Review: Carly Ozard Is Fierce in the ETHEL MERMAN DISCO ALBUM PROJECT at Green Room 42

Some things seem to be a logical match. And they prove to be exactly that. The concept of Carly Ozard with her big, big, belting voice taking on some songs recorded by the legendary Ethel Merman whose voice was certainly a big, big, belting one is no big surprise. In fact, it’s about as logical as can be; it seems inevitable, meant to be, perfect casting. Taking on the role made for a roller coaster ride, recalling her years-ago step into the repertoire of Bette Midler. Some no-holds-barred, all-stops-out, outsized appearances at Birdland’s “Cast Party” open mic have been ample samples of her musical muscle, merriment, and moxie.  Yes, Merman could have been an equally caffeinated cousin of this young woman whose lungs seem to be forged from the same grade of steel.  

As songwriter Frank Loesser used to say, in praise of singers whose voices could fill the theatre, “LOUD is good.”  But some loud-and-proud performances are better admired from some distance. Arriving at the Green Room 42, I was kindly shown to a table right up front, but knew what to expect because of the material at hand, and even sitting in the back would seem to be quite an “in-your-face” experience for the audience. So that’s one reason I opted to change my seat and move to the back where the skillful photographer Conor Weiss and his camera awaited the start. (His fine pictures are here between paragraphs.) The press release had also made me think that this would be better appreciated from a distance, because of the specific material at hand, as well as the added blast or bombast of personality, and the stage filled with a red-hot band, three more female singers, and then there’s the sometimes intense bright  flashing stage lighting at this venue. And sitting too close can mean that a reviewer can’t get an overview of the audience’s reactions and attention. In this case, most of the people seemed to be having a ball, impressed, smiling, moving and grooving, laughing at amusing comments. 

For some, a little Ozard in this set can go a long way. And disco is disco — all about the fast beats; the model of the consistent, persistent pace and throbs in the Peter Matz arrangements doesn’t leave much room for backphrasing or taking one’s time or respite and drama. Carly Ozard’s recent full-length release, Chain of Love: A Broadway Album, has plenty of vocal pow, too, but showcases more versatility and variety. But this show is its own more limited but wild party.  Her take-no-prisoners takes on tune after tune could, after a while, potentially be exhausting, but kind of in a good way, like an invigorating time on a steep ski slope on a bracing cold, snowy winter’s day or taking a rocket to the moon at the speed of light. Not that I’ve ever gone skiing – and, frankly, have not been to outer space – but I’m imagining the thrills. 

The Merman songbook has most prominently been revisited in cabaret by the much-loved Klea Blackhurst, whose debut CD celebrated the ethos of Ethel across the icon’s career, including deeper cuts. Carly Ozard chose one certain chapter — one very particular (and very peculiar) Merman album. It’s the record collector’s guilty pleasure/ must-be-heard-to-be-believed release that Billboard called “bizarre” and a “camp classic.” Although it did contain a handful of signature songs, they weren’t done in the style that the legend first sang them in Broadway shows and most of many revisits. 

I began this review by pointing out that sometimes the tributer and tributee seem to be a perfect match waiting to happen. But music history is also full of head-scratching combinations and projects that seem to be mismatches. That brings us to the record inspiring this spirited evening. The unlikely marriage is Disco music and the expected style of old-school musical theatre star Ethel Merman, who introduced some Golden Age Broadway songs and took on even more already-old songs in her concerts, TV appearances, and recordings. (In fact, her 1955 album titled Memories consisted of material from the 1920s and earlier.) But there does exist out there in the world a still-surprising reality of a release titled The Ethel Merman Disco Album, released in 1979. Yes, it happened. It wasn’t a fevered disco dream. However, Ethel wasn’t covering the hits of ABBA, Donna Summer, or The Village People; nor was she singing new material designed for her. No, she was belting out her famous Broadway numbers she’d sung over and over, going back as far as 1930 for the Gershwins’ “I Got Rhythm.” One review opined that the “Merm” seemed oblivious to the genre and thrump-thump-thumping, singing her trademark numbers the way she always had. Indeed, he was not far from wrong. The disco beats and effects and background singers were recorded separately. I’ve known The Ethel Merman Disco Album for years and always got a kick out of it. And Carly Ozard and company bring out this outlier’s out-and-out outré unlikely likeability.

If you’ve read this far, and know the album in question (which some call questionable) or know a modicum of mighty Merman memorables, you probably know what the songs are. They aren’t picked from too many musicals or a lot of different songwriters, but then again, that vinyl album only had seven tracks, and the “Ozardians” tackled ‘em all. In addition to the aforementioned “I Got Rhythm” (which they certainly did), included are: “Some People” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” both from the ever-popular, oft-revived Gypsy – the show that Carly states she’s dying to do someday (how about next week?); two Cole Porter numbers (“I Get a Kick Out of You” from Anything Goes and the less familiar “Something for the Boys” from the musical of the same name); plus Irving Berlin items “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and what became Merman’s signature song – and the anthem for stage folks in general –  “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun. (The performer dwelled on the fact that she knew that more numbers than the seven released on the vinyl LP were recorded as possibilities for its contents, but none have been unearthed and she is extremely anxious to know what they were and to find them. There was, however, no mention of the fact that “They Say It’s Wonderful” (also from  Annie Get Your Gun) showed up as an added “bonus track” when the record was reissued on CD.

Patter was enthused, but could be tighter and more precise. Strayed from facts about the mercurial Merman and appropriate discussion of disco records being destroyed at events to include talk on subjects personally important to Carly Ozard, cued by the calendar: the show fell on Juneteenth during Pride Month. There were a couple of misstatements, one of which was apparently accidental; but when an audience member called out a correction, it became an endearing  self-deprecating running gag. 

Generously, the star of the show let each of her back-up singers, dubbed “the Merman Mermaids” take a lead vocal solo: Hope Johanson, Debbi Sacleux, and –most sensationally –Ava Nicole Francis (who’s been impressing me in group shows and open mics all year). The band led by Darnell White on keys also included bass player Dave D'Aranjo, guitarist Pascal Sacleux (son of Mermaid Debbi), percussion by Don Kelly and Nathan Ellman-Bell, with the prominently featured Skye Carranza doing some great “heavy lifting” on sax, and the married musicians on horns: Kiku Collins and David Gibson. The show ended with a bang (one of many) and even a costume change for the finale and bows.

The Ozard Experience: A fierce force to be reckoned with!! 

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Read Broadway World’s Cabaret Editor Rebecca Kaplan’s pre-show interview with Carly Ozard here: 

Performance photos: Conor Weiss

Learn more about the singer at www.carlyozard.com

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