THE HANGOVER REPORT – Dillie Keane’s HELLO, DILLIE! captivatingly explores love, warts and all

imageCurrently concluding its run at 59E59 Theaters is Dillie Keane’s intimate and sharply drawn cabaret set Hello, Dillie! Ms. Keane is perhaps best known on this side of the pond as part of the outfit Fascinating Aïda, for which she’s received considerable acclaim. Hello, Dillie!, an offering at this year’s excellent Brits Off-Broadway festival, is exuberant, albeit very personal, entertainment.

In her latest (which she co-wrote with Adèle Anderson), the very funny and dry Ms. Keane dissects love and relationships, in all their complexities and nuanced shadings. Although she’s unafraid to delve into the messier aspects of love by basking in unpleasant emotional territory (e.g., pain, shame, and anger) – in songs such as “Pam” and “Song of Sexual Re-orientation” – Ms. Keane, with her deliciously guttural growl of a voice, is never less than thoroughly entertaining and a commanding presence. She’s thoroughly captivating.

The production is smartly structured by directors Simon Green (who is a fabulous cabaret performer in his own right) and Michael Fitzgerald. Lastly – but certainly not least – Ms. Keane is supported brilliantly and sensitively at the piano by her handsome musical director Michael Roulston.

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HELLO, DILLIE!
Off-Broadway, Cabaret
59E59 Theaters
1 hour, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through July 3

Categories: Cabaret, Off-Broadway, Theater

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