by Colin Hunter
The Record Staff
A true showbiz diva might have stormed offstage in disgust.
The microphone was on the fritz, audience members were strolling in late and the lighting cues were off — more than enough reasons for a prima donna songstress to throw a hissy fit.
Sharron Matthews is a diva, yes, but not that kind of diva.
When her mic went haywire during her sultry opening number Monday night she just sang an impromptu lyric — “Something’s wrong with my (bleepity-bleeping) microphone” — and grabbed a backup mic without missing a beat.
As latecomers tiptoed to their seats in the Waterloo Entertainment Centre, Matthews again improvised, mocking them with exaggerated eye rolls and sarcastic glances at her watch (or the spot on her wrist where a watch would be).
Call her a pseudiva — a starlet who’s got all the talent but none of the ‘tude. Anything, it seemed, was fair fodder for a gag. Her performance Monday, dubbed Sharron’s Halloween Party, was the first of four gigs at the Waterloo Entertainment Centre over the next two months, culminating in a New Year’s Eve gala.
Her comic cabaret-style shows have become cult favourites at clubs around Toronto, partly because they gently mock cabaret-style shows.
Matthews has a world-class singing voice — honed in such lavish Toronto productions as Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast — but she has no qualms about using it to perform Devo’s Whip It or Let’s Get Physical by Olivia Newton-John.
The result is a show that is equal parts standup comedy, vocal concert, talk show and controlled chaos.
Using a medley of reinterpreted ’80s pop ballads, Matthews regaled the audience with true tales of adolescent traumas like high school dances and her first kiss. Fittingly, she calls such medleys “songologues.”
Accompanied by pianist Steve Thomas, who deftly kept up with the singer’s improvised tangents, Matthews showcased a vocal range that shifts from opera to pop in nothing flat.
Matthews’ showbiz resume boasts an impressive list of stage and screen performances, including movie roles alongside Russell Crowe (Cinderella Man) and Antonio Banderas (Take The Lead), but she clearly hasn’t let it go to her head.
That was obvious even before the opening curtain. For starters, there wasn’t really an opening curtain at all — instead, Matthews mingled the crowd before showtime, doling out hugs and learning everyone’s names before taking the stage.
In an impressive display of recall, she often addressed audience members by name during the show, picking out “volunteers” for interactive moments.
Matthews also acted as a kind of MC for the night, introducing and interviewing a pair of guest performers — Broadway actor Julie Martell and Stratford favourite Bruce Dow.
Both added touches of seriousness to the evening, demonstrating vocal versatility that their roles in larger ensemble productions don’t often allow them to showcase.
Matthews lightened the mood again with her glowing, if a little too honest, assessment of Dow’s performance:
“When he hit that high note all my hair stood up and I peed a little bit.”
When it was time for a show-closing audience singalong (to Kenny Loggins’ Footloose, of all things), Sharron’s Halloween Party felt like just that — a party. And a killer party at that.
chunter@therecord.com