Susan and Patti
In April and June of 2024, Susan Henley and Patti Loach introduced their newest show – PS#2 (Pianist and Singer. Patti and Susan. Round 2) – to sold out audiences. The fresh and eclectic show featured songs from a broad range of sources including Tori Amos and Stephen Sondheim.
Here’s what our audiences had to say:
“I was riveted from the very first moment Susan entered the room to the final note of her last song. Susan Henley had me entranced with her charm, talent and the ease in which she weaves her songs and her stories. Some enchanted evening!”
Derek Scott, Actor/director/producer, Slava’s Snow Show/ Broadway
“A witty, nostalgic, and thoroughly entertaining evening with two masters of their craft.”
Glenn Morley, composer, conductor, producer, music director Glenn Gould Foundation
“Throughout my years of programming theatre venues and festivals, I saw a considerable number of performances. One can become a bit jaded and seldom pleasantly surprised. The cabaret performance by the charming and talented Susan Henley, accompanied on piano by Patti Loach was a breath of fresh air. The audience was taken on a tightly woven musical journey that was as enchanting as it was accomplished.”
Brenda Heatherington, artistic director
“Susan Henley & Patti Loach’s ‘Concert in the Kitchen’ was an evening of deep artistry, soul-stirring drama and a lot of laughs. Susan’s voice has never sounded better, soaring to all the edges of her range, her gorgeous tone as always, being rich and powerful. Treating every single lyric with the highest of respect and magic, Susan had us hanging on every moment with sheer joy and delight. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed out loud like I did that night. Patti Loach’s piano work was of the highest quality, her being mindful of Susan’s every turn of phrase, be it gentle or explosive and pushing them both to great heights. The best evening I’ve had in a long time.”
Elaine Overholt, producer, celebrity vocal coach for film/TV/stage, pianist, lover of great vocal artistry.
“Susan was hilarious and filled the room with, yes, love, empathy. I’m sure, like me, everyone (every woman) came away feeling “somebody, somewhere ‘gets’ me.”
Tammy Smith, Toronto
“I was delighted to discover that, after so many years of both attending and creating musical theatre and cabaret, I can still be so deeply moved and utterly entertained by these two impressively talented performers. At the risk of hyperbole (as Stephen Sondheim used to say), an evening with Susan Henley and Patti Loach is nothing less than inspirational. Too over the top? But I mean it…”
Leslie Arden, composer
“Wonderful musical performances. What a duo, with a very interesting and thoughtful selection of music. It was poignant, relevant, personal, thought provoking. Each number was introduced with insightful comments about the composer, the history or context of the piece or personal significance of the selections. I left the concert charmed and enriched by the experience.”
Johan Vink, Toronto
“Mabel Mercer is considered the greatest of all cabaret singers… Her greatest gift: every time she sang, she told us the piercing truth — good and bad — about love… Susan possesses the same kind of instinct for how to “sell” a song as Mabel Mercer did. Can’t wait for their next cabaret.”
David Ferry, actor, director, dramaturge, AD Appledore Productions
Full review by David Ferry, actor, director, dramaturge, AD Appledore Productions
“Susan Henley and Patti Loach’s kitchen cabaret is a special treat. I remember being invited to Cabaret stalwart KT Sullivan’s cool apartment in NYC a few years ago. Allen Lewis (himself a famous cabaret singer) was on piano. Susan and Patti’s cabaret reminded me of that night. Intimate… like everyone there was a close, inside knowledge friend.
KT Sullivan is president of the Mabel Mercer foundation. and Susan possesses the same kind of instinct for how to “sell” a song as Mabel Mercer did.
Of course Mabel Mercer is considered the greatest of all cabaret singers. And if not exactly famous, she wasn’t exactly obscure, either. (Kind of like Susan.) If you lived in New York you went to a nightclub to hear Mercer, preferably in the company of someone with whom you thought you might be falling in love. Good advice for anyone going to see Susan and Patti.
Modest to a fault, Mercer spoke more straightforwardly of her approach to singing, claiming to be primarily interested in words rather than music. ‘It’s just a matter of reading a book out loud and with sense, with full stops and commas and the sense of what you’re singing about.” And though Susan has a much much better singing voice than Mercer ever did, she too has that effortless ability to just tell a story. When she sang a wonderful song about a drinking, smoking, no time for kids aunt who was a New Yorker it reminded me so much of my godmother who worked for twenty years as executive assistant to William Shawn at the New Yorker magazine and lived in her wonderful rent controlled upper west side six room apartment and drank scotch and smoked cigarettes to the end. But I think everyone there that night was thinking of someone similar in their life. That’s the kind of up close and personal Susand and excellent accompanist Patti get. And their communication is wonderful.
Mabel Mercer’s greatest gift:: Every time she sang, she told us the piercing truth — good and bad — about love.
Well… Susan Henley has that gift too. Can’t wait for their next cabaret. (Maybe a couple of those Mercer standards would be great in Susan and Patti’s hands?)”
