I’m Not Here To Take Naps: Tales of a Preschool Perfectionist
I’m Not Here To Take Naps: Tales of a Preschool Perfectionist
A Cabaret Starring Natalie Cordoned
Musical Direction by Chris Leavy
Additional Material by Todd Allan Long, Kevin Kelly, and Roy Alan
October 27, 2011
Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park FL</strong>
Tonight we sampled two flavors of Natalie Cordone – the cute anime girls with a back pack and a teddy bear, and the sultry seductress in an electric green gown that matches a necktie I bought decades ago at Woolworths. Ms. Cordone is a go-getter; she announced the title of the show to her preschool teacher way back when she was trying out for her first Sugar Plum fairy role. Begin early, audition often, and give up any sort of social life – that how the gifted and obsessive begin. Her opening number was a bit unsettling, I find Maurice Chevalier’s “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” a bit creepy these days, but I suppose it was innocent enough a generation ago. But after her Nutcracker story we hear “I Feel Pretty” as Chris Leavy vamps behind her and she dishes more dirt on her early days, then its “Anything You can Do I Can Do Better” from “Annie Get Your Gun.” Natalie’s competitive and after slapping down Mr. Leavy she takes on the bartender, the box office, and a random guy from a show rehearsing in the back. You can’t out sing her, you can’t out dance her, and don’t even think about playing bridge with her.
Intermission? Of course, we all need a drink even now and again, and Ms. Cordone needs a new dress for the adult material – “Let Me Entertain You,” “It Had To Be You”, “If I Were A Bell”” and just to prove a point, she sings Sondheim and makes it comprehensible. There are more stories and more anecdotes including the fact that Charlie Chaplin wrote “Smile Though Your Heart Is Broken.” Good stuff, and we’re on to the big blowout, leave ‘em wanting more closer “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” I may now know more about her background than is healthy, but she can sell herself on stage. Rumor has it there will be one more show in November; you know what link to click to see if that’s true.
For more information on Winter Park Playhouse, please visit http://www.winterparkplayhouse.org
