The Money’s in the Basement
A cabaret with Natalie Doliner
Winter Park Playhouse • Winter Park, Florida.
by Carl F. Gauze
Talk about your big voices: Natalie Doliner took over the lobby of the Winter Park Playhouse and sang only songs from the lowest registers. There’s quite a lot of material in that key from Karen Carpenter (“Sing a Song”) to Doris Day (“Que Sera”) to Patsy Cline (“Walking”). Musical keys are not something I think about much, so it’s interesting to see how singers view their material and its selection.
Ms. Doliner began her musical career young with an attraction to the soundtracks to Fiddler on the Roof and My Fair Lady’s “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Doliner auditioned early in life, and once she ditched the Gilbert and Sullivan song book for more modern audition material, she started getting not only roles, but good ones.
Doliner offers a commanding presence. She’s tall and elegant and armed with a dress the swirls around her. She seems to make constant eye contact in the L-shaped lobby performance space and has that presence that shouts out “This is MY space, and I will fascinate you so long as you care to stay.” Well, we all stayed until the last applause.
The Spotlight Cabaret series has been an ongoing success for the Playhouse for over a decade. Watch for some big changes as the Playhouse will be moving to a new location as the white-hot Central Florida real estate market flexes its muscles. In the meantime, if you haven’t attended a Spotlight Cabaret, you’re missing some great entertainment.
