If one were to look up the meaning of the phrase “explosively talented,” one might very well find a picture of Amy Jo Jackson. She is a blast of TNT talent in a genre often lacking in excitement and solid entertainment and laughs. She not only raises the roof—she lowers the floor, she destroys the fourth wall, and she pushes back every wall in the room. Her octave leaping, atomic powered vocals are a wonder and when accompanied by the electrifying musical direction and piano of Brian Nash, we are talking about a megaton event.
Amy Jo Jackson (Photo : amyjojackson.com)
Her last major cabaret creation, the Bistro Award-winning Brass Menagerie, remains one of my favorite cabaret shows ever. In it she harnessed her tremendous energy in service to a very tightly written, beautifully shaped and acted amalgam of Tennessee Williams characters and Broadway hits. Her new show, Laugh It Up, which recently debuted at The Green Room 42 is (for better and for worse) a more untethered affair. On the plus side, the wacky, hellzapoppin’ freedom of a rudderless, unstructured, wild and woolly vaudeville with crazy wigs and make-up,, multiple costume changes, and a tsunami of musical ideas, showcases the sheer magnitude of her comedic and musical talent. It allows her to own every inch of the stage and whip the audience on more than one occasion into a veritable frenzy.
If there is a theme at all, it is that the singer/comedienne decided to share her mid-life crisis with the audience as she celebrates her 20th year in NYC. She revealed this in the wonderfully overdone melodrama of “Those Canaan Days” (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). A wild medley of a dozen or so Broadway divas entwined into one madwoman bookended by “I’m the Greatest Star” (Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, from Funny Girl) brought the house down. The pure drama of “Fifty Per Cent” (Billy Goldenberg, Alan & Marilyn Bergman from Ballroom) gave ample proof that Jackson is ready to ascend to that Broadway “divadom” herself. By the climax of the show, when she recreated the entire ensemble singing “Cell Block Tango” (John Kander, Fred Ebb, from Chicago) it seemed like the perfectly logical extension of the jaw-dropping talents that had been on display all evening.
Two selections from her self-penned musical, Hatchetation, whet the appetite of the audience for the completed project as they were presented with panache by special guests— Natalie Walker,Bebe Nicole Simpson, PearlRhein,Sushma Saha, and Ana Laura Santana.
On the minus side, the show opened with a medley whose only “hook” was soft songs done big. After the third song or so, there was nothing to sustain interest. It seemed more like piano bar schtick than an appealing opener. There were, in fact, so many big arrangements and big performances of big songs throughout the evening that it sometimes felt like we were applauding the same moment over and over. A couple of the “quieter” selections could (and should) have benefited from actually being quieter to provide some contrast. “Could I Leave You” (Stephen Sondheim, from Follies) replaced the acid-tongued scalpel of the original with a bludgeon that crushed the wit and angst that make the song work.
However, at every turn, Amy Jo Jackson’s singular talent saved the day. She is an astonishing performer who deserves an astonishing show to highlight that talent. Brass Menagerie was such a show. This one slightly missed the mark, but I can’t wait to see what she brings us next.
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Presented at The Green Room 42, 570 Tenth Ave., NYC, on July 8, 2025.
