Kym Johnson stepped onto the 54 Below stage on October 9 and 10 for her cabaret debut, turning a first-time engagement into a show that moved between standards, dance breaks and personal stories. By the end of the second night, the one-time Dancing with the Stars performer had done what she had said she would not do: dance anyway.
That is why the room was watching closely. Johnson, whose name is still tied to DWTS, was joined by Billy Stritch, Michael O’Brien and Rob Garcia, while longtime fans and familiar faces looked on from the house. Her husband, Robert Herjavec, was part of the story too, after the pair married in 2016 and later had eight-year-old twin boys. Joey Fatone was there for part of the evening before leaving for his own engagement, and Marilyn Maye was also in the house.
Johnson opened with “Get Happy,” then moved into “Dance: Ten; Looks: Three” with a comic attempt at an American accent that drew the crowd in before the evening started to loosen. She later performed “What I Did for Love” and “Somewhere That’s Green” seated by the piano, shifted into “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” in a frilly top with a tambourine, and then changed the pace again for “Sway,” where she wore a red gown and danced with Trent Whiddon. At one point, Whiddon lifted her over his head. Billy Stritch sang “Whatever Lola Wants” while Johnson and Whiddon danced, and Carson Kressley joined her for “Pour Me a Man.”
The show also carried another kind of reveal: Johnson broke into dance during “I Won’t Dance,” despite saying she would not, and afterward admitted, “I don’t know why I did that. I still think I’m 20.” The set mixed performance numbers with stories about her life growing up in Australia and her career, giving the debut the feel of a crossover from television personality to live cabaret act. What remains unanswered is why she chose this moment for the step into cabaret, but the first two nights made clear she is treating it less like a side project than a new stage for the same audience that first knew her on DWTS.
