JANE KRAKOWSKI

The Laziest Gal in Town

[DRG Records]

“I hate to use the C word this early in the evening … but welcome to my debut in cabaret,” says Jane Krakowski on the live recording of her 2009 run at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency in New York City. The Broadway and TV actress knows full well the pitfalls of the format, and sprinkles her show with inspired reinventions, like “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” as a funk jam/rap and 1940’s “Zip” turned ode to Twitter. Elsewhere, she unearths lesser-known gems from Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern, often astonishing in their modernity. As on 30 Rock, Krakowski isn’t afraid to put character first here, trusting her robust voice to shine without acrobatics or even a Broadway-belter ballad. That makes for an airtight comedy show, but as a recording, it’s missing a bit of razzle-dazzle—just enough to hope she soon makes her studio debut.

—Katie Dodd