This is a fantastic CD. I'm not one to write about these things but I feel compelled! I got this CD last week and haven't been able to play anything else since!!! Satire, pathos, sense of fun, pithy, tongue in cheek, soulful, heartbreaking....I could go on and on! This artist MAKES you listen to the words....an actress, a singer, a performer all rolled into one. Do yourself a favour....but this CD!!!

With over 1300 CDs in my collection, for something to get multiple playtime for me is rare. Many new CDs will be listened to and then shelved again to be picked up later -- I've listend to Ms. Davis's CD several times since I got it - I can't seem to get it out of my CD player. The reason for this is simple, as any good judge on American Idol will tell you, it's all about song selection. Of course, Ms. Davis is no where near the vein of AI singers (and thankfully so), but instead has chosen a selection of rarer theater music - not a Being Alive or Don't Rain on My Parade in sight - for her album. Nothing against those great songs, but with so many solo artists doing the same numbers over and over, it becomes somewhat weary listening to the umpteenth version of What I Did For Love. Instead we get songs from David Friedman and Cryer/Wilson, and Goldrich/Heisler. Yes, there is a Kander and Ebb number (but a great one), but also two Jason Robert Brown songs (who can argue?) and the awesome There's a Fine Fine Line from Avenue Q (sure to be a standard on these albums one day, but I think this is the first I've seen it on a solo recording). Definitely worth picking up - buy it and enjoy!

this collection of songs takes you on a journey that is funny, lonely, happy, thoughtful, sad and honest. the choice of songs and the order they come is extremely well thought out and planned . danna's voice sounds pure and simple, yet feisty ,belty and dramatic too, and she is the eternal actress as each set of lyrics draws you in to the story at hand. its a great collection of songs for a voice that continually changes from track to track. its just perfect.....

DANNA DAVIS...FROM NEW YORK Music Theatre Ireland Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, here's a look at Ireland resident Danna Davis's album. This attractive-voiced lady calls herself "a displaced New Yorker" who has moved to the Emerald Isle, where her album was recorded. Her experience includes cabaret engagements, concert work as one of The Three Irish Divas who tour with the current Three Irish Tenors, musical theater roles, and a BBC concert of the canon of Stephen Sondheim. That native New Yorker is not represented among the writers on ... From New York, but there are theater, film and cabaret songs by writers from The Big Apple. Avenue Q's "There's a Fine, Fine Line" is a nifty choice and two Jason Robert Brown favorites, "Surabaya Santa" and the great tour de force "A Summer in Ohio," also show Danna dipping into the comedy pool. On the more serious side, she graces "Isn't This Better?" a Kander & Ebb entry from the movie Funny Lady and Rupert Holmes' reflective "The People That You Never Get To Love." There are four choices from the songbook of the skilled craftsman David Friedman, including a persuasive "Trust the Wind" with warmth and intelligence and a beautifully sustained last note. The terrific team of Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler are well represented with three picks, including the witty commentary on a woman's attraction to an "Apathetic Man" which combines a character who's neurotic, a drive that's erotic and a musical treatment that's exotic. Danna has an adaptable voice. She can be mellifluously mezzo and has a belt; on a ballad, she can pull back and tell a story. Danna has a real sweetness and humanity in her basic sound; it's the kind of voice that makes you want to like the person behind it. In fact, the album's closer, a warm and satisfying version of Annie Dinerman's "The Lady Down the Hall" might make you wish that the neighbor in the song - or the lady singing it - were down the hall from you. Technically, she places her voice solidly and is careful with diction and vowel sounds. Instrumentation varies by track, from five musicians to just her pianist (and primary arranger) David Wray, on a touching "Old Friend" (from the Off-Broadway musical I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road). Especially evocative is the presence of a flute played by Daniel Dorrance on five cuts. Coco Tauguchi adds to the pleasures on viola and violin in nine arrangements. A visit to this now Ireland-based singer's website, www.dannadavis.com, is a suggested way to commemorate this St. Patrick's Day. I think you'll like the sound of the voice you'll hear there, singing the work of some talented New Yorkers.