I have not been to every cabaret show that ever cabareted, so I cannot tell you if there was ever another singer to sit behind an elegant piano in a well-appointed room and brought the house down with a rousing rendition of “Harper Valley PTA.”
But if there haven’t been, there should be more, because it worked for Wayne Hosford.
The amiable cabaret mainstay took a musical trip into the world of scandalous and hypocritical parent teacher boards as part of “Wayne, Women and Song,” a female-centric collection of tunes that make up his latest set at the Royal Room at the Colony Hotel on Palm Beach. Mining pop, Broadway and even TV soundtracks, he brought humorous and sometimes poignant tribute to the ladies.
Beginning with “There Is Nothing Like A Dame” from “South Pacific,” he lead into an increasingly frenetic medley of songs named after girls, singing mostly just the line with the name in it – by Hosford’s count there were “40 some-odd” including Rosemary, who around which love grows; Windy of the stormy eyes, Brandy and her unfortunate love of that sailor, Ave Maria, Mrs. Brown of lovely daughter fame and even snack cake-hawking Sarah Lee.
Hosford’s obviously not the first to have such a theme, but his amiable nature, enthusiasm and, of course, his gorgeously expressive tenor make it more than a gimmick. He and Colony mainstay, drummer Julie Jacobs, took on the well-known (“Camelot”‘s “How To Handle A Woman,” “Sugar In My Bowl” and “Natural Woman,” and some more obscure, like the poignant “Woman Of The World” by the late Michael Hedges, Tom Lehrer’s wry but sweet “She’s My Girl,” and the wickedly hilarious “We All Must Be Very Kind To Auntie Jessie,” a plea not to torture an unfortunate maiden aunt, sung by Hosford in thick glasses and a feathered old lady hat – “I bought this feather at Michael’s!” he said proudly.
You have till August 31 to see Hosford and his fabulous hat. Colony Hotel, 155 Hammon Ave., Palm Beach. 655-5430
