Some people might think that building a cabaret show around requests sent to the performer a few weeks prior to the performance is cutting corners. There’s no agonizing over an original theme, slogging through scads of song charts, mapping out a structure, or writing a script filled with witty and interesting patter.

But those people would be wrong. After all, what if people request songs that aren’t a fit for her voice or style? What if most of the songs are in the same genre or tempo? What if the stories behind the requests aren’t interesting or compelling? What if the whole idea turns out to be a huge mistake?

Corinna Sowers-Adler’s most recent version of her show, By Request, was impressive because a concept that could come across as cumbersome and clunky was actually smooth and well-structured. But she is an experienced hand at this format. Her first foray with By Request was last summer for a show in Pennsylvania (in front of 200 people); the second this past January at the Metropolitan Room. Right up front, she admits that doing a show built around audience requests “makes for an eclectic mix of songs that aren’t ones I would have necessarily chosen for myself.” So, therein lies the challenge that is not at all self-indulgent. In fact, By Request is a charming, romantic idea because Sowers-Adler brings an unselfishness, sweetness, sensitivity and sense of humor to the concept, while also displaying her lovely and lilting soprano.

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