When the holidays were over and folks had had their fill of cute and warm-hearted, they came to spend an evening with The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre, as New Line Theatre presented their quirky "A New Line Cabaret, Episode IV: Night of the Living Show Tunes," Monday and Tuesday, January 5 and 6, 2009, for two nights only, at the acoustically perfect Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington, right behind the Fabulous Fox Theatre.

The New Line All-Stars brought you an evening of songs from brilliant, rule-busting musicals like Spring Awakening, The Wild Party, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Show, Dreamgirls, Avenue Q, High Fidelity, Sweet Charity, Jacques Brel, Songs for a New World, A New Brain, and many more. Check out the full song list on the director's blog.

Always trying to beat back the myth that musicals are all sappy, silly, and old-fashioned, New Line once again dived headlong into the kind of aggressive musical theatre that has given this company eighteen seasons of improbable success. As they do in each of these concerts, the New Liners explored what it is to be human in these times -- the beautiful, the ridiculous, and the just plain screwed up -- all set to the music of some of the greatest American composers and lyricists. With songs like "Four Jews in a Room Bitching" from March of the Falsettos, this was an evening that celebrates the unique gift of the contemporary musical theatre, one of the few purely American art forms, and it serves as a gentle reminder that it's been fifty years since Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote their last musical. This is no longer the art form of the last century; this is a vibrant, thriving, evolving art form that can and does speak to these intense times.

Artistic director Scott Miller says, "One reason we put these concerts together every few years is so audiences can really listen to this incredible music and these brilliant lyrics with nothing else to distract them -- no sets, no props, no other baggage, not even a story -- just the amazing artistry and intensity of some of the best writing you've ever heard. Even if you know some of these songs in their original context, you'll hear them fresh, and you'll realize how smart and funny and deeply, deeply emotional so many of them are. This is our chance to showcase the very best of American theatre writers.

The cast included Mara Bollini, Nikki Glenn, Joel Hackbarth, Amy Kelly, Nicholas Kelly, Khnemu Menu-Ra, Katie Nestor, Talichia Noah, Jeffrey Pruett, John Rhine, Todd Schaefer, Deborah Sharn, Kimi Short, Margeau Steinau, Scott Tripp, and Jeffrey M. Wright, with accompaniment by Scott Miller and lighting by Trisha Bakula.