUMAN TOUCH.



Highly-recommended. [SEPIA 1128]"