Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At 54 Below, the irrepressible BETH LEAVEL puts over the Sondheim songbook with her trademark sardonic wit

• By drediman
• August 6, 2025
• No Comments

This past weekend at 54 Below, I was able to catch Beth Leavel’s final performance — at least for now — of her latest show Beth Leavel Sings Sondheim. As the aptly titled cabaret act suggests, the show gives the irrepressible Broadway star her chance to sink her teeth, for an entire evening, into the Sondheim canon and put her own stamp on the master’s classic songs. These summer appearances at the indispensable Theater District supper club have come on the heels of the Tony-winner’s run in last season’s Old Friends, the latest in a long line of Broadway revues that have celebrated the songs and career of the legendary musical theater composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

From the get go, it was clear that Leavel was a total pro, and she eased audiences into the set with a smooth “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story before launching into powerhouse interpretations of some of Sondheim’s most popular songs (at least those regularly picked up for cabaret performances) — many of them from Follies, the show to which her quick wit, brassy vocals, and sardonic disposition are arguably best suited. Suffice to say, her astute renditions of “Broadway Baby”, “Could I Leave You?”, and “Losing My Mind” were class acts. Completing the unofficial Follies suite was an emphatic delivery of Sondheim’s defiant anthem to aging and survival “I’m Still Here”, a song which Leavel has earned the right to claim as her own. Also quite memorable was an affecting, refreshingly straightforward take on “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music. Then there was her ferocious version the iconic “The Ladies Who Lunch” from Company, the number with which she nightly brought the house down in Old Friends. It goes without saying that the song deserves to be one of her signature go-to’s; her delivery of the bitter pill of a song is that good.

Over the course of the evening, Leavel was in fine voice, displaying her unique way with songs — her distinct vocal style ranges anywhere from seductive whisper to roaring belt — in all its glory. Ever the eye-rolling yet crowd-pleasing personality, she regaled the her adoring fans with amusing vignettes from her long and accomplished career, mostly her recent time on Broadway in the aforementioned Sondheim revue. On keys was Leavel’s longtime music director Phil Reno, who led a capable band through his own insightful arrangements of Sondheim’s indisputably classic songs.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BETH LEAVEL SINGS SONDHEIM
Cabaret
54 Below
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed