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"Arts & Entertainment"  April 12, 2002
CABARET REVIEW:  'Songs' takes you high, low in one-woman show
by Howard Reich, Tribune Arts Critic

"Delusion is a great survival technique," Chicago cabaret singer Colleen McHugh cheerfully tells her audience at the outset of her intriguing new show at Davenport's.

She then sets about proving the point, launching into an evening's worth of songs about troubled souls who revel in their self-deceptions.

By turns emotionally stark and wickedly satirical, McHugh's "Songs of Self-Delusion" proves that a night at the cabaret need not be an entirely light-hearted affair. For though McHugh shrewdly punctuates the proceedings with comic songs and casual patter, she also probes into the darker sides of the psyche.

Better yet, she does so by drawing upon a remarkably far-flung songbook, which spans material by everyone from Broadway veteran Jerry Herman to modern-day Chicago troubadour Robbie Fulks. The ingenuity with which McHugh interweaves these vignettes helps give this show its dramatic heft.

McHugh opens her homage to self-delusion, for instance, with not one song but two, merging sections of Herman's "I Don't Want to Know" with Amanda McBroom's "Dreaming." In this haunting introduction, McHugh hints at both the comic and tragic sides of the set pieces yet to come.

Somehow, she switches easily from the absurd, black humor of Jill Sobule's "Mexican Wrestler" to the dripping irony of Jim De Wan's "You Wouldn't Do That to Me," from the clever wordplay of Phillip Namanworth's "Avoid" to the self-loathing laments of Francesca Blumenthal's "The Lies of Handsome Men."

Every song makes a point, though few more searingly than Fulks' "I've Got to Tell Myself the Truth," which McHugh sings to the accompaniment of a lone guitar.

To her credit, McHugh also brings some beguiling bits of stage business to the proceedings, particularly in Herman's "A Little More Mascara" (from "La Cage Aux Folles"). As the protagonist sings the glories of heavy makeup, two attendants hand her a tiara, white gloves and other ornaments with which to mask her insecurities.

With evocative musical direction from pianist Andrew Blendermann and expert backup vocals from Allison Bazarko and [Anne Smith], McHugh has conceived a bittersweet cabaret show as original as it is meaningful.

And that doesn't happen very often.

(c) 2002 Chicago Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
 


"Critic's Choice":  COLLEEN McHUGH


On opening night of last month's Chicago Cabaret Convention, Colleen McHugh nearly stole the show with her bravura rendition of Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love" and comically melodramatic take on Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." But in her club act at Davenport's, Songs of Self-Delusion, McHugh opts for a subtler style, deftly balancing understated poignance and wry irony. An unusually expressive performer who's accomplished in improv as well as cabaret, this Second City alum breezes through a set of tunes about sexual fantasy and emotional avoidance. Though there's an occasional diva moment (Jerry Herman's "I Don't Want to Know"), the evening is dominated by the laid-back dark humor of such songwriters as Randy Newman ("Better Off Dead," "Gainesville"), Robbie Fulks ("I've Got to Tell Myself the Truth"), Johnny Mercer ("Talk to Me Baby"), Francesca Blumenthal ("The Lies of Handsome Men"), and Jim De Wan ("You Wouldn't Do That to Me," delivered with a quietly stunning mix of anger, pain, longing, and bemusement). McHugh is at her best when she simply stands still and sings, letting pianist Andrew Blendermann's sensitive accompaniment propel her through deeply felt, quirkily intelligent reflections on the pitfalls of romantic love.
ALBERT WILLIAMS

(c) 2002 Chicago Reader. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
 
  
 


April 2002
Her Grand 'Delusion'
By Misha Davenport, staff reporter


Some people might call Colleen McHugh delusional. As a struggling actress and comedian, she once took up residence across the street from Second City.

"I lived above the McDonald's. I used to work out on a treadmill that faced [Second City's] flags and would tell myself that someday I was going to work there," McHugh says.

There was nothing delusional about her determination. Now 34, McHugh not only attended classes at the famed improvisational institution, she also landed a gig as part of their national touring company as well.

Singled out by Chicago critics for her versatility in the 1998 improvisational show "Musical! The Musical," McHugh segued into a career in cabaret in 2000 and found success almost immediately. Cabaret Hotline Online magazine listed her "Tales of Revenge and Regret" as the best Chicago cabaret show in 2001. She also appeared at the recent New York and Chicago cabaret conventions alongside luminaries including Julie Wilson and Amanda McBroom.

"Looking at the playlist [from the Chicago Convention', I saw Marcovicci, McBroom, McHugh. My name was on the list with all these people. I'm young enough in the business that it's all unbelievably, giddily exciting. But I'm also old enough as a person that I can appreciate it and get how lucky I am," McHugh says.

Her success in cabaret, however, has had one downside. McHugh recently resigned from Second City.

"It's not about having a preference for cabaret over improvisation. Being at Second City and touring left me with little control over my schedule. I need to make myself available for the next thing," she says.

Her current show, "Songs of Self-Delusion," includes the music of Jerry Herman, Randy Newman and Robbie Fulks, among others.

"There's a fine line between being deluded and having a plan. It just depends on whether it works out, I guess," McHugh says.

  
 

 

 

  
 

BROADWAY WORLD.com
November 8, 2005 - by Michael Dale
"Keeping Up Appearances"

When I visit a cabaret show it's never a surprise to hear a few tunes by the likes of Cole Porter or the Gershwins. What I'm not exactly used to is hearing an original torch song about my own love life. But aside from being a terrific interpreter of both pop and showtune, Colleen McHugh is an experienced improv performer coming to Gotham directly from Chicago's legendary Second City, so naturally a part of her show was to improvise a song based on an audience suggestion.

"Tell me about some sad moment in your life.", she asked the crowd. "Some moment of finality or when things changed for you."

So I volunteered information about the night a woman who I was seeing for about a month told me she was breaking up with me because she couldn't date anyone who liked Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party. I'm not joking. This actually happened. So after asking a few pointed questions to flesh out the details, McHugh and musical director/accompanist Tex Arnold improvised 32 bars of music and lyrics for "The Mild Party". It was a catchy, but soulful, ballad where she managed to squeeze a rhyme out of "I would never choose ya" and "Michael John LaChiusa."

But McHugh has a good ear for rhyming even with other people's material, not missing one hidden gem in Stephen Sondheim's tricky lyric for "Ah, But Underneath". (i.e.: using the proper enunciation needed to rhyme "If his idea of ecstasy / Is to see what he expects to see")

Keeping Up Appearances is the name of her new show at The Duplex ("My Greenwich Village opening!", she announces with a smile that tells us to make up our own double entendre.), where this charming alto belter with a sly sense of humor sings of an assortment of characters who have a special interest in how others see them.

McHugh uses a comically alluring, Mae West flair for "The Lorelei", a Gershwin number about the seafaring siren who lured sailors with her "most immoral eye." But then she's a "good 'ol girl" with a serious sense of melodrama for Bobbi Gentry's "Fancy", about another type of temptress from the wrong side of the tracks.

Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich are well-served twice by McHugh, as she rocks out to the comic "Fifteen Pounds (Away From My Love)" before a chilling "Out of Love", where she suffers the devastation of a fresh break-up.

In Jerry Herman's "Look What Happened to Mabel", McHugh does an impressive job of gradually transforming herself from an awkward little pipsqueak to a still-awkward, but enthusiastically glamorous silent screen star. Another fine acting performance accompanies John Wallowitch's "News Item (Dear Nameless)", an absurdly funny number where an actual "Dear Abby" column is set to music. McHugh plays a woman with a dying mother who seems more concerned with dressing properly for the funeral than with her parent's health, then switches to Abby for the slightly snarky reply.

Cole Porter, Jane Olivor, John Bucchino and Dietz & Schwartz are some of the other songwriters represented in this eclectic and entertaining set. And who knows... with a visit to The Duplex (remaining shows November 10 and 17 at 9:30), this delightfully funny belter may turn your own life into a song.

  
   
 


Colleen McHugh
Calendar Girl: Just In Time
The Duplex
New York, NY

Former Chicagoan Colleen McHugh has set herself a formidable task in The Big Apple: To make each of her once-monthly Calendar Girl shows at The Duplex a brand-new event. Her varied talents do provide her with plenty of ammunition, musical and otherwise. She's quick on the draw with her patter, ad libbing and interacting with her audience, which provides plenty of unique opportunities right there. If she was out to dazzle her audience with that quick wit, she did it handily by creating a song of “the worst experience” described by one of her audience. “Tom Showed Mom the Door” was a howl of creativity. But with all the fun and fireworks, McHugh is a compelling, come-hither songstress who can segue from topical wise cracks to an affecting ballad with the ease of stage magician making the quarter disappear from his hand.

Opening with a bouncy “Blue Skies,” McHugh and her accompanists, Jody Shelton on piano and Michael Pearce on bass, were as together on their songs as a well-choreographed dance team. Shelton and Pearce, who were permitted ample opportunity to shine in frequent instrumental spots, also knew their oats when it came to supporting their vocalist. Two of the show's high spots were a love-struck McHugh's rendition of “I've Got the World on a String,” with a captivating accompaniment by the solo bass, and a scintillating presentation of George and Ira Gershwin's last collaboration, the moving “Our Love is Here to Stay.”

Guest performer Christine Lavin, a prolific and topical songwriter, presented one of her own compositions, with lyrics taken from the venerable political pundit of the twenties and thirties, H. L. Mencken. It was a revelation, indeed, to see how little human nature changes as time goes by. Then, Lavin and McHugh teamed up for an audience-tickler, “Boys Want Sex in the Morning.”

Although not overdone, McHugh's early January show, titled Just in Time, did take some pertinent jabs at the imminent changes in Washington and some of the prominent figures on their way in and on their way out of the positions of power. And her comments on the troubling economic woes brought both knowing agreement from most of the room and a smooth intro to “I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby.”

Those who won't want to miss Calendar Girl's February tilt at Valentine's Day, Tales of Revenge and Regret, had better book at The Duplex early. This Windy City Miss is rapidly becoming a downtown New York favorite. She'll present her “tales of love gone terribly, terribly wrong” on February 9.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
January 12, 2009

  
     
 


"After Dark" by Jeff Rossen
"Songs of Self-Delusion" / Colleen McHugh

Ignorance is bliss, or so the saying goes, but self-delusion is a dangerous pastime. It can also be hysterically funny and achingly poignant, as Colleen McHugh proves in her new show. And with this third solo outing, following her sensational debut in "Keeping Up Appearances" and the subsequent "Tales of Revenge & Regret," McHugh takes a quantum leap as an artist, taking her talents to new heights and grabbing hold of her material with an uncanny mix of vibrant swipes and subtle shadings.

Setting up the escapism in Amanda McBroom's Dreaming with the verse to "Dear World's" I Don't Want to Know, McHugh launches into a roller-coaster ride through self-delusion, from the fully-aware state of Avoid and a dazzling pairing of Talk to Me Baby and The Lies of Handsome Men to the heartbreaking naiveté of You Wouldn’t Do That to Me and raucous Better Off Dead and A Little More Mascara, which become outrageously comical mini-production numbers here. But it is in Jill Sobule's Mexican Wrestler and John Bucchino's Not a Cloud in the Sky that McHugh hits the zenith, deftly playing the dichotic lyric Sobule weaves in Wrestler and baring her soul in Cloud.

Andrew Blendermann's musical direction and accompaniment support and enhance McHugh superbly, and she also receives some fine vocal support from Alison Bazarko and [Anne Smith]. Under the sharp direction of Rob Lindley, McHugh and her "Songs of Self-Delusion" leads the pack in the race for the year's best. (Rating: Four Stars)

(c) 2002 Gay Chicago Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

  
 

 

 

  
 

Colleen McHugh, "Songs of Self-Delusion"
Davenport's Piano Bar and Cabaret
April 6, 2002

She's won awards and her cabaret shows have been ranked in top-10 lists by the Cabaret Hotline Online, GAY CHICAGO magazine, and CABARET SCENES. Her name is Colleen McHugh, and on the cabaret stage there are few who can top her. She's back at Davenport's Piano Bar and Cabaret this month with a brand-new show celebrating songs of self-delusion.

This show is a little darker than Ms. McHugh's past cabaret events, but she pulls it off and proves herself to be an outstanding singer, a fine actress, and a gifted comedian (when called upon). Opening with an arrangement that blends Jerry Herman's "I Don't Want to Know" with Amanda McBroom's "Dreaming," Ms. McHugh was nothing short of brilliant. She also performs outstanding renditions of Randy Newman's "Better Off Dead," John Bucchino's "Not a Cloud in the Sky," and Jill Sobule's "Mexican Wrestler." Comic moments come with "I Put a Little More Mascara On" (Herman) and a role-reversal take of "Madeleine" (Brel).

In a few short years, Ms. McHugh has become one of Chicago's most celebrated cabaret stars, and this show reminds us why - she is SO good at what she does. She will be performing "Songs of Self-Delusion" at Davenport's every Saturday in April at 8:00 pm - reservations are strongly recommended!!

DAVENPORT'S is located at 1383 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL - 773-278-1830 - http://www.davenportspianobar.com

By Todd Shuman
(c) 2002 Cabaret Hotline Online. All Rights Reserved.

  
 

 

  
 

"Bistro Bits"  by John Hoglund
May 21, 2004
"A Song For You"

"I'm a songwriter snob," Colleen McHugh chides from the stage of Helen's Hideaway, where she is currently making her local cabaret debut on Thursdays in May with her wickedly funny show "Tales of Revenge & Regret." Noting that Cole Porter and Irving Berlin have "come and gone," the Chicago singer (who has just relocated to the Big Apple) playfully waxes about her love of great composers, shrewd wordplay, and songs. This leads to the irreverent country-style ditty "One More Minute" ("I'd rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks than spend one more minute with you") by Al Yankovic. She deftly makes her point in the fun hour, opening with the odd pairing "I Wanna Be Around" (Mercer-Vimmerstadt) in medley with "Goody Goody (Mercer-Malneck).

Incorporating wacky novelty songs like Babbie Green's "The Best Thing to Happen to Me" and John Wallowitch's riotous "Dear Nameless (Dear Abby)" (which is about a vain woman asking advice on how to dress for her sick mother's impending funeral - "I look terrible in black" - only to have the columnist answer, "Don't buy much - she may live!"), McHugh also laughs at the assorted American misinterpretations of French songs like the Edith Piaf staple "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," which translated word for word really means, "No, I Don't Not Regret Anything."

While she punctuates the hour with very funny songs and delightful patter, McHugh is a serious singer whose ballads are made even more effective due to her show's light moments and her buoyant personality. This camping offsets some wrenching moments. For instance, when she pours her soul into a beautifully realized "If These Walls Could Speak" by Jimmy Webb, she is riveting. Randy Newman's poignant "When She Loved Me," dedicated to her grandmother, becomes a reflective ode to family.

While she has an affinity for contemporary composers and clever material, I might suggest adding a few standards for tighter structure. Otherwise, this confident lady is off to a great start in New York and there's much more ahead.


(c) 2004 Backstage. All Rights Reserved.

 

  
 

 

  
 


August 2004
COLLEEN McHUGH
Tales of Revenge & Regret

Colleen McHugh is quite a performer. Bringing to Helen's her show, Tales of Revenge & Regret, she ranged from standards to recent works of our contemporary songwriters, managing to delight virtually everyone in the audience, no matter where their preferences might lie. Colleen is favored with a big voice, both fine and pure, with ability to sustain a note, notably. In addition, she likes to have her fun and, as she says, enjoy herself during her cabaret shows. With great wit and equal emotional power, she did Peggy Sarlin's I Regret Everything, an amusing antithesis to the classic Piaf number, Je Ne Regrette Rien.

Also, if one wants to talk about an impressive ad lib accomplishment, Colleen solicited whole anecdotes from her audience, and as her pianist invented a melody, she composed a complete lyric on the fly, with unified content and rhyming words. Now, that's impressive!

by Barbara and Peter Leavy

(c) 2004 CabaretScenes. All Rights Reserved.