Opening her evening of cabaret songs with “Suddenly Seymour” in a duet with friend Bruce Phillips, who introduced her, Vandana Bali had no trouble sharing her three-octave range interspersed with tidbits about her personal life. This petite East Indian cabaret singer can belt out power ballads effortlessly. She also finds subtleties in softer, quieter moments with show tunes like Stephen Schwartz’s “With You” from Pippin and “Meadowlark” from the short-lived Baker’s Wife. Other numbers included works of Steven Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gershwin, and Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child” where Ms. Bali got down with some real gutsy, guttural throat tones.

Once warmed up in the early part of the program of ballads and show tunes—14 total—Ms. Bali showed the most control and subtlety in n “An Ordinary Day,” an original song by Dennis Livingston, a Boston cabaret song writer who found her on her list server and sent her the song. In this, as in other numbers, her voice took on colors of Julie Andrews with a touch of Barbra Streisand, which may be a holdover from her upbringing. Born in India, she grew up in a New York household where she could hear legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar in one room and Streisand, The Police and the Beatles in the next. Most Indian music is based on stories set to music, and though classically trained, Ms. Bali feels it is this story-telling tradition that has drawn her to cabaret. Not shy, Ms. Bali likes to include her audience as part of the experience by enlisting their thoughts about what cabaret theatre is. The “best of Broadway without the chorus” might be one answer. “Love songs sung in an intimate setting, low lighting and warm tones”—which Martunii’s offers in spades—could be another. Ms. Bali premiered her  “Power of Love” show at Martuni’s Piano Lounge last May.

Ms. Bali was expertly accompanied by Victoria Theodore on piano for all but one a capella rendition of Gershwin’s “Summertime,” but she might consider including accompaniment for that number as well, since it seemed to lose some of the oomph that Ms. Theodore’s playing added to the evening. If there is one area on which Ms. Bali might consider focusing to strengthen the overall effect of her work, it would be in the middle range of her singing. Hopefully that will come with further experience and maturity. A few more broken-hearted love affairs always come in handy to add emotional depth to any singer’s repertoire, but one would not wish ill upon her just for “Art’s” sake.

Now a San Francisco resident, Ms. Bali made her Plush Room debut in October (which she might want to mention fewer times in the course of the evening at future venues) with her “Power of Love” show which she had performed previously at Don’t Tell Mama in New York City in July. Both shows met with enthusiastic audience response. The very bright and talented Ms. Bali is headed next to London and to other cities thereafter with her “Power of Love” show and plans to return to San Francisco in the spring with a new program of jazz standards which will certainly be a worthwhile evening to anticipate. For further information about future engagements or to purchase CD’s of Ms. Bali’s music, go to www.vandana.net.