Crooner Charm and Cabaret Magic

The room glows with soft light. Small café tables are gathered close, the murmur of neighbors mixing with the clink of glasses. A server passes with a tray of wine, the scent of dinner lingering in the air. It feels like a Parisian night, tucked away in a cabaret where the music isn’t just background, it’s the heartbeat of the room.

Then the first notes begin. A voice rises, smooth, easy, confident. Suddenly, the room is still. You could be in Monte Carlo in the 1950s, or a jazz club in New York, or right here in Sarasota. That is the magic of Feeling Good, the cabaret that opens FST’s Winter Season.

The songs are familiar yet fresh: Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me,” Bublé’s “Home,” Midler’s cheeky “Stuff Like That There,” Gaga’s playful reinvention of the crooner sound. Each one carries a little swagger, a little charm. Some make you tap your foot, others make you lean in closer. They are not just songs, they are moods.

The performers, Haley K. Clay, Andrew Leggieri, and Russell Mernagh, move easily between eras, their voices filling the Court Cabaret with warmth and energy. Christian “CC” Allen on
drums and Jim Prosser on piano lay down the pulse that keeps the night alive.

But perhaps what lingers most is the intimacy. In a space this close, a smile from the singer feels like it is meant just for you. A lyric lands softer, sharper. The music stretches past nostalgia into something immediate and alive. By the end of the evening, it is not just the music that leaves you lighter. It is the whole experience, the closeness of the room, the laughter, the rhythm, the simple joy of sharing a night together. True to its name, the show does exactly what it promises: it leaves you feeling good.