I was dragged kicking and screaming last night to Madison Square Garden by my nieces.
They wanted me to see Sabrina Carpenter, the hot hot hot pop singer of 2025. She just hosted and was musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” She has two bestselling albums.
Sabrina was in her third of five shows at the Garden last night, but since she’s 26 she showed no signs of wear and tear. The energy in her “Short and Sweet” tour is on overload. Whoever designed this show hit on gold: this is Sabrina on a mid-century modern set that resembles “How to Succeed in Business” crossed with “Promises, Promises.” If Carpenter had started singing Dionne Warwick’s greatest hits, no one would have objected.
Her show is all baby doll dresses, teddy’s, and cat suits, aimed at teen girls. It’s sleepovers and pillow talk, Doris Day with a dab of sex but not enough to ruffle the pleats on her skirts or her fans. She has plenty of hits — like “Please Please Please” and “Manchild.” Fans sing along although to my ear they mostly sounded the same. It doesn’t matter. She’s so full of charisma that this tiny human being fills up the gigantic Garden.
The fans do love her– just hundreds upon hundreds of girls ages zero to 30. There were just seas of them in every direction, dressed like their heroine in glittery jackets and short skirts, wearing knee high white boots. The older ones could have been waiting to join Don Draper’s secretarial pool.
Carpenter has never met a sweeping staircase she didn’t like. She swans up and down several on the set which resembles a New York penthouse circa 1960. Unlike a Lady Gaga show, Carpenter’s is relatively spare. With nods to “Barbie,” this show is all “Hullabaloo.” There’s even a huge Design Within Reach type chandelier hanging above the proceedings just to set the mood.
Carpenter herself likes to say she’s “Slutty,” but she’s rated PG at best. She’s a creme puff, a blast of cotton candy with a wink wink. She knows how to work the audience. The show is very well written, with Sabrina addressing the audience often and intimately as if she didn’t say the same things last night or won’t tonight.
But it’s ok. When she opens that mouth, there is real singing. It cuts through the happy kitsch and wrangles even the most narrative, pedestrian lyrics. This is a Broadway voice. If she took this show to the Great White Way, she’d walk away with a bunch of Tony Awards. That’s how beguiling she is, a dynamo.
The whole experience is framed like a 60s variety show. Even though we’re in her “penthouse,” the inside joke is that this is all a TV show. There’s a big old 60s TV camera pointing at her, and videos that say things like “Taped Before a Live Studio Audience.” Even as Carpenter winds down with her penultimate number, credits for the show roll behind her. I’ve never seen anything like it — every musician, dancer, crew member is on the list. Very cool.
Shout out to the versatile, accomplished band, which is all live, like Sabrina. At one point they play an impressive jazz interlude.
Girls: want to some research on Sabrina and co pulled this little gem off? Go watch “How to Succeed” or find the Kristin Chenoweth version of “Promises, Promises” on You Tube. Better yet, rent a Doris Day movie from her “Pillow Talk” days.
Olivia Dean opened the show. She’s a newer kid on the block, and very different than Carpenter. A hot blooded Brit who’s Jamaican and Guyanese, Dean also has deep pipes and a long burn. When she sings fronting her own live band, there are hints of greatness.
