Tori Scott presents her one-woman show, I'll Regret This Tomorrow, as part of the WaterTower Theatre's 15th Annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. She bills her act as "a 70-minute celebration of poor life choices" and bills herself as a "belter and bad decision expert." Her comedic routines consist of events from her childhood in Arlington, Texas, and her humorous and unlucky struggles in New York which segue into her vocal numbers.
Ms. Scott has a soaring voice and a charismatic personality. Her act, however, suffers the fate of almost every musical staged in an intimate, black-box theater: the band forgets their job is to accompany the vocalist and not drown her out; she is the star, and the band is supposed to provide back-up music.
She also makes the mistake of many young solo performers and fails to realize there's a reason for the term Show "Business." While she is immensely talented, has a glorious singing voice, and very humorous delivery of her comedy patter, she is first and foremost in business, and to quote a line from the opening number of The Music Man: "You've got to know the territory."
Tori Scott could be even more successful if she split her routine into two separate acts. With her elegant voice and effervescent personality, if she jettisoned the comedy she would have an enchanting supper-club act that would appeal to the over 35 crowd who are usually the ones who can afford to attend a supper club. Her raunchy comedy, while not my cup of tea, is clever and definitely has an audience, the under-30, comedy-club stoner set. Scott has the chops to go far in her career if she markets her act to the right audience.
