REVIEW: Simon Green converses with Noël Coward at 59E59
NEW YORK — Simon Green and David Shrubsole are the top interpreters of the Noël Coward songbook, and their new show, Life Is for Living: Conversations With Coward, proves just how masterful they are in the realm of witty lyrics and catchy compositions.
The 70-minute evening, presented at 59E59 Theaters in Midtown Manhattan, pulls together many Coward classics, plus selections from a variety of songwriters, including everyone from Cole Porter to George and Ira Gershwin. Green, the singer, and Shrubsole, the pianist, have combined both humorous songs with thoughtful ruminations on life and love.
The opening medley of Coward’s “Something Very Strange,” “Don’t Turn Away From Love” and “Go Slow Johnny” offers the audience a perfect preview of what’s to come. The songs showcase Green’s smooth, precise interpretations of Coward’s lyrics, while Shrubsole’s arrangements and expert piano playing are on fine display.
As a performer, Green is able to travel miles with a kind smile, simple gesture and stare into the distance. He’s able to simultaneously play narrator and actor, someone telling the story and of the story. That’s a fine line for a cabaret star, but he walks it with seeming ease.
Some of the selections are words that have been set to music by Shrubsole. “The Little Old Bar at the Ritz” is a clever departure that feels like the words of Coward but actually is from the Porter playbook.
Simon is able to expand his vocal range on the exuberant “Our Love Is Here to Stay” by George and Ira Gershwin. “What’s Going to Happen to the Tots,” a funny addition that didn’t make the final program, is classic Coward, a song that Shrubsole and Simon actually present on their CD collaboration, A Changing World, from a few years ago.
The engaging evening bubbles along, interrupted every so often by Green’s recitations of Coward’s prose and poetic thoughts. During a recent matinee, a beat was not skipped, a lyric not dropped. Both Green and Shrubsole worked collaboratively and complementary to each other, and much of their precision is due to Shrubsole’s accompaniment, keeping the songs on cue and nicely matched to Green’s singing.
Audience members will leave with a spring in their step thanks to the final medley, a combination of Coward’s “London Pride,” “I Travel Alone” (perhaps the most moving song of the performance) and “Sail Away” (perhaps the most transcendent song of the performance).
This is not the first time Green and Shrubsole have presented at 59E59. Their Coward connections are becoming biennial favorites at the famed Midtown venue, and Life Is for Living: Conversations With Coward proves there’s still much mining of the Coward songbook for many shows to come.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Life Is for Living: Conversations With Coward, created and compiled by Simon Green and David Shrubsole, continues at 59E59 Theaters through Jan. 1. Click here for more information and tickets. Rating: 
