Cabaret Review (LA): Demaree Alexander with Kevin Odekirk and Deedee Magno Hall

Part of: StageMage

Demaree Alexander is a woman of immense talent with a powerful voice and a wide range. She presented her act at Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s, L.A.’s premiere supper club. Unlike some of the other talent who have appeared here, Ms. Alexander brought a professionalism and confidence in what she was doing. image of Demaree AlexanderAfter all, she began her Broadway career at eight, playing the role of Young Cossette in Les Miserables, and since then has appeared as Mary Lennox in the Broadway National Tour of Secret Garden. She is at home singing show tunes, classical music, pop, and country, and said that among her influences were Bette Midler and Wynona Judd.

She began her concert with a rousing version of "Life of the Party" from The Wild Party by Andrew Lippa. She followed this with a jazzy rendition of the Cole Porter classic, "Miss Otis Regrets," and a soulful rendition of "Feeling Good" by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.

Ms. Alexander is not a selfish performer: she brought along several friends to sing with her. She sang two songs from Chess, and the first, "I Know Him So Well," she performed as a duet with Deedee Magno Hall, a wonderful singer in her own right and one I would love to see perform at Sterling’s. (Ms. Hall has appeared in Miss Saigon as Kim, and as Nessarose in Wicked.)

The other song from Chess, "Mountain Duet," Ms. Alexander sangwith Kevin Odekirk, who appeared on Broadway as Marius in Les Miserables and performed at the Hollywood Bowl for Stephen Sondheim’s 75th birthday concert. He has a wonderfully rich voice and I hope he gets a spot at Sterling’s as well.

Ms. Alexander displayed her range by singing two Nat King Cole standards, "L-O-V-E" and "Nature Boy."  She also sang a very good version of Carrie Underwood’s "Last Name." As a special surprise she sang a duet with her brother Braden Danner, "The Song That Goes Like This," from Spamalot. They hadn’t sung together in 16 years.

Bob Remstein was her musical director with Del Atkins on bass and Tom Walsh on drums. Demaree Alexander appeared at Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s on March 20th.

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Article Author: Robert Machray

ROBERT MACHRAY has appeared in over 150 plays and has worked at 14 Tony Award-winning theatres. He has been nominated for and won numerous awards. Robert has a B.A. from Yale and an M.F.A. from USC. He has taught at USC, UCLA, UCSB, and Pasadena City College. …

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