Birdland Cheyenne Jackson’s heart was an open book at Birdland on Monday night when he performed songs from his album of original music “I’m Blue, Skies” and many familiar favorites, accompanied by composer/pianist Ben Toth, with special guest, Tony winner Christine Ebersole.
The night was kicked-off with “Feelin’ Good” (Buble?! Who’s that?) and what followed was an hour-and-a-half of beautiful music, along with some seriously entertaining, funny and poignant story-telling. As he told the audience, Cheyenne’s had a particularly rough year, and channeled those emotions into writing some very thoughtful, poignant song, several of which he sang Monday night.
Cheyenne is definitely a versatile performer, even tackling some Katy Perry with a sensitive rendition of “Teenage Dream.” Christine Ebersole joined Cheyenne for a bouncy (complete with a bit of a cha-cha) duet with “Somethin’ Stupid” and we all had instant flashbacks of his star turn in “All Shook Up” when he sang Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation.” There was even a surprise original Christmas song (“Squeeze Me, It’s Christmas.”)
Cheyenne came back for an encore, seamlessly weaving together “What a Wonderful World” and “Auld Lang Syne.”
A special evening of music with one truly special guy. He knows how to work a crowd, but, most importantly, he does what he does best when he’s on stage: he is himself, and that is really all that is necessary when you’re Cheyenne Jackson!
I’m sure I speak for the rest of the New York theatre community when I say that I sure hope he comes back to Manhattan soon.
