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The New York Times once dubbed singer and pianist Steve Ross the "Crown Prince of New York cabaret", but I'm not sure the title is appropriate. To begin with, it's not nearly exalted enough; I'm thinking "King" or "Emperor" might be nearer to the mark. And in any case, it's hard to picture the debonair Mr. Ross decked out with an orb, scepter and crown. A top hat, white tie and tails, on the other hand...
The fact is, Mr. Ross - who is appearing locally at the Chez Leon bistro through Saturday, November 5th - has a breezy elegance on stage that's reminiscent of Fred Astaire, Noel Coward, Cole Porter and, above all, the late and much lamented Bobby Short. Listening to Mr. Ross traverse the Great American Song Book, it's easy to imagine that you've been transported back to a late-1930s RKO musical, lounging around a small table in an Art Deco rooftop nightclub in tails or evening dress (as is your wont) with a glittering Manhattan skyline visible through the windows.
The intimate, cosmopolitan atmosphere of Chez Leon enhances the illusion. Normally we Mound City denizens get to see big-name cabaret acts only in the more formal setting of the Sheldon Concert Hall, so it's a treat to see someone like Mr. Ross in the more typical setting of a small supper club (90 seats when it's full, which it was on opening night), with a gourmet French dinner tucked away and a respectable Bordeaux readily at hand. Acoustically, Chez Leon is no match for the Sheldon - the acoustic tiles in the high ceiling aren't helpful and on opening night the microphone didn't always pick up Mr. Ross' voice effectively - but for ambience it's hard to beat.
Mr. Ross' program for the evening will be familiar to fans of the Grand Center Cabaret Series, where he has become something of a regular. There's lots of Cole Porter - a composer for whom Mr. Ross clearly has great affinity - as well as Gershwin, Berlin, Kern and Coward. There's also an instrumental medley of Edith Piaf songs, obscure comic numbers such as "He's Screwing Delores del Rio" (from the short-lived musical Say Goodbye to 174th Street) and Ivor Novello's witty "And Her Mother Comes Too", and a couple of Sondheim tunes - "Being Alive" and the song it replaced in Company, "Marry Me a Little". They're all delivered with the panache that I have come to associate with Mr. Ross' appearances, and which his fans have undoubtedly come to expect.
The bottom line is that if, as Mr. Ross suggests at the end of his set, you've always wanted to be Fred Astaire and/or Ginger Rogers - or even if you just love a classic song delivered with impeccable style - you'll want to catch Steve Ross at Chez Leon. Tickets are, according to my sources, getting scarce, especially for the dinner and show combo; call 314-361-1589 for more information. Chez Leon is at 4580 Laclede, just east of Euclid in the Central West End.
A final note: if you do attend, please remember that even in a more relaxed venue like Chez Leon, the basic rules of theatre etiquette still apply. That means no loud yakking during the Piaf medley and no getting up to walk out in the middle of "Send in the Clowns". This is an audience with the King of Cabaret, after all.
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