STAGE WEST: "I Can Cook, Too!" at New Village Arts Theatre

Erica Marie Weisz in "I Can Cook, Too!"                                  Photo courtesy of New Village Arts Theatre

            Erica Marie Weisz’s one-woman cabaret show “I Can Cook, Too!” is a come on/get happy excuse to get out of the house on Sunday or Monday night – at least through May 26. A 90-minute mashup of Broadway and jazz standards and comedy schtick with a culinary flavor, it’s pure, breezy entertainment.
            Actor Weisz wrote, is directing and is starring in this show that grew out of her pandemic-era streaming videos “Quarantine Cooking with Erica Marie.” She doesn’t do any actual cooking on the stage at New Village Arts in Carlsbad, but she does cook when she’s singing – especially on torchy numbers like “Fever,” “Black Coffee” or “I’m a Fool to Want You,” the latter a visual spoof that I won’t spoil.
            “I Can Cook, Too!” is a reinvention of the cabaret show Weisz performed twice at Broadway Vista. It’s lengthier and has a few nods to NVA’s Carlsbad home, which was Weisz’s stamping ground for a bit last year when she performed in the theater’s “Thanksgiving Play” and “The 39 Steps.”
            Backing Weisz onstage are keyboardist/musical director Patrick Marion (who also breaks out the accordion for her lush rendition of “Le Vie En Rose”), Martin Martiarena on bass and Jon Berghouse, mostly shushing on a drum kit. For Weisz’s part, she changes in the wings from slinky gown to slinky gown numerous times, often donning an apron over one of them, moves props around when called for, and at one point even steals behind the stage to toss “fish” into the midst. (You’ll have to be there.)
            Weisz is a fearless and talented comedienne, and though she takes it past the limit a couple of times, she’s best when the musical repertoire calls for laughter. Her “Mambo Italiano” would make Rosemary Clooney smile (maybe Dean Martin too). Even better is her “Adelaide’s Lament” from “Guys and Dolls,” aka “A Person Could Develop A Cold.”
            There’s a what-the-heck, anything goes approach to the comedy in this cabaret, from punny jokes to crossed eyes to a kazoo. Truth is, 15 minutes, maybe 20 could have come out of “I Can Cook, Too!” and nothing would be lost. But has there ever been a one-person show that couldn’t have stood a trimming?
            Demonstrating that she’s much more than funny, Weisz beautifully delivers toward the end of the evening the exquisite “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from “Sunset Boulevard.” Get out your hanky.
            All this and you’ll actually get some useful cooking tips.
            “I Can Cook, Too” runs Sunday and Monday night at 7 at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad through May 26.