Who else but pop and cabaret singer/songwriter, Ernie Lijoi, a Dedham native and Boston expat, now living just outside Manhattan, could have written the songs for Monsters, the quirky new musical comedy currently being premiering at the Boston Center for the Arts? The show focuses on a woman facing her 40th birthday, struggling to overcome the nagging voices in her head (Apathy, Fear, and Negative Self-worth), which she refers to as her ’monsters.’ Many of Lijoi’s songs have often featured the demons within, and sometimes without, that either instigate or thwart personal growth and happiness. After a three-year incubation period, collaborating with his close friend, Gail Phaneuf, on the book and the score, Lijoi is in Boston mounting the premier production of Monsters.

That’s where cabaret performer, John O’Neil steps in. O’Neil first introduced Lijoi’s music to local cabaret audiences back in 2000, with the stunning Chandler Street, a song about an ostracized gay man finding a new family in his housemates and neighbors. Now, discovering that Lijoi would be back in town this month to promote his new musical, Monsters, O’Neil immediately called Lijoi to see if they could do a cabaret show together. Lijoi agreed, resulting in a one-night only reprise of his cabaret show, Being Ernest, the Songs of Ernie Lijoi, Monday, September 18 at the Club Café, featuring Ernie Lijoi, John O’Neil and Mary Callanan.

"I love being up on stage at the Club Cafe," declares Lijoi, on the phone at Phaneuf’s house, where the two were still putting last minute touches on Monsters. "[Producing] Monsters is such a stressful thing, but [Being Ernest] is my stress release."

Lijoi first premiered Being Ernest at Scullers Jazz Club in April 2001, which was the culmination of several years’ transition for Lijoi from folk/pop singer/songwriter to cabaret, both as performer and songwriter, which began as more and more local cabaret singers performed and recorded his songs. Lijoi saw how effective his songs became in the hands of singing actors, who could bring his character-driven songs to life. Inspired by this, Lijoi departed from his coffee-house-style of performing, presenting solo cabaret shows of his own.

Being Ernest, a cross section of Lijoi’s oeuvre that introduces dozens of characters whom we come to know and love, first featured Ida Zecco (another cabaret favorite) and O’Neil. It premiered at Scullers Jazz Club, then was brought to New York. It was only natural O’Neil would want to revive it while Lijoi was in town. "I thought it was a slam dunk," O’Neil mutters, "But Ernie being Ernie, he just thought ’I don’t like any of those old songs. We need to do a whole new show.’ So this will be a revised and updated Being Ernest." For those who have seen the show before and enjoyed it, all the group numbers, such as Dance With the Devil, You Stink, Chandler Street, and Jack and Jill (with dynamic vocal arrangements by their musical director Jim Rice) will remain in tact. O’Neil will also reprise the rather twisted My Favorite Movie Star, about a stalker obsessed.

Some of the new material will include a song from another Lijoi musical, Under the Influence, called How to Order Coffee at Moonbucks, a rapid-fire patter song, sung also by O’Neil. "It’s delightful," gushes O’Neil, smile dropping to add, "It promises to tie my tongue into knots." O’Neil also gets to sing the high camp number, I Don’t Think, which is a real big stretch for me," O’Neil quips. Lest you think this is O’Neil’s show, Callanan gets her share of the spotlight, singing lead in Dance with the Devil, and even a song from Monsters, That’s What I Would Do. Lijoi, who’s never worked directly with Callanan in the 17 years they’ve known each other, is psyched to have the popular local actress and piano bar hostess join the show, now that Ida Zecco has moved out of state. "I’m anxious to hear Mary do my stuff," he says, "since I really love her voice." Lijoi himself will sing a number of new pieces, including his favorite song he’s ever written, Traveling the World, which he hastens to add, "is not bitter or sardonic," in reference to a comment by a local singer that Lijoi’s work can too often be downbeat. "That person doesn’t know my repertoire very well," politely counters Lijoi. "It just turns out that most of my songs that get picked up by other singers are the bitter or angry ones, because they offer some of the most biting humor in my writing, and that’s what people tend to associate with me. But Chandler Street and the ballads in Monsters are not like that at all."

Lijoi has often remarked that hearing O’Neil sing Chandler Street changed the way he wrote songs. Eschewing his former folk approach to singing and songwriting, his songs became even more like one act plays, requiring singers with well-toned acting chops to put over the song. Like Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World, his songs often present a character in the throws of an epiphany or at one of life’s critical crossroads. But once Lijoi moved to the NYC area, he joined Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), whose songwriting workshops which he began taking helped his songwriting evolve exponentially. "My years at BMI help me find my voice musically," proclaims Lijoi. "Before that, I was good at turning witty phrases, but musically, there was nothing really fresh or even consistent. Now I approach everything more compositionally. I used to write music just to support the lyric, as opposed to writing music that was just as interesting as the lyric. That to me is the difference between a songwriter and a composer, and I feel comfortable calling myself a composer now."

Callanan and O’Neil seem to agree. Speaking with EDGE separately, they seemed to have identical opinions on the matter. Callanan, who has spent the last three summers singing at the front piano bar of the Crown and Anchor, with Bryan Patton, notes "I’ve been singing a lot this summer, all different kinds of music, and [Ernie’s] songs are so clean and today. Like Jack and Jill, [a gender-bending love song with a modern twist]. What I like about his songs, is that you get invested in the character, and you can’t wait for the next verse to find out what happens." O’Neil echoes that, in contemplating his own portion of the show’s program, "The four numbers I have encapsulate Ernie’s range as a writer. As a performer it really gives me so many places to go: from the frenzy of a patter song, and the grief of This Year Went By So Fast, to I Don’t Think which is just a brilliant acting song." Callanan, who can’t stop playing Ernie’s demo CD in her car between Boston and the Cape, sums up her feelings, pronouncing, "His stuff is spot on. If I could write music, his would be the kind of music I would write."

And writing is what Lijoi continues to do. In fact, Being Ernest will be a rare opportunity to hear Lijoi perform his own material, as he is nearly consumed with songwriting these days. He is working on three other musicals, including Under the Influence with his friend, Kevin Laursen. If Monsters does well in Boston, he may feel encouraged to return to Boston to premier his other musicals. "Getting a show produced in New York is difficult, but in Boston it’s easier to get an affordable space," admits Lijoi. Without hesitation, he adds, "I love it here. This is home for me still, and coming back, and working with John and Mary is like a reunion," practically quoting his own lyric, "Chandler Street’s the only home I know."

Being Ernest performs on Monday, Septemebr 18, at the Club Cafe, 209 Colombus Avenue, Boston at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20. For reservations, call 617.247.6787, or visit www.cabaretfest.com.

John Amodeo is a free lance writer living in Boston’s South End. He has covered cabaret for Bay Windows and Theatermania.com, and is a contributing writer for Cabaret Scenes Magazine.