Body and Soul - Thea Gill at Sterling’s
Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s is becoming the de rigueur place to introduce a new act, new CD, or enter into the difficult world of cabaret. Thea Gill, a beautiful actress known for her appearance on Queer as Folk, made her cabaret debut on December 11 at this charming supper club. She was under good direction from veteran cabaret director David Galligan who has directed A/IDS benefit around the country. Her musical director was Grammy Award winning composer and arranger Gail Deadrick.
Ms. Gill made her entrance in a slinky red number, slit up the side, looking for all the world like Jessica Rabbit, sexy, sultry, and a bit dangerous. But no reason to be afraid because Thea Gill is a wonderful torch singer. Torch singing is her first love and she treated us to an evening of it. She sang several songs made famous by Doris Day, “Night and Day”, “I’ll Never Stop Loving You”, and Ruth Etting’s “Ten Cents a Dance”. One of her best numbers was “Something Cool” made famous by 50’s jazz artist June Christy. She also sang a song by Billie and a song written by Ira Gershwin after the passing of his brother George, a touching “Our Love is Here to Stay”. She also included an intriguing song called “On A Bus To St. Cloud”.
Ms. Gill has a nice voice, suited for this material but a whole evening of it was just too much. Perhaps this is what she wants to be known for or her advisors limited her to these kinds of songs. Perhaps as she develops her act further she can add more variety. Thea Gill presented an evening of torch songs at Sterling’s Upstairs at Vitello’s on Dec. 11.