What I liked
Emily Clark is a wonderful performer and Slightly Dramatic is a terrific vehicle for her talents. Framed as a session with her “therapist” (who doubles as her music director/pianist), Clark works through her obsessions and traumas by enlisting well-known pop & Broadway tunes, some of which get re-written to fit the situation. A trio of accompanying artists flesh out the characters Emily recalls in her stories and ably assist in augmenting the vocals on a few songs. The autobiographical nature of the show naturally explores some sensitive and emotionally heavy episodes but never becomes mired in being maudlin. The bad experiences are the set up and the songs become the punchlines.
EDIT TO ADD: Kudos to director Matt Ritchey for keeping the hour’s proceedings from getting gloomy.
What I didn't like
Her music director is a wonderful musician but when playing her ‘therapist’ there times when he doesn’t quite seem to know how to react to her. It’s a minor quibble, though.
My overall impression
This confessional cabaret is an interesting, and occasionally heavy, dissection of a driven artist’s psyche. However, these dark tales of trauma only serve to provide entry to the artist’s “processing” them in a delightfully twisted manner through music and comedy.
