Eddie Bruce
"Newley Discovered" - Songs of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
Cabaret at Odette's April 2000

One of the most fascinating events one can witness in cabaret is the emergence of a new talent. Eddie Bruce is no stranger to the cabaret stage but recently has developed a new show based on the songs of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. The show entitled, "Newley Discovered" opens with a tape of Anthony Newley singing "Who Can I Turn To". Midway through the song Eddie Bruce joins the tape in a duet with Newley that is really something special. After he is introduced, Bruce serenades a photo of Newley with a touching rendition of "Look At That Face" and performs a dead on imitation of Newley singing "Once In a Lifetime". The hour plus show goes by quick due to the superb vocals of Eddie Bruce and all the information that is thrown at the audience. There were many songs that Bruce sang or talked about that I didn't even know were written by Anthony Newley.

It was a very structured evening and it was clear that Eddie Bruce did his homework and knew many things about the talented man that he was memorializing. Bruce broke our hearts with "Something In Your Smile", a touching love song and had the audience rocking with "Gonna Build A Mountain". Most touching and emotional was a song called, "Man Who Makes You Laugh". He began the song singing with a tape of the original Newley orchestrations. The taped recording was joined by Dean Schneider on Piano and Steve Beskrone on Bass halfway through the song. Bruce was at his best vocally and very animated whilst performing this number.

The show ended with an encore/sing along of one of Newley's biggest hits, "The Candy Man". Bruce came back to the stage to perform, "Who Can I Turn To" as the finale to a wonderful evening. Eddie in top vocal form proved he could entertain and share his vast knowledge of Newley with the audience. We knew we had witnessed something special. Eddie Bruce will bring the show back for Thursday evening performances at Odette's in July and rumor has it that he might take the show on to New York cabaret rooms.